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)

Discusses the author's success in teaching English. Describes his experiences in achievement, including what has sometimes felt like a slow and even painful process of professional development. Presents an outline of a unit that illustrates a movement through approaches: from personal growth type activities, to post-structuralist and critical…

Shows what it was like for the author to move from teaching in a secondary school in Victoria, Australia to tutoring English for Academic Purposes in a university in London. Concludes that her identity as an English teacher had a new dimension--she had really entered into the world of both Academic English and Higher Education. (SG)

Responds to Garth Boomer's classic 1984 essay on English teaching. Notes that the essay (1) enabled the author to articulate what he found disengaging about the essay and much of the current professional writing on English teaching; (2) clarified what he most valued in his colleagues; and (3) clarified his understanding of the purpose of the…

Suggests that the big issues surrounding a project like STELLA (Standards for Teachers of English Language and Literacy in Australia) can be viewed in three dimensions: the doubt that literacy teaching can be reduced to a checklist; whether teaching is synonymous with "curriculum delivery"; and the best way to articulate the values of…

Examines a sample of four English/literacy education texts dealing with technology published or distributed in Australia in 2001. Concludes that the authors and editors of these texts have created new spaces in which English/literacy teachers can play by helping them to look at different versions and combinations of teaching, learning, and…

In this article, the author reflects on the use of research to inform teaching in Statement Five of the Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE) "Statements of Belief". Statement 5 says, "We use research and evidence to inform teaching practice and improve the learning of students." All educational research is…

Contains a pull out section of ideas, activities, and resources useful to elementary and secondary teachers instructing students on writing for magazines, what to do with the mass media, how to plan field trips, and how to stimulate exercises by presenting sense experiences. (RB)

Concludes that the majority of Australia's teachers colleges have adapted to the need for literature courses that prepare students to be teachers rather than scholars. (Author/RB)

Suggests resources, activities, and materials for use in teaching poetry, drama, and literature classes. (RB)

Contains suggestions for materials, activities, and resources that will improve the language skills of elementary and secondary school students. (RB)

Argues that the secondary English classroom needs writing that explores women's feelings, experiences, and needs; that adolescent girls not only must have active engagements as readers with such texts, but they must also struggle to achieve the same sort of openness and exploration in their own writing. (HOD)

Describes a lesson designed to help children explore their fears and to discuss and write about them. (TO)

Provides a basic reading skills and spelling check list and a basic sight vocabulary list. (TO)

Whereas some self-assessment activities are based on a limiting view of the self, other self-assessment activities may be useful in helping students develop. (HOD)