This paper is about the classroom use of digital literacies. It describes using a hypermedia-authoring program with middle-years students at an Australian secondary school. Classroom environments were created in which collaborative and innovative group work built on technical facilities and expertise developed by students outside of school. The…

This paper suggests how the "weird fiction" of H.P. Lovecraft might be mobilised within secondary English classrooms to examine aspects of visual literacy, literary style, narrative form and intertextuality. The approach that is outlined is characterised, after Lovecraft's famous monster, as a "Cthulhuic literacy" and is…

This paper reports on the findings of a study that investigated formative assessment practices of Senior English teachers in the standards-based Queensland assessment system. This paper focuses in particular on the teachers' provision of feedback on rough draft summative assessment items. It identifies the links between assessment criteria…

Critical literacy approaches to English teaching have existed in Australia for more than two decades. Despite this, they continue to be criticised by the media, especially during times of perceived "literacy crisis" and curriculum review. In addition, teachers and academics continue to explore their worth and meaning for English teaching…

We report in this paper on one aspect of a project designed to support teachers with the demands of the Language strand of the Australian Curriculum for English as this guides their development of a coherent account of knowledge about language and their implementation of this in building their students' literacy repertoires. We map the…

Many of Shakespeare's plays involve mythological symbolism that is fundamental to the complex web of meanings inherent in the work. Mythology is a complex symbolic metalanguage, the meaning of which has evolved over time, adapting to its socio-cultural context. In Shakespeare's "Macbeth" the witches are strongly associated with…

This paper is concerned with how refugee stories can be used as the means of exploring values and developing intercultural understanding in the English classroom. To illustrate this possibility, André Dao's (2005) "Vuot Bien--The Search for Freedom: Huong Thi Nguen's Story," about the impact of war and oppression on…

Molly Poland is a first year English and Home Economics teacher who began her career in a small Far North Queensland town. In this article, she writes about her first year teaching and the last year of her degree and the challenges she faced as both teacher and student. Reading Boomer's "Negotiating the Curriculum" forced her to…

In this article, Marion Meiers reflects on the often-cited address "Literacy: The Epic Challenge Beyond Progressivism" by Garth Boomer at the 1989 joint National Conference of the Australian Reading Association (now the Australian Literacy Educator's Association) and the Australian Association for the Teaching of English at Darin…

In order to adequately prepare students for the summative requirements of Year 12, tertiary education and life beyond school, it is essential that all students are equipped with the literary skills necessary for discerning ideas, evaluating perspectives and appreciating texts within their world (Queensland Studies Authority, 2010, p. 29). Such…

In this paper JoAnne Reid explains why she is confident about the benefits of programming, and uses this opportunity to reflect upon Garth Boomer's influence on her own teaching practice. Reid adds "I think more theoretically about programming in my own situation of practice--teacher education." Using Boomer's own work on…

John Mayer, Adjunct Professor of English Education at Lehman College, City University of New York, and Professor Emeritus of English Education at New York University, begins by saying that he still Misses Garth Boomer, and has known no other friend or colleague with whom he has had more stimulating professional and personal conversations. Garth…

In the conceptual triumvirate of "language," "literacy" and "literature" that have been central to thinking about English curriculum--indeed, are the overarching organisers for the "Australian Curriculum: English"--that which received possibly the least attention from Garth Boomer was literature. This paper…

Garth Boomer's democratic and often provocative vision for English teaching continues to play an important part in the professional development of English teachers. In particular, Boomer's work is often used by Teacher Educators in preservice degrees to introduce emerging English teachers to key ideas such as curriculum negotiation and…

Garth Boomer's thinking influenced many of those working in school English during the time he was alive. The ripple effects of his legacy continue to be felt. For the author, it is Boomer's interests in metaphor and meaning that resonate most. The use of tropes and figure is a distinctive feature of his writing and offers a rich…