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Reading for School
To Whom Do the Words Belong? Examining the opening of Chapter 9 of Treasure Island through principles of free indirect discourse.
Prerogative or perjorative? Examining the opening of Chapter 9 of Treasure Island through principles of free indirect discourse.
Writing Composition in the British NC: can we learn something from this American focus?
The examinations in the British NC focus heavily on word and sentence level analysis. Analysing the connotations of individual word choices, for example, is a dominant focus on most of the current English language exam, and not to mention being useful (perhaps even...
How to improve your literary analysis KS3-KS5
This selection of types of analysis was originally termed Top Ten out of Ten? Try Terrence T Templeton of Tadcastle Technlogical's Ten Tangible Techniques. It is a range of generic strategies for literary analysis from KS3-KS5 that I have developed over the past five...
Teaching Comparative Contextual Analysis in Literature: Spark Presentation January 2017
This is a short presentation I delivered at a Spark event (TeachMeet) organised by the wonderful Rachael Edgar. Essentially it proposes the teaching of context and comparative audience response at the same time. Inspired from the practice of Peter Flynn.
How is Sheila Birling presented?
Sheila Birling can be seen by the 2017 audience as a millennial: put-upon, subordinate, but ultimately defiant. Initially presented as a demure if childish character, she grows in voice and confidence throughout the play until she challenges the Birlings, and what...
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Originality For Students
With the need to seek new interpretations of art and life, and the increasing (and righteous?) suspicion of authority, we prize originality. I certainly did as a teenager, and until quite recently. Now, I buy more into the model that art and literature should aim to...
Formative Assessment: Easy?
Classroom teachers all agree with formative assessment because it seems intuitive: teach the student the exam, and they will do better. Yet at what point does formative feedback occur? Perhaps at the moment the student needs it, during a drafted answer? How does that...
The Human Reasons Behind a Piece of Work
Students produce pieces for school reasons: write this essay to prove you understand this text. Answer these questions to gain this mark. Literature exists beyond school reasons. Admittedly, the popularity of classic literature, and modern poetry, is because students...
Creating Revision
Hello all, It has been a fair time since I wrote for this blog, for various reasons. COVID hit the education world hard, removing some of the usual connections. My current situation is appreciable. Students are invested in achieving well academically, usually...
What teachers want
Teachers are not a coherent demographic, let alone a homogenous one. Political beliefs, approaches to the job, and personal circumstances vary remarkably. Much of my career has been an evolution of expectation, of what the job entails, and what teachers are different...
Some thoughts on working hard at teaching
Teaching is a tough profession if you are emotionally invested. The institution of education is tremendously competitive, and sometimes vague how it rewards different outcomes. Like with sport or music, the margins between failure and success can be fine. There exists...
It has been a while since I wrote
It has been a while since I wrote. My headspace has been in academic study, and distant-study at that. Perhaps my reticence exists because I wonder for whom am I writing? TQG used to be anonymous until a zealous workshop in NATE 'outed' it back in the day. Since...
Creating a healthy academic discourse
Creating a healthy academic discourse in a (relatively!) non-selective classroom with pupils who haven’t chosen to be there. What does it mean to ‘understand a text’? The interpretation of a text can be intensely personal, and to simply say an interpretation is wrong...
What do we want to measure in schools and why
I received a thoughtful email from a colleague this week. My (redacted!) reply is worth sharing: Firstly, thanks for introducing me to Karen Ardley. I see she enjoys links to Bath Uni, which gives her international credentials. The need for 7 years to embed a...
Throwback – Thoughts on preparing lessons on a Sunday Evening in 2012
Preparing a lesson Normally I prepare my lessons after marking so that my planning responds to my marking. This weekend I have left my marking in school. Last year I aimed to plan Sunday evening. Even though I work better under pressure, I think that I am often tired...