My thoughts on the question of 'Textuality as the Centre of English' were presented at a Roundtable session at the 2020 International Federation for the Teaching of English (IFTE) Conference. Through critical discourse analysis of media and curriculum texts, I highlight how the 'being' of the English subjects is always and already textual in…

This article was originally published in "English in Australia," number 5, 1967. The text is Professor A. D. Hope's presidential address to the Australian Association for the Teaching of English from April, 1967. It manifests his concern for the state of English teaching in Australia.

There is a persistent view that reading Shakespeare's writings is automatically 'good' for student learning, and its persistence can be traced back to the beginnings of the modern education system as a tool of British imperialism. This article argues that his plays challenge audiences and readers in ways that can represent barriers to learning. In…

This article presents an account of a panel on English teacher agency in Australia at the 2020 IFTE conference, held virtually as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The article introduces the way the panel chair set up the concerns of the panel, providing relevant background, theoretical framing, and introductions to the panellists and the key…

English teachers have long stood at the intersection of helping young people to read the 'word' and read the 'world' through rich learning experiences that tap into diverse literature, literacy and language practices with purpose, creativity and flair. However, given the complex set of crises facing young people, English curriculum and pedagogy…

The subject of English offers a unique context to embed Indigenous perspectives for the benefit of all students through its availability and variety of text choices. Currently, the New South Wales (NSW) English Syllabus requires teachers to include texts which provide 'insights into Aboriginal experiences in Australia' (NESA, 2012). With no…

Teaching Australian Gothic as a system of literary analysis can be challenging. Often linked to imprecise concepts that are difficult to identify, Australian Gothic is regularly reduced to 'something weird' or 'just a feeling'. However, the Gothic mode in Australia has established itself as an effective approach and developed some clear strategies…

The power of the coloniser within colonial Australia is clear when we consider how central to the teaching and learning and schooling in Australia is the privileging of Standard Australian English. Prior to 1788, the peoples and the lands of this country were abound with languages. That was until the coloniser exerted their power and insisted on a…

This workshop was presented as an introduction to the forthcoming AATE text: "Listening from the Heart: Rewriting the Teaching of English with First Nations Voices." Its purpose was to engage non-Indigenous teachers who have doubts about their capacities to teach First Nations topics and literature, to ascertain what their main concerns…

In this paper four pre-service teachers share narrative responses to the phenomenon of studying Education degrees at Australian universities during periods of lockdown following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The narratives serve to capture a variety of experiences and emotions of pre-service teachers, with two narratives reflecting the…

In 2019, a new English Senior Secondary syllabus (QCAA, 2019) was implemented in all schools across Queensland, Australia. This syllabus, incorporating high-stakes external examinations and supporting documents, instigated a shift in the teaching and assessing of senior secondary English that has been both challenging and revitalising for…

A significant body of research highlights the rich linguistic and cultural experiences offered by spoken word poetry when integrated into English pedagogy, particularly through its fusion of written and performative modes and its opportunities for cultivating empathy and creativity. However, few studies have examined secondary English teachers'…

Multimodal discourse analysis (MMDA) has been instrumental in the evolution of English curriculum and pedagogy. However, it is unusual for educators to direct the tools of multimodal inquiry to their own text productions. In the context of prioritising accessibility within the new Queensland Certificate of Education in Queensland, which has…

Schooling has long been identified as a tool for nation-building and cultural reproduction. In early post-Federation Australia, English and literacy education played a significant role in producing colonial subjects. Although Australia today is heralded as a successful multicultural nation with momentum growing for constitutional recognition of…

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…