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Why should young people study a subject called English? This question lies at the heart of this fascinating monograph, which brings together the diverse perspectives of many leading thinkers about English and literacy education. This meticulously researched and well-written collection takes as its starting point the importance of the history of the subject in the formation of its constitution and its boundaries. First and foremost, it proposes that questions of aims and values have informed these choices. Equally, it suggests that returning to these educational questions helps us to understand curriculum and pedagogy in complex ways that a simple focus on content and methods neglects. Curriculum and pedagogy bring learners, teachers, institutions and the wider society into the debate.>
List of contents
Acknowledgements Chapter 1 Why English? Rethinking The School Subject (Viv Ellis, With Carol Fox And Brian Street) Section 1: How History And Politics Have Shaped English Teaching Chapter 2 The Picture Of Development In Vygotskyan Theory: Renewing The Intellectual Project Of English (Tony Burgess) Chapter 3 Deep Winters, Invincible Summers: Teaching English For Existential Purposes (Bob Fecho, With Kristi Amatucci; Sarah Skinner) Chapter 4 English In The History Of Imperialism: Teaching The Empire How To Read (Patrick Walsh) Chapter 5 - Individual, Community And Society: A Response To Section 1 (Janet Laugharne) Section 2: Culture As A Verb: Teaching Literatures Chapter 6 - How Critical Is The Aesthetic? The Role Of Literature In English (Ray Misson And Wendy Morgan) Chapter 7 - History, War And Politics: Taking 'Comix' Seriously (Carol Fox) Chapter 8 - 'The Uncreating Word': Some Ways Not To Teach English (Joy Alexander) Chapter 9 - Refreshing The Aesthetic: A Response To Section 2 (Sue Dymoke) Section 3: Language(S), Multiple Literacies And The Question Of English Chapter 10 The New Literacy Studies And Multimodality: Implications For The Subject And The Language 'English' (Brian Street) Chapter 11 Resisting Monolingualism In 'English': Reading And Writing The Politics Of Language (Bruce Horner And Min-Zhan Lu) Chapter 12 English As A Multilingual Subject: Theoretical And Research Perspectives (Janina Brutt-Griffler And James Collins) Chapter 13 The Multiple Languages And Literacies Of English: A Response To Section 3 (Suzanne M. Miller) Chapter 14 More Than 'Soldiering On? (Viv Ellis) Afterword by Shirley Brice Heath
About the author
Brian Street is Professor of Language in Education at King's College, London, UK, and Visiting Professor of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, USA.
Carol Fox was formerly Reader in English Education at the University of Brighton, UK. Her research on young children's oral storytelling and the literature of war and peace in education has been widely influential.
Viv Ellis is Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Education at Monash University, Australia.
