This article is a critique of current approaches to the teaching and assessment of writing in schools in the UK. Successive government initiatives, most particularly the latest (impoverished) version of the English curriculum, are seen as having led to a situation in which pupils are taught in a way that does not improve the quality of their…

This article considers questions surrounding the teaching of writing "from different cultures and traditions", in the context of debates over multiculturalism in Britain today, and contends that English teachers have a vital role to play in the survival and flourishing of multicultural British society. In view of the self-consciously…

In the light of international interest in teachers' literate identities and practices, this paper addresses the under-researched area of teachers' writing identities. It examines the multimodal interactive discursive practices at play in the writing classroom of a teacher in the UK who, in order to support the pupils, consciously positions herself…

Suggests the challenge that genre theory presents to educators in the United Kingdom is whether to avoid it because others have reported the dangers or whether to grapple with it and discover what insights might be found. Argues that genre theory is not a method of teaching writing alone: it relates to each language activity. (RS)

Considers the schools of thought in language and learning, and examines how their theories and propositions affect teachers. Characterizes the teacher as a professional manager and discusses what it means to be such a person. Investigates what managers and teachers know and need to know-in-practice. (KEH)