Rurality is an identified point of disadvantage in measures such as the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) and school resourcing models. However, socioeconomic disadvantage is commonly used as an explanation for lower average student achievement in rural locations. Thus, policies are often directed towards reducing disadvantage…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to re-center playfulness as a humanizing approach in teacher education. As teachers navigate the current moment of heightened control, surveillance, and systemic inequity, these proposed moves in teacher education can be transgressive. Rather than play as relegated to childhood or infancy, what does it look…

Audiobooks have been growing in popularity over the last decade. Although researchers have increasingly recognised the value of audiobooks as rich multimodal texts that support literacy engagement in classrooms, there have been few detailed pictures of classroom practice related to audiobooks. In this practitioner narrative, a secondary English…

Although disabled people encounter discrimination in almost every facet of life -- such as employment, housing, education, healthcare, and transportation -- disability is often missing from conversations regarding social justice. Disability-related discussion (DRD) in English Language Arts (ELA) offers an inroad to having students view disability…

In this conceptual essay, the author argues that computational methods and computer science more broadly should be embedded into English education programs. Positing that computational methods can deepen and expand the way literature is already taught in many English education programs and secondary English classrooms, the author first makes a…

The purpose of this article is to present the findings of a qualitative content analysis of historical documents related to the teaching of literature. Through a social semiotics framework, we analyzed 10 national standards documents in the field of secondary English. Our analysis details the evolution of the standards paradigm for teaching…

Attainment grouping is a prevalent yet controversial practice, used in most English schools and on the rise internationally, despite evidence that it is detrimental to the majority of pupils. In England, no data is routinely recorded regarding these practices, and most research on student outcomes depends on a simplistic dichotomy between pupils…

The educational transformation of flipped classroom continues to be the important approach to increasing students' readiness for flipped learning. To successfully implement the flipped classroom, students' readiness to use the materials delivered to them in the pre-class session and parent-school involvement should be part of the process to…

In this study, I explored how a high school English class's multimodal project broadened student and teacher participation. Previous research has established that multimodal composing expands the nature of classroom texts, opens opportunities for identity expression, and extends access to audiences. Less is known about how affordances work…

In this essay, I explain how I switched the lens of my sophomore research unit to one that focuses on rural issues. This essay follows the unit from beginning to end. I explain what I do to raise awareness through the use of daily articles along with providing models for their own research. The essay then details the writing portion and how it has…

Middle school teachers at a rural site in a western state have faced problems in implementing Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts (ELA), as well as in resolving achievement gaps in ELA between regular education students, special education (SPED) students, English language learners (ELL), and at-risk students. The purpose…

Purpose: This study aims to discuss the ethical and political possibilities offered by the presence of teaching artists (TAs) and visual artwork in racially and culturally diverse high school literacy (English Language Arts) classrooms. Design/methodology/approach: This study explores episodes from two separate ethnographic studies that were…

Purpose: Digital texts are increasingly widespread and research is needed on how students use digital texts, particularly in school-based classwork. The purpose of this study is to challenges persistent myths about young people's affinity with digital tools by investigating the factors that condition or limit the ways students interact with and…

This article describes a community action student- led project that features authentic writing and engagement to increase motivation. The article highlights important instructional strategies for implementing community action projects and the resulting student learning. The article concludes with the authors' reflections and observations.

Large-scale assessments have become a basic national policy for educational improvement encouraging standards, decentralisation and school accountability. The current study focuses on the pedagogical dimension of large-scale assessments, examining its uses as a policy instrument for effecting pedagogical change. The paper presents and discusses…