Member Blog
Our member blogs capture a series of approaches from English teachers and academics to support members in developing their approach in the classroom. Departmental teams can print, share and discuss these articles as subject CPD.
Do you have a particular approach that you would like to share? Perhaps a particular area of subject knowledge or your experience of teaching a specific text or genre? Maybe a perspective piece for fellow Heads of Department colleagues? We would love to hear from you and share with the community. Read our blog guidance before getting in touch.
Never Let Me Go as a modern text choice | Davina Canham
Davina Canham has taught for almost twenty years, both in the UK and abroad. Following her role as Lead Practitioner, she is now Head of...
Author interview: Hetty Steele ‘How to get a 9 in Shakespeare’
Regional Advocate Hetty Steele @HettyLSteele kindly agreed to answer questions about her book, How to get a 9 in Shakespeare,...
‘Make thick my blood’: Female Blood in Macbeth
Hetty Hughes joined the profession is 2015 as an English and Theatre Studies teacher and has experience as a Teaching and Learning...
The Handmaid’s Tale: Cognitive Grammar in Stylistics
Whenever we read a text, our initial engagement is on a linguistic level – how language choices and patterns shape meaning. By no means...
Language in the news: taking language stories in the media into the classroom
Dan Clayton taught A Level English Language for over twenty years in Essex and south London, also teaching GCSE English, A Level English...
Classical connections: enriching English teaching with help from the Greeks and Romans
Dr Arlene Holmes-Henderson and Katrina Kelly Dr Arlene Holmes-Henderson is a Research Fellow in Classics Education and the Outreach...
Discussing Literary Theory from Key Stage 3: an integrated approach
Martine is an experienced English teacher working in Chester, with responsibility for A Level Literature. She has mentored trainee...
Social Contract Theory and Lord of the Flies
Sam Duffy is an English Teacher and Teaching and Learning Lead at a school in Sheffield and she is proud to be the Litdrive regional...
From Englishness to Britishness (via Wales): An exploration of nationality in Shakespeare’s Henry V and King Lear
Chris is an experienced Head of English at a Welsh-medium comprehensive school in Swansea. He is also an experienced examiner for A level...
Embracing the Darkness: The Importance of Gothic in the Teaching of Literature
Zoe Enser was an English Teacher in Essex and East Sussex, with over 20 years’ experience in the classroom. Over this time, she was also a...
A Question of Balance in ‘A Christmas Carol’
Chris Curtis is head of English and has taught in a range of schools and contexts. Last year his first book, and his family say last, was...