In this article, the author reflects on statement six of the Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE) "Statements of Belief". Statement 6 says, "We are committed to ongoing learning communities especially through active participation in a range of professional communities." The author discusses this statement by way of his own…

Readers of "English in Australia" are well aware of the genesis and development of Standards for Teachers of English Language and Literacy in Australia (STELLA), since its evolution has been extensively documented in this journal, beginning in 1999 with Margaret Gill's call to arms to the profession, "If we don't do it someone else will" in…

Reviews the 1991 position paper on the teaching of English by the Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE). Notes the paper reads like an old-fashioned manifesto from an era of homogenized assumptions. Suggests a new paper should endorse the primacy of professional knowledge of English teachers in determining what should be…

Questions whether a framework such as STELLA (Standards for Teachers of English Language and Literacy in Australia) can capture the essence of what teachers do in the classroom. Addresses three animating passions which have informed and energized the author's work as a teacher: intensity, empathy, and gaiety. (RS)

Claims doing "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as a school production allows students to bring their own personalities and cultures into the play. Explains how the production can be both inclusive, making room for many extra actions, as well communal, vivifying a school community to make it live more intensely. (NH)