This essay focuses on the recent introduction by the Australian Federal Government of standardised literacy testing in all states across Australia (that is, the National Assessment Program--Literacy and Numeracy, or NAPLAN), and explores the way this reform is mediating the work of English literacy educators in primary and secondary schools. We…

This article problematises representations of professional practice. It investigates assumptions behind received accounts of professional practice, including professional standards that purportedly capture what accomplished English teachers "should know and be able to do", "scientific" studies that construct accounts of classrooms from the…

Borrowing the title of Raymond Williams' famous study, the following reflections--sometimes collective and sometimes individual--are based on a series of "Keywords", specifically: "fear" "community" and "creativity". By reflecting on the meanings these words have for us today, we attempt to capture their dialogical character, posing them as sites…