Rethinking and Reviving Subject English: The Murder and the Murmur

This book invites readers to engage with the rich and complex debates of contemporary English education, outlining new possibilities to revive the teaching of English.

Bringing together diverse voices and insights from educators in English across the primary, secondary, further and higher education phases, the book offers reflections and critical engagement with the lived experiences of English teachers and pupils in contemporary educational spaces. Each chapter includes example vignettes from classrooms which tell something of the story of English teaching today. The book considers how politics and policy have worked to close the opportunities of the English classroom for self-expression and critical engagement with the world – a murder. The authors then offer an exploration of the opportunities for a re-imagining of English – the murmurs of teachers and pupils that resist such closures. The chapters explore new thinking, new practices and new possibilities for English classrooms as inclusive, emancipatory, critical and creative spaces.

Offering a thoughtful and hopeful dialogue from practising English teacher-researchers, the book will be essential reading for researchers and students of English language and literature education, as well as trainee teachers of English.

Dr Pete Bennett is a Senior Lecturer in Post Compulsory Education at the University of Wolverhampton, UK.

Dr Louise Lambert is an Associate Professor in the School of Education and Social work at Birmingham City University, UK.

Dr Rob Smith is a Professor of Education at Birmingham City University, UK.