Mutual support and dialogue across secondary and tertiary English is vital work in urgent times. In this article, the authors examine Australia's secondary-tertiary English education nexus, building on previous scholarship to explore points of connection and disconnection with a view to identifying sustainable ways of supporting points of…

This paper documents shifts in English teachers' knowledges and practices as a consequence of their involvement in a jointly funded Griffith University and Queensland Department of Education English Teacher as Writers Project. The pilot research uses an exploratory case study methodology to explore what works when it comes to challenging teachers…

This article tells the story of two projects initiated by the University of Tasmania's English program, which were designed to investigate and improve the pathway from pre-tertiary to tertiary English studies in the state: the First Year English Survey (2012-2014) and the Teaching of English in Tasmania Community of Practice (TETCoP). The authors…

John Mayer, Adjunct Professor of English Education at Lehman College, City University of New York, and Professor Emeritus of English Education at New York University, begins by saying that he still Misses Garth Boomer, and has known no other friend or colleague with whom he has had more stimulating professional and personal conversations. Garth…

Design based research (DBR) is an appropriate method for small scale educational research projects involving collaboration between teachers, students and researchers. It is particularly useful in collaborative projects where an intervention is implemented and evaluated in a grounded context. The intervention can be technological, or a new program…

Many of Shakespeare's plays involve mythological symbolism that is fundamental to the complex web of meanings inherent in the work. Mythology is a complex symbolic metalanguage, the meaning of which has evolved over time, adapting to its socio-cultural context. In Shakespeare's "Macbeth" the witches are strongly associated with Lady…

As educators encounter a policy landscape where increasingly the education lexicon includes keywords such as data, evidence, quality, and standards, it is interesting to revisit Garth Boomer's contribution regarding teachers as researchers. In "Fair Dinkum Teaching and Learning," Boomer (1985) clearly named at least two key problems that…

Aboriginal literacy is a difficult area of education with no neat answer; rather, a multifaceted approach to improving Aboriginal students' outcomes is needed. This article focuses on bringing Aboriginal perspectives and voices into the classroom; using the tools of multiliteracies and scaffolding literacy techniques; and being able to accommodate…

While perceptions that the roles of teacher and teacher educator as an oppositional binary are being challenged, sustaining and incorporating both professional identities has presented challenges. This paper presents a narrative account of my professional identity journey, including a description of a partnership that enabled boundaries to be…

In this article, the author reflects on statement six of the Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE) "Statements of Belief". Statement 6 says, "We are committed to ongoing learning communities especially through active participation in a range of professional communities." The author discusses this statement…

In this article, the author reflects on the use of research to inform teaching in Statement Five of the Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE) "Statements of Belief". Statement 5 says, "We use research and evidence to inform teaching practice and improve the learning of students." All educational research is…