In this article I use the occasion of farewelling my Year 12 students at the end of their schooling, some intertextual references to "Hamlet", and some conceptual frames of Derrida, to reflect dialogically on the role of critical literacy in Australian English curricula in the past, the present and into the future. (Contains 11 notes.)

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…

Discusses accounts of classroom practices which draw on socially critical literacy approaches. Outlines how the author was able to work in partnership with an academic mentor in the implementation of a unit of work on Advertising. Notes that what made this unit distinctively English was that a "culture of critique" was established which gave the…

Discusses the author's success in teaching English. Describes his experiences in achievement, including what has sometimes felt like a slow and even painful process of professional development. Presents an outline of a unit that illustrates a movement through approaches: from personal growth type activities, to post-structuralist and critical…