An historical examination of literature teaching between the years 1897 and 1940 reveals four interest group positions that played a part in the development of literature teaching as it is known today: humanists, social efficiency educators, developmentalists, and social meliorists. During the early 1900s, those operating from an essentially…

This paper presents an outline of the purpose and methodology of a proposed study to investigate the teaching of black literature in selected secondary schools in Virginia. Black literature will be defined as fiction, drama, poetry, and nonfiction written by black American writers. The use of black literature in the curriculum of the selected…

Examination of the history of secondary school English elective curricula--from their development and growth between 1962 and 1968, through their refinement and variation between 1968 and 1972, to their critical examination and decline between 1972 and 1977--can be summarized in six points. First, the curriculum was a logical development springing…

This report is the result of a three-year survey of uniform course numbering systems across the nation, conducted by a committee created by the Conference on College Composition and Communication. It describes the establishment of the committee and then provides an overview of the responses to the survey from the 50 states. This is followed by an…

The key ideas developed by the Writing across the Curriculum Project begun at the University of London in 1965 center on the ways in which discourse is acquired by children in a psycholinguistic sense. Among those ideas are (1) knowledge is socially determined through the interweaving of individual consciousnesses, each of which is busy construing…

Discusses the concepts of play and imagination and how these shape personal development and the knowledge gained through experience with reading and writing. (SRT)

The relationship between the curriculum, especially English, and popular music is explored. A review of research is presented, curricular changes are suggested, the role of English teachers is examined, and critical analysis of popular trends is advocated (f=fiche number). (MH)

The middle school program emerged against a backdrop of criticism, awareness of changing educational necessities and values, and new insights into the needs of the middle range of the student population. The precocity of youth mixed with the pseudo-sophistication of adulthood gives the middle school its reason for existence--the…

Stressing the importance of choosing either a child-centered or a subject-centered orientation in developing a children's literature program, this paper discusses the characteristics of child-centered and subject-centered approaches to literature and then focuses on the dominant literary theories of structuralism and revisionism. Maintaining that…

This paper challenges notions of gendered game playing practice implicit in much research into young women's involvement with the computer gaming culture. It draws on a study of Australian teenagers playing "The Sims Deluxe" as part of an English curriculum unit and insights from feminist media studies to explore relationships between…

This book offers teachers a convenient means of broadening their understanding of reader response theory and criticism and applying this theory to the teaching of literature in high school and college classrooms. The book is designed to arouse individual teachers' interest in reader response theory and encourage them to apply it to their teaching.…

The current literary tradition observes a canon of hierarchies, a ranking of great writers and genres, that tends to exclude or downgrade women and lower caste males. The response of feminist scholars to this state of affairs falls into two general categories: the first is to find great women authors to fit into the canon on its own terms; the…

Reflecting concerns for the present state of and current trends in English education on an international scope, the articles in these conference proceedings focus on the multicultural environment, teacher education, and research in English instruction. Following an opening address on the past and future of English teaching, the remaining articles…

Reviews adolescent literature, by Black female writers, that features young Black female protagonists. Discusses how the reading of ethnic literature, and the situations and people they present, can expand the cultural awareness of all students. (MS)

Provides a background of response theory, two Canadian perspectives on response theory, a description of transactional response theory and response-centered curriculum, a discussion of the concepts of participant and spectator roles in literature and of the idea of narration and storying as literature, and a discussion of analysis and criticism.…