Digital reading technologies may be intuitively appealing. They offer many possibilities, including great potential for interactivity around books, portability of whole libraries in one small reading unit, and almost instant satisfaction of demand for a particular book. Though there is limited research exploring the appeal of digital reading for…

Garth Boomer's ideas in "Negotiating the Curriculum" (1992a) resonate with discussions of shifting teacher and student roles and relationships in the "student voice" movement. Boomer (1988) critiqued his earlier conception of power in "Negotiating the Curriculum," asserting that he would "now like to write a…

This article relates aspects of my investigation into the effects of two differing approaches to teaching comprehension of narrative texts on students' task engagement and text enjoyment, and comprehension. The results demonstrate a complex relationship between engagement and comprehension. They highlight that academically weaker students…

In Years 8 and 9 of secondary school Josh was a self-confessed troublemaker who hated school, frequently truanted and was at risk of early leaving. In year 9, a teacher invited him to join the "Scaly Survivors" program operating at his school. By year 11 Josh was the student leader in that program and a mentor to younger students. In…

This study investigated the engagement with writing of reluctant writers in the contexts of home and school. A structured and semi-structured survey method was used to capture responses from 106 reluctant writers in 9 primary schools (age range 6--9 year olds) in the UK. Findings show that although these students were deemed to be reluctant…

This paper reflects one cycle of an action research project that investigated how integrating activity, competition, and visual learning strategies through IWB/ Smart Response technology could engage a lower level Year 12 Advanced English class in NSW--a group of boys who felt disconnected from the course of study. After my initial reconnaissance…

The English teaching profession, spurred on by media and federal politics, has tended to construct aesthetic reading and political reading within a dichotomous conceptual framework (Morgan, 1997; Devine, 2004; Donnelly, 2007). The article argues that this need not be so, and that the two apparently opposed modes of reading can be performed not…

The relationship between home and school is often raised in public discussion about boys' education as an aspect of boys' overall lower achievement in school, and particularly in literacy, relative to girls. A critical review of two influential Australian and one UK government commissioned reports into boys' education sets the scene for our…

Explores how to use computers more effectively to enhance the learning process. Describes results of a survey given to Australian secondary students about classroom computer use. Suggests that more use be made of e-mail as a communication and learning tool. Proposes that teachers become more proactive in explaining to students and developing with…

Presents a reflection on the processes that led to the writing and reading one of the poems from a work-in-progress, "Crossing the Border." Connects the author's writing experience to his teaching practice, supposedly with an underlying belief that there must be a nexus. Concludes that above all, he seeks to stimulate, even provoke, students into…

Argues for the use of student voice as pedagogical text in the English classroom. Produces texts written for young people as a means of placing on the agenda issues which matter to them. Suggests that such voices can be used productively and powerfully in the English classroom to articulate other ways of seeing and being in the world. (SG)

Reports on the findings of a pilot study investigating the reading choices and habits of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15 years. Sets out to understand more fully what, when, where, why and how adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15 years are reading, and the implications of this information for teachers and classroom reading pedagogy.…

Highlights key findings of a study of secondary school boys' literate lives in and out of school. Suggests boys valued school in general and reading in particular, and that they pursued literate activities out of school in interesting and complex ways. Notes they often rejected school-based reading because it was not characterized by qualities of…

Notes that teaching literature in a Technical and Further Education setting presents its own special set of problems and paradoxes not usually encountered by teachers in more conventional classrooms. Discusses students and their literature experiences; impact of the canon on teaching; and influence of modern literary theory on the reader-text…

Describes a set of units to help teachers guide secondary students in an exploration and mastery of aspects of argument. Looks at the design of these teaching/learning materials. Notes evaluations from teachers in six secondary schools who tried the units over two years. Describes one teacher's experiment with the revised material. Reflects on why…