This essay considers the relative merits of critical writing and writing in role as a means of enabling and assessing students' responses to literary texts. Drawing largely on the author's experience of teaching "Frankenstein," it argues that the distinction between critical and creative writing is not as absolute as is sometimes…

Researching students' responses to tasks at different year levels and in varied curriculum contexts can provide insights that relate their understandings to prior learning experiences and teaching approaches. In this article, we discuss evidence of students from three curriculum contexts (English, Australian, and Israeli) (n = 350) ways of…

Self-organized learning was developed by Professor Sugata Mitra of Newcastle University on the foundation of his firm belief that learning will emerge spontaneously when children are encouraged to be curious and are allowed to self-organize. There are seven dedicated Self-Organized Learning Environments (SOLEs) that Mitra established in…

School examinations of student responses to literature often present poetry blind or "unseen", inviting decontextualised close reading consistent with the orientation-to-text associated with Practical Criticism (originating in the UK) and New Criticism (originating in the USA). The approach survives in the UK after curricular reforms and…

Reports from 13 Further Mathematics Knowledge Networks supported by the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics [NCETM] are analysed. After summarizing basic characteristics of the networks regarding leadership, composition and pattern of activity, each of the following aspects is examined in greater depth: Developmental aims…

In this paper I draw on ethnographic data generated inside an English "special" school for boys designate as having "social, emotional and behavioural difficulties". I offer a detailed analysis of one teacher's pedagogic practices inside her ICT classroom and the boys' responses to this. I suggest that the teacher's pedagogy,…

Questionnaire responses from 5044 year 8 (age 12 years) pupils in Oxfordshire state schools were used to identify "exemplary" science teachers. These teachers met for a one-day forum to explore their perspectives on "exemplary" teaching. The key characteristics of exemplary practice to emerge related to teacher attitudes and…

Science in English primary schools has been judged a success, yet few pupils make the progress in secondary schools that their performance at the end of primary school suggested. Projects where pupils start science work at the end of the primary school and complete it at the start of secondary school--known as bridging units--have been suggested…

Contemporary teacher education, like other aspects of tertiary education, involves regimes for assessing quality of teaching. These regimes include student assessment of and feedback on teaching. These are widely considered problematic, and yet there are few signs that teacher educators reject the notion that student responses have something of…

Describes an experiment in which British geography faculty used video cassette presentations for a three week period in first year undergraduate practicals. Examined are the experiment's results in terms of the problems and advantages of video cassette recordings and student reaction to video as opposed to live presentation. (RM)

A study of schools in two English local education authorities found that time spent teaching Shakespeare increases in Year 9 now that the National Curriculum mandates testing on Shakespeare. However, restrictions on the choice of plays is limiting teaching methods and diminishing student learning and enjoyment of the subject. (SK)

Describes the efforts of a teacher in a British class for limited English speakers to learn the home language of her language-minority students and the students' reactions to her approach. Attempts to use the children's language provide a context for discussions of language differences and English structure. (SLD)

Describes an effort to teach French to boys with emotional and behavioral difficulties. The teaching used was based on lexical chunks of language rather than grammatical structures in order to create motivation and maintain interest in the short time available each week. The students greeted the lessons with enthusiasm and grew in self-esteem and…

Interviewed postgraduate early years student teachers in England. Found that, despite initial doubts about the value of spending time in nurseries, the student teachers focused on similar teaching issues in nurseries and primary classrooms. In nurseries, students learned the importance of flexibility and responsiveness to children, of noncoercive…

Students need a variety of ways to encourage them to learn. Web-based learning can provide a platform for achieving this in a variety of ways other than the simple provision of "flat" lecture notes. This paper describes a number of Web-based programs used to augment, rather than replace, traditional, face-to-face delivery of a…