Journal article

English and the knowledge question

B Doecke, P Mead

Pedagogy Culture and Society | ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD | Published : 2018

Abstract

This essay poses the question of the role that literary knowledge plays in subject English. It thus engages with current debates, largely prompted by Michael Young’s call to ‘bring knowledge back in’, about the need to restore academic knowledge as the basis of the school curriculum. We take issue with Young’s understanding of knowledge, arguing that it privileges propositional knowledge at the expense of the interpretive activities typically associated with literary studies, and thus fails to provide a valid framework for supporting students as they read and engage with literary texts. We focus on two moments in the history of subject English, namely the Newbolt Report (1921) and John Dixon..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council


Funding Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by funding for two research projects: Project title: Pilot Project: Investigating Literary Knowledge in the Making of English Teachers (2015). Funding: Melbourne Research Office. Researchers: Larissa McLean Davies (University of Melbourne), Lyn Yates (University of Melbourne), Wayne Sawyer (Western Sydney University), Brenton Doecke (Deakin University), Philip Mead (University of Western Australia), John Yandell (University College London), Andy Goodwyn (University of Bedfordshire). Project title: Investigating Literary Knowledge in the Making of English Teachers (2016-2019). Funding: Australian Research Council Discovery Project (DP160101084). Researchers: Larissa McLean Davies (University of Melbourne), Lyn Yates (University of Melbourne), Wayne Sawyer (Western Sydney University), Brenton Doecke (Deakin University), Philip Mead (University of Western Australia).