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…

While teachers of English have long recognised the vital role they play in developing students' knowledge and effective use of language, the emergence of the Australian Curriculum: English has led to a great deal of discussion concerning the representation of language and the type of meta-language needed to share understandings of literacy…

A national survey of senior secondary English curriculum content has confirmed that contemporary literature predominates among set texts, being seen as an "essential" category for study because of its "relevance" in helping students "understand the world in which they live." Perhaps uncontentious -- depending on the…

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…

Modern secondary courses in English differ from classical tradition in their tendency to avoid direct instruction in the content and style of writing. Such avoidance is partly a function of anxieties about the role of English in students' personal development and a fear of limiting their self expression. Neither of the dominant writing pedagogies…

This paper draws on a case study undertaken by an English teacher in a rural school with a Year 12 English class, most of whom had been singularly unsuccessful in terms of NCEA achievement. The case study was undertaken as part of a two-year project, directed by the first author, entitled: "Teachers as writers: Transforming professional identity…

In this article, the author reflects on keynotes by Debra Myhill and Wayne Sawyer in a search for ways with grammar. One of the keynote speakers, Debra Myhill, shared her research into teaching grammar that she had conducted in the UK. Myhill had asked a sample of teachers to follow a specified unit plan and had conducted pre- and post-testing to…

The place of grammar in an English or literacy curriculum has long been a source of debate, one in which professionals, politicians and the public have often engaged with unbridled enthusiasm. As such, the debate has sometimes been characterised more by ideology or polemic, than by intellectual engagement with the core ideas. In part, this is…

The extent to which our students, and indeed we, are manipulated by popular culture and a normative perception of an ideal way to be is an issue of increasing import. The changes we make to our teaching to engage students in this issue must be conducive to meaningful learning and subsequent academic achievement. The changes we make are based on…

The current version of the draft National Curriculum (1.0.1) remains a document which dis-integrates the subject through its three strands and fails to conceptualise a relationship between these strands. Drawing on curriculum history, I argue that this stands in strong contrast to a curriculum such as the 1971 NSW Syllabus for Years 7-10, which…

This article provides an introduction to the kind of computer software that is used to score student writing in some high stakes testing programs, and that is being promoted as a teaching and learning tool to schools. It sketches the state of play with machines for the scoring of writing, and describes how these machines work and what they do.…

This paper reports on one strand of a research project conducted with prominent writers who are also English teachers from around Australia. It asks what were the conditions which led these writers to come to writing and what conditions have they created in their own work with high school students that establish and promote an enabling pedagogy…

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…

Reports what experienced English teachers believed were the shared characteristics of the reluctant writers they had encountered. Suggests some strategies that may help engage reluctant writers. Shows that reluctant writers have a variety of beliefs about writing and themselves as writers. Suggests that stronger and more direct interventions…

Describes a summer writing course by presenting a diary embellished with writing exercises, a course guide, a list of writing activities that can be taken as starters, and assessments. Discusses how each participant is asked to create a text about a city which has a considerable visual presence, and to explore stereotypical and mythical versions…