Disruptions to learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic have been one of the most concerning consequences of school closures in Australia during 2020. Carefully planned curriculum sequences and learning progressions were flipped into online formats, with teachers having very little time to prepare and students being unused to learning away from each…

It was week three of the first semester of the author's Master of Teaching degree at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and already lecturers were talking about first assignments. In the English method unit, students were required to write a reflective autobiographical narrative inquiring into particular critical incidents from past…

Garth Boomer's thinking influenced many of those working in school English during the time he was alive. The ripple effects of his legacy continue to be felt. For the author, it is Boomer's interests in metaphor and meaning that resonate most. The use of tropes and figure is a distinctive feature of his writing and offers a rich…

This article was written as an auto ethnography, which allowed for a complex and personal exploration of professional standards, teachers' professional identities, neoliberal reforms, and approaches to literacy and creativity. This article reflects on a practicum which involved teaching Romeo and Juliet to two year nine classes at an all boys'…

The need for English and literacy curriculum to connect with young people's lifeworlds to build bridges and frames of reference that connect traditional English curriculum with digital texts and literacies, are increasing priorities in curriculum frameworks in Australia and elsewhere. This paper reports on a project in which the authors worked…

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…

Speculates about the performative aspect of Charles Marowitz's generalization regarding academically based and performance based usage of canonical or non canonical text. Defines what makes a canonical text and uses Shakespeare's "King Lear" as a vehicle for addressing ways in which performance might challenge, and seek to open out,…

Terence Rattigan is writer of psychological dramas whose unique works focus on the psychological issues and emotional conflicts of his characters. An analysis of three of Rattigan's most popular and influential works--"The Winslow Boy, Separate Tables, Ross"--highlights Rattigan's Romantic Realist focus on universal personal issues and…

Takes a "snapshot" of a senior Literature class to see how all the participants--including the teacher--developed greater sophistication in their reading skills, while simultaneously cultivating their pleasure and appreciation of more challenging texts. Explores other aspects of the "interpretive community" of the classroom,…

Contends that play scripts are written to be performed and that a critical response to a play should reflect the fact that the script is a blueprint for a live happening. Proposes that students need to study a play both in the theatre and as written text. Explores aspects of Shakespeare's plays as performed theatrical works. (PM)

Presents annotations of nine books (or sets of books) published between 1990 and 1997 that look at ways in which Shakespeare can be presented and explored in English or Drama classes. (NH)

Offers nine questions that secondary school English teachers need to answer when considering the place of dramatic works in the curriculum. (RL)

Argues that the teachers' role in teaching Shakespeare is to raise questions that will alert the class to the implications in the text. (HOD)

Outlines the author's history as an English teacher. Suggests that English teaching is not hermetic but profoundly influenced by educational trends outside the subject itself. Explains that the author's commitment to English combines a sense of engagement with a sense of liberation. (PM)

Describes an assignment for the study of Shakespeare's "King Lear" in which the students were to take a small section they thought thematically important and describe clearly how the page should be read and performed. (HOD)