literate in ways beyond words
DESCRIPTION
Multidisciplinary arts in English teachingTRANSCRIPT
education in the twenty-first century needs to focus more sharply on the ability to communicate, to work in teams, to think critically, to adapt to change, [and] to be more innovative, creative and familiar with new technologies.[1]
[1] Cynthia Guttman, ‘Education in and for the Information Society’, UNESCO, (2003) http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001355/135528e.pdf [accessed 16/2/2012], p. 17.
‘What students have picked up from their intellectual
environment is the message that the professionally
praiseworthy attitude to literature is one that demonstrates
that it has not come under its spell. Disenchantment,
disengagement, is the thing. […] the student who
begins a course of literary study precisely because they have
found themselves enchanted and engaged, often rapidly
discovers that they must put away such childlike responses’
‘as well as […] English, we also need to make sure our
children are fluent in the most important languages of the
twenty-first century - maths and science. We urgently need
to ensure our children study rigorous disciplines instead of
pseudo-subjects. Otherwise we will be left behind [the rest
of the world in education].’
(Gove, 2010)
‘I liked the fact that we didn’t do much writing because we normally do loads of writing in normal English lessons’
‘I liked doing drama […] because it was a nice change from normal lessons.’
‘[…] I love drama. I liked that instead of just writing the modern version we got to perform it.’
‘It got more people involved and was more interesting than normal English lessons.’
‘I liked the practical things we [did] it was better than normal lessons because we didn’t write as much’
Visits to the early years registered providers and schools confirmed the impact of the pupils’ poor socio-economic circumstances. Although the children could often learn to decode print successfully in school, they were not always able to ascribe meaning to the words they could say because they did not have the experiences that the words described. This affected their progress in literacy in the longer term because it affected their comprehension of what they were reading.
‘it was a better approach to teach us’
‘working in groups encouraged me to do better’
‘our lessons are fun and interesting’
81% of this class felt more confident with Shakespeare after these lessons
‘No, [there was nothing I would have preferred to have done differently] because
[the classes] were all interactive and full of things to do.’
59% felt more confident with Shakespeare’s language after using it in their adaptation
71% felt confident about future study and assessment in English
‘I understand the words more’
‘How is the internet changing the way you create? […] The Gutenberg Parenthesis answer would be “it’s
making me a bit more like Shakespeare”’
‘The internet will make us less categorical in the way we perceive the world’
1440s 1980s
Communication/ ideas(literacies)
Maths Science Humanities English Arts
Facts Opinions Emotions