Category: Uncategorized
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Few departments have a proper curriculum of knowledge (in English at least) – as a formal, single document. But when this is in place, it can be reformatted in different ways…
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There are many artifacts that have an a-priori structure to their design. Almost all text books contain at the beginning, an introduction, a contents page, chapters, glossary, an index and references. This makes perfect sense, but of course is a structure that has only become common and expected through evolution and repetition of the form.…
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Something I will do from time to time with students is to ‘exchange the text’; Drop the novel we’re reading and undertake an Barthesian Mythologies style of investigation. Barthes explored how cultural artifacts such as boxing matches, cars, public figures, steak and chips… He showed that any cultural artifacts before from the same analytical vocabulary…
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A recent Facebook post asked the question, does the meaning of a book belong to the reader or the author. This is very much the kind of debate about Literature that students should be trained to engage with. The following is exactly the kind of objective that I think students of Literature should be regularly…
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I’m extremely pleased to announce that an article I have been working in for a few years has succeeded at academic review, has been approved by the editor and is now published by Taylor and Francis! Methodological facts associated with literature; a style guide for secondary‑level literature analysis in replacement of PEE-esk strategies: English in…
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I’m proud to announce that my first manuscript has been approved by peer review and accepted for publication! I’ll announce the publisher and link to the paper when it’s available, but for now today is momentous. The paper reflects 20 years of teaching and validates a large proportion of the curriculum I have been prototyping.…
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Contemporary English classrooms often risk collapsing the discipline into the act of reading a set text. When the novel becomes the central experience rather than the material through which disciplinary thinking is developed, opportunities for explicit language instruction diminish. This article argues that English must be understood not as the passive consumption of literary works,…
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Literature lesson 101 now contains a simple video introduction to the learning objectives. It marks the first video empowered lesson, and could be something that continues to be developed across the virtual department. https://disciplineofenglish.co.uk/welcome-to-discipline-of-english/discipline-of-literature/literature-1xx-factual-knowledge/literature-lesson-101/
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The intention of these workbooks is to replace the traditional blank notebook with the key learning already populated; learning objectives, key concept and vocabulary. This knowledge is important enough that it is accurate within their notes and divergence across the class only compounds divergence of attainment and progress. By having it hard-coded into the very…
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Reader-Response theory has now been developed into a lesson within the Literature curriculum. Like all critical theory, they are tough, but the aim of DoE is to make them accessible to everyone.
