Teaching Literature, 11-18

Which texts do we teach and why? What assumptions - intellectual, cultural and emotional - are involved in teaching these texts? And what can teachers learn from each other's practice? Teaching Literature 11-18 answers these important and ambitious questions through a reflective study of prose, poetry and drama across the age range, including much of the neglected area of teaching students beyond the age of 16. In the process, the essays in this book provide a valuable and lucid outline of the state of literature teaching in schools. They show conclusively that, despite the pressures under which the profession works, there are strong grounds for optimism. Martin Blocksidge is Chairman of the English Association and Director of Studies at St Dunstan's College, London.