This paper draws on a survey conducted in 2020-21 in which 163 secondary English teachers in England named a total of 68 individual poems by poets of colour from the global majority which they taught in Key Stage 3 (students aged 11-14). Using the concepts of framing and mental schemas, we categorised these poems by considering which was the most…

Previous research suggests that students can use exploratory talk to support their thinking and learning. However, students' own perspectives on such talk, and whether/how they value it, are rarely sought. Thirty 12-year-olds and their teacher used Talk Factory on an interactive whiteboard and iPads to support exploratory talk in English lessons…

This paper theoretically demonstrates the potential of textual space in making an important contribution to school ethos and cultural pedagogy. It demonstrates how culturally-inclusive (representational) textual space can be expanded throughout the school and could contribute to social justice and decolonisation efforts beyond the English…

In this study, we used Conceptual Metaphor Theory (henceforth CMT) for the benefit of English for Academic Purposes' teaching and learning. CMT underpins how in metaphorical expressions, one concept is understood in terms of another. We argue that CMT can help students understand and master argumentation skills and essay structure, although there…

This paper considers alternative ways of teaching Romantic poetry to post-sixteen English Literature pupils in England. It explores how practitioners can value tangents developed by pupils' independent thinking when pupils are given the freedom to develop their own ideas. It reflects on a lesson planned to respond to a tangent developed by the…

While speaking, reading and writing are identified in the Newbolt Report as components of English and are still acknowledged as such one hundred years later, Reading Aloud, which the Report ranks alongside them, is no longer accorded any prominence. The Newbolt Report connects Reading Aloud with literature and announces it as a method of…

This paper considers Daljit Nagra's engagement with concepts of canon and tradition in "British Museum" (2017). Throughout the collection, Nagra provides readers with a multifaceted insight into the ways in which a plurality of 'cultures' and 'traditions' -- literary, historical, political, religious -- inform contemporary notions of…

This paper reflects on the teaching of the unseen poetry element of the English Literature GCSE in 2022. It explores the author's reflections on the successes and limitations of using a less structured approach with a single Year 11 class, concluding that the pedagogies outlined were more successful than previous iterations in terms of pupil…

This arts-based research explores the place of creativity in the lives of a focus group of teachers of English in an English secondary school who work within an increasingly performative educational system. As well as interrogating the place of creativity in their lives, the study explores how found poetry can be used as a research method to…

The nature of English as a school subject -- and particularly English literature -- is a longstanding issue of debate for practitioners and researchers internationally. One dimension of this concerns the forces that shape the diet of literary texts that students are fed. In this study, we draw on the ecological model of agency to interrogate the…

This case study explores how literature, in particular poetry, can be used as an educational platform within the secondary classroom to explore gender identity. A six-week unit of poetry was created as part of a broader project to enable pupils to reflect on their personal and familial experiences of gender, whilst also utilising creative writing…

This article takes Margaret Meek Spencer's 1988 pamphlet "How Texts Teach What Readers Learn" to frame a discussion about the purpose of English Literature in English secondary schools. The primary data informing this article is taken from original interviews with ten Heads of English departments in English secondary schools. Henri…

This article reviews Margaret Meek Spencer's body of work in relation to the various policies that she critiqued from the Bullock Report in 1974 to the National Literacy Strategy in 2004. She analysed increasingly conservative moves to promote a dominant, elitist version of school literacy. A Critical Realist perspective aligns with Margaret Meek…

The teaching of reading has been a source of contentious debate for many years. Margaret Meek Spencer contributed her passion for the importance of specific texts to help children learn to read. In addition to the kinds of texts to be used, important aspects of the debate include the relationship between national curriculum policies and robust…

This case study examines the effects of collaborative, drama-focused activities on the cognitive understanding, social inclusion and empowerment of eight Year 8 students whilst studying "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Each student chose a leadership responsibility throughout their five project-based research lessons, and the majority of…