The cries of the 1960s for relevance and innovation in the teaching of English have given way to the demands of the 1970s to get back to the basics. Teachers may wonder whether there really was a revolution in teaching in the 1960s or whether traditional English teaching actually prevailed. Whatever the case, it is time for the competing factions in English teaching to reconcile and plan an English for all seasons, immune to changing educational climates and periodic storms of public outrage. The first premise on which such an English may be based is that the English class is the place for students to explore the sending and receiving of messages. The second premise suggests that teachers should present subject matter that deals with timeless issues of literary and intellectual inquiry that are potentially important and interesting to adolescents. In their written responses to literary materials, students should write for logical audiences in such real forms as letters, journal entries, and news stories and should frequently write in voices other than their own. The third premise of an English for all seasons is that basic skills should be encountered and mastered in the doing of real language tasks. (GW)