Knowing the subject; knowing its history: Examining key figures in English who contributed to its emancipatory nature
Author Identifier
Trish Dowsett: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8503-7248
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Title
English Language Arts as an Emancipatory Subject: International Perspectives on Justice and Equity in the English Classroom
First Page
3
Last Page
22
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
School
School of Education
RAS ID
77601
Abstract
This chapter examines the legacy of emancipation that influences the teaching of English in Australia today. It takes a biographical-historical approach and investigates inherited emancipatory threads, including various ideologies and practices in English teaching concerning reading, moral formation, social equality, and personal development. To do so, the chapter explores some of the ideas of Matthew Arnold, F.R. Leavis, Raymond Williams, Richard Hoggart, John Dixon, Terry Eagleton, Ian Hunter, and Bronwyn Mellor and Annette Patterson, in relation to emancipation. The chapter considers how imagined possibilities for English teaching can be shaped productively by knowing the historical narratives of emancipation. This is because understanding past emphases in English can elucidate English teaching for the purposes of equity, justice, and democracy in the present.
DOI
10.4324/9781003470052-2
Access Rights
subscription content
Comments
Jones, C., & Dowsett, T. (2024). Knowing the subject; knowing its history: Examining key figures in English who contributed to its emancipatory nature. In English Language Arts as an Emancipatory Subject (pp. 3-22). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003470052-2