This paper reports a small-scale study of wider reading at Key Stage 3 in current English classrooms in secondary schools in the south of England. Six English teachers, three of whom were relatively new to teaching, were interviewed on what they thought about wider reading. The findings indicate that because of a lack of time and absence of demand…

The Bullock Report, published in 1975, described English teaching practices in England and offered recommendations for improving those practices. This paper examines the background of the report and discusses topics in the report that are of particular interest to Americans, including the setting and monitoring of reading and writing standards,…