In an attempt to control the spread of COVID-19 in Australia in 2020 state and territory governments mandated the closing of schools for all but vulnerable children and the children of frontline workers in various parts of Australia for various lengths of time. In what follows, five English teachers from across Australia reflect on the everyday…

Reflecting on a day of dangerous bushfire conditions in NSW, I recount my leadership responsibilities as a principal, highlighting the shaping force of my English teaching past in my response to certain managerial demands that I faced. I illustrate how the sense of ethical responsibility and a commitment to openness that came to define my…

The 1966 Anglo-American Seminar at Dartmouth certainly stands as a landmark event in the history of English teaching. For the purposes of this Special Issue, however, I want to unsettle some familiar interpretations of Dartmouth by reading with and against a range of American responses to the conference published in the late 1960s and 1970s. As an…

In this article, the author reflects on keynotes by Debra Myhill and Wayne Sawyer in a search for ways with grammar. One of the keynote speakers, Debra Myhill, shared her research into teaching grammar that she had conducted in the UK. Myhill had asked a sample of teachers to follow a specified unit plan and had conducted pre- and post-testing to…

In late 2011, the author was approached by Garry Collins, the president of ETAQ, to deliver a keynote for ETAQ for their first meeting in March 2012. The reflections presented in this article have been drawn from the transcript of that presentation. The reflections focus mainly on implementing the Australian curriculum--English. (Contains 1 note.)

How might a tertiary English teacher use Garth Boomer's ideas on "teaching against the grain" to challenge the rules and assumptions that dominate the Academic Language and Learning (ALL) industry in the university sector today? How might such a teacher use Boomer's ideas to enact "emancipatory pedagogies" (or something like…

In this article, the author shares her experience when she wrote a poem anonymously to an English teacher, who never mentioned the poem, nor gave the tiniest suggestion that the teacher read or received it. In reflection, the author thinks that she had developed her personal and emotional literacy by composing a poem which might not have been very…

I have been an English teacher for 38 (gulp!) years. For over 20 of those I have taught "English methods" courses in initial teacher education programs. As the retirement light glows increasingly brighter at the end of my career pathway, I reflect on three aspects of teaching English that have been--and remain--the cornerstones of my…

English teacher educators' commitment to Deweyan progressivism has cost them in recent years. It has contributed to their being pushed to the margins when it comes to serious, top-level discussions about the direction of American education. This essay reexamines the case for progressivism and its relevance as an element of CEE's ongoing effort to…

The current version of the draft National Curriculum (1.0.1) remains a document which dis-integrates the subject through its three strands and fails to conceptualise a relationship between these strands. Drawing on curriculum history, I argue that this stands in strong contrast to a curriculum such as the 1971 NSW Syllabus for Years 7-10, which…

Readers of "English in Australia" are well aware of the genesis and development of Standards for Teachers of English Language and Literacy in Australia (STELLA), since its evolution has been extensively documented in this journal, beginning in 1999 with Margaret Gill's call to arms to the profession, "If we don't do it someone else…

This article presents the author's reflection on Statement 4 of the Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE) "Statements of Belief". The statements attempt to outline beliefs about what might form the most important work of Australian English teachers. The author explores Statement 4, which heralds: "We are…

A critical/creative paradigm in contemporary English carries with it an imperative that students should be given opportunities for deep engagement with texts relevant to what matters in their everyday lives. In this paper, I argue that the materiality of everyday life includes the physical and geographic places where we live. When students live in…

In this article, the author shares her practicum experience in a nine-month English program and a gruelling assessment schedule for her other five subjects. During her practicum several incidents occurred that caused a shift in the way she perceives the role of an English teacher, and they have informed her English teaching practices. She reflects…

In this article, the author reflects on keywords in Statement Two of the Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE) "Statements of Belief". The second statement says, "We believe students come to understand themselves and their work through engagement with a range of cultures and the ways these cultures represent…