THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH IN AUSTRALIA

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1 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH IN AUSTRALIA AATE pledges itself to work in support of teachers of English at all levels of schooling and education. 'The Teaching of English in Australia' is a charter for teachers of English. AATE strongly asserts the need for governments and administrators to consider the special requirements of teachers of English in fostering literacy and language development, which is a fundamental concern of education. Introduction 'Australia's national identity is explored, expressed and enlivened through language. We should all aspire to an Australia whose citizens are literate and articulate: a nation of active and intelligent readers, writers, listeners and speakers.' (John Dawkins. The Australian Language and Literacy Policy, 1991) The purpose of this position statement is to support and promote the interests of all teachers of English in Australia and thus of their students. It is designed to offer guidelines to individual English teachers as they plan or adapt English curricula to meet the needs of the young people they teach, and prepare them for the world beyond school. It provides a reference point for teacher educators and administrators. AATE is committed to working collaboratively with other education bodies. Quality English teaching in Australian schools is a shared community responsibility. It is best promoted through co-operation between education systems, tertiary institutions, school communities, parent bodies and subject and professional associations working together to ensure the best possible educational opportunities for young Australian people. AATE has a responsibility to maintain the professional standards of English teaching. Improved standards in literacy, needed to meet the complex demands of Australian society today, can only be guaranteed by competent and qualified teachers. AATE is therefore opposed to the teaching of English by unqualified teachers. Adequate government support is essential to ensure that high standards of teacher training are maintained. AATE accepts the responsibility to intercede with appropriate bodies, and to argue for the importance of trained English teachers. AATE supports the need for continuing professional development for teachers. English teachers need to be involved in regular professional development activities to further develop their expertise. AATE therefore assumes a support role in providing professional development through its own publications, conferences, seminars, research grants and special project grants. AATE believes in actively involving practising English teachers in all of these areas of its work. AATE promotes classroom-based teacher research and the publication of teachers' action research findings, together with the publication of quality resources for English teachers. AATE believes that English teaching in Australian schools must be grounded in sound theory and supported by high quality materials. To this end, AATE will continue to foster classroom-based research, and to develop and market practical materials for use in English classrooms. Commitment to action In order to ensure a high level of support for teachers of English, AATE makes the following commitments: to promote exemplary practice in the teaching of language and literacy to lobby employing authorities, curriculum bodies and accreditation agencies to take an appropriate role in the inservice of new curriculum and policies

2 to seek increased financial support and recognition for courses undertaken by teachers in mainstream teaching areas to campaign for better quality professional development at all levels, in teacher training as well as for practising teachers to negotiate for increased support for professional development programs shared with other organisation or agencies to examine alternatives to current approaches professional development (e.g. sabbaticals, accreditation for involvement in professional development activity, different models of inservice, open learning initiatives, national collaborative models of delivery). The English Classroom The English teacher's role in the classroom is that of the skilled practitioner, whose demonstrated expertise in the making and using of texts provides a model for students, and whose knowledge of language in use and skilled teaching facilitates effective learning. Below are some of the features which characterise the effective English classroom: The language, experience and culture which the student brings to the classroom are valued, and provide the basis for further language development. The student's self-esteem and competence as a language user are nurtured by providing learning experiences which are inclusive of the race, gender, cultural and social backgrounds of all students. The students work in an orderly, purposeful and supportive learning environment, which encourages risk taking, experiment, and problem solving. Such an environment will allow for individual differences in interest, ability and learning style. The students work with texts and in activities which challenge and extend their understandings of language, themselves and the world around them. The students participate in a balanced program of interrelated language activities which include writing, talking, reading, listening, observing, viewing, presenting and performing. In other words, students make, share, interpret and evaluate a wide range of oral, written and visual texts. The students' programs are planned flexibly to cater for their diverse needs as language users, and their different stages of development. They have access to explicitly stated information about writing and reading processes and language structures. The students learn how to use texts for different purposes: as a tool for learning, as a means of exploring new thoughts or feelings or experiences, as a source of aesthetic pleasure, and as the vehicle to communicate what they have learnt to others. The students celebrate the pleasures and satisfactions of language through performance, display, improvisation, publication and reflection The students are encouraged to see writing as both a crafting and a problem solving process in which skilled performance and strategies for producing texts are developed in a workshop atmosphere. Students have opportunities to share their work, to learn from the advice and work of others, to have access to models for effective writing : models drawn from classroom writing and from the wider community of writers. Students learn, and become increasingly skilled, in applying the language forms and conventions of writing for school and for the world beyond school. The students' reading skills are developed through opportunities to respond to, enjoy, interrogate and generate alternative and critical readings of a wide range of texts. They learn to analyse what they read, identify arguments and opinions and find information they need. Students are able to share and analyse their reading experiences with the teacher and with other students in the classroom. The students' oral language skills are fostered through opportunities to collaborate in solving problems, listen carefully and critically to others, and address issues and argue about them. Students are encouraged to be active listeners and to show respect in responding to the ideas of others. Their skills as speakers and listeners are also strengthened through opportunities to make group decisions, and through participation m public performances and presentations. The students have access to a comprehensive library with a wide range of texts, and access to computers for drafting editing and publishing. Access to world wide multi media information systems should also be available to give students the skills necessary to communicate in a global village. The students are encouraged to reflect on what they have learnt and on the process of learning as a means of assessing their own progress. Thus they become more effective learners. The students have opportunity to take increasing responsibility for their own learning and for supporting the learning of others.

3 The goals and purposes of activities, together with the criteria for assessment, are articulated clearly and understood by students so that their progress can be charted systematically through constructive records such as descriptive reports, logs of activities and achievement, and folders of work completed, or in progress. Essential Conditions for Effective English Teaching The English teacher needs access to materials, facilities and an environment which will reflect and support the aims of effective English teaching. The working environment English, no less than science, technology or expressive arts subjects, needs the allocation of a specific area which can operate as a language workshop. The area should allow for a flexible use of space, mobile furniture and sufficient room to accommodate the different oral communication patterns involved in paired, small group and whole class language and learning activities. The area should also promote writing and reading and oral language development by providing facilities for individual writing and reading for the collaborative discussion of work in progress, and for public readings and performances. Storage space should allow easy access to students' folders and records, and should have generous display areas for the presentation of students' work and the work of others. Resources The texts studied in English are spoken, written and visual and must cater for students with diverse needs, diverse language and cultural background and different levels of language ability. They must reflect the diversity of cultural and language background and heritage of students in Australian society. Students need access to a comprehensive library with a wide range of texts, and access to computers for drafting, editing, and publishing. They need access to data bases and information as well because establishing communication links is important to students as they extend their language and literacy skills. The resources needed to promote development in literacy, language and communication skills include: collections of novels, short stories and essays poetry and drama texts newspapers and printed texts other than fiction course books dictionaries and thesauruses posters, pictures and charts film, video and sound tapes computer software and hardware with access to digital information systems materials for the production crafting editing and final presentation of different texts. Consequently teachers need easy access to relevant equipment such as: overhead projector sound and video recorders computers and printing facilities film or video camera reprographic equipment. Time allocation Developing language and literacy skills depends on the allocation of sufficient time to allow teachers and students to work together carefully and systematically, allowing for instruction, practice and feedback. English courses require a minimum of 240 minutes a week. Lesson lengths should accommodate both short periods of time for intensive language work, and also longer periods of time for extended crafting or performance activities. Further, this time allocation is essential if teachers are to monitor and record the language development of individual students, and also plan and structure a flexible program for developing the language and literacy skills of all students.

4 Class size The maximum number of students for any English class in years 7-12, should be 25, and in primary classes the number should be less. No English teacher should be required to teach more than 120 students per week. The teacher-student ratio must enable the English teacher to cater for the needs of the individual student, develop flexible programs, monitor the progress of each student, record and report student progress fully and select and develop curriculum materials necessary to provide students with appropriate and effective learning opportunities. The English Curriculum General principles In the school curriculum, English is the subject which carries the major (though not exclusive) responsibility for fostering students' language and literacy development. Proficiency in language enables the learner to make and organise meaning; to deal with experiences (both real and imagined); to interpret the past, understand the present, and anticipate the future; and to master and use the patterns of discourse characteristic of the many forms of knowledge, information and ideas that schools value. To put this another way, it empowers the learner, so that he or she can act on the world with greater critical understanding and control. Children are already effective language users when they come to school. They have developed their language as members of communities with differing social and cultural patterns, and with differing degrees of proficiency in speaking English. They may come from homes and communities where the only language they have heard is a version of Australian English, or from homes where a language other than English is the mother tongue. The English curriculum is designed to respect the linguistic differences of students, to acknowledge diverse mother tongues and to foster students' self-esteem and confidence as language users, while developing and extending their proficiency in using Australian English. The content of English The central activities of English are the composition of texts by students, and the comprehension of texts created by themselves and others. Used in this way, the word "text" has a meaning different from the usual sense of a "textbook", and is not restricted to a passage of written text A text is any piece of communication: a speech, a novel a film, a play, a letter or a newspaper article. All of these and many others - are important texts in the subject English. The creation, study and enjoyment of literary texts have a central place in the English classroom and students come to understand how meaning is communicated and constructed in different texts. Central to the study of English is the development of skills and understanding about the English language. Students need to learn how language is structured and how it is used by people differently and in different contexts for particular purposes. They also need to understand something of different versions of English used in Australia and throughout the world and of languages other than English so that they are aware of the language and cultural backgrounds of other people. In making and studying different texts, students learn the function and power of different forms of language or modes of discourse. These include imaginative, personal, literary, informative, argumentative and persuasive texts. They also include texts derived from subjects and disciplines other than English, and from authors of different cultures and other times. Whether composing or comprehending, making meaning and communicating with texts is an active process. Writers, speakers and performers create texts, but depend on their readers, listeners or viewers to make sense of the texts from their own backgrounds and perspectives. Students thus learn that meaning is made in the interaction between the individual and the text, rather than existing in the text itself. A text may suggest a range of meanings to different people in different contexts, and the meaning a reader makes of a text win be influenced by the intentions and personal experience the reader brings to the text, by his or her cultural expectations of such texts, and by the time and place in which the text is read or viewed. The idea that meaning is actively constructed rather than passively found in the text is fundamental to the composing and comprehending activities which take place in classrooms. When students create texts, they need to consider the likely response of their audience to the kinds of text they are producing, to the language they use, and to the images and arguments present.

5 Students and teachers need to consider not only the meaning they make with texts, but also the way they make it. Making meaning as readers, listeners and viewers involves understanding the language, images and structures of texts. Students need to be aware how these features of texts contribute to comprehension, and to use this knowledge when composing texts for other people. Study in the English classroom will involve the development of explicit knowledge and understanding about forms of written and oral discourse used in different situations. The texts composed and comprehended by students in English lessons include both visual and oral texts. Visual texts may be printed (such as novels or newspapers), iconic (such as pictures or diagrams) and kinetic (such as films or computer programs). Oral texts, texts which are spoken and heard, include conversations, stories, songs, poems, radio programs and television documentaries. Out-of-school contexts provide opportunities for students to respond to, and create, a variety of texts. For example, visits to the theatre or cinema, excursions to rural and urban settings, or meetings with writers and other craftspeople in their own working environment - all these provide examples of ways in which students may extend their experiences, make and use new texts, and thus extend their language competence. Assessment and Reporting in the English Classroom Assessment and reporting of students' learning should be a tool which contributes to and facilitates their development. Effective assessment should provide an accurate and specific description of performance and should contribute positively to students' growth and learning. 'Mass produced' or standardised tests run contrary to the view that assessment should be based on individual stages of development, linked to the associated programs developed by teachers in their classrooms. Criterion referenced, work required and descriptive assessment and reporting procedures are more desirable than those which rely exclusively on grading and ranking, because they provide more information and greater opportunities for students to be involved in the learning /assessment process. Assessment procedures should take into account a broad range of evidence. There are a number of ways in which this can be done: these include organising folders of students' ongoing work; developing a system of descriptive reporting; establishing a recording or filing system to record the full range of language and texts with which students have been involved; and examining a range of products from individual students to judge what has been achieved, and what the student should do next. The criteria for skilled performance should be known and understood by students, and these can be used by them to develop competence in self- assessment, thus sharing responsibility for the evaluative procedures which are part of the English classroom. Assessment in English should be as much an opportunity for celebration of students' work as it is a measure and record of achievement. AATE's Commitment AATE's commitment is to quality in the teaching of English and Language Arts. High quality teaching is directly related to the development of a strong well informed and well supported body of teachers who have: appropriate qualifications in the content of the subject and to teaching methodologies to support all students access to knowledge about the best of current theory and practice opportunities for renewing their knowledge and for sharing their expertise with other experienced teachers access to professional development activities opportunities to participate in developing curricula, and evaluating and implementing curriculum initiatives. Quality English teaching demands commitment. AATE is committed therefore to promoting and supporting exemplary practice in all aspects of the teaching and learning of English