Engendering Pedagogy in the Secondary English Classroom: Looking Back to Look Forward
Date
2023
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Publisher
School of Education, UWI
Abstract
The idea for this paper arose out of the need for a new vision for secondary English teaching and an evolving view of literacy in the Anglophone Caribbean. It also came into being because of a growing lack of agreement about what is needed for teachers of English to be effective in their practice. The consensus, in the Anglophone Caribbean, has always been that English, as a subject, matters. Educators, students, parents, researchers, examiners, policymakers, and business people agree that the subject English is a prerequisite for social, personal, and professional advancement. There is little argument, therefore, about the importance of subject English and its purposes and values in the curriculum. But the question of how English should be taught, who should teach it, and who decides, has been contentious. This paper traces a series of overlapping shifts in pedagogical conception and practice that have triggered for secondary teachers of English, new and different ways of understanding the subject they teach. It aims at advancing two primary purposes: (1) understanding the implications of the emerging discourse for Secondary English Teaching and, (2) facilitating the adjustment required for a different conception of English Teaching as well as the preparation of English Teachers.
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Keywords
Secondary English Classrooms, Anglophone Caribbean, English Teachers, English Teaching, English Pedagogy