English in the News
Below is a selection of articles which are archived online and may be of interest to NATE members. If you know of others please let us know. Keep up to date with our Twitter feed, too.
- Mad professor goes global - and reflects on Literacy Strategy - The Guardian, Tuesday June 14, 2011
Michael Barber had lots of influence but very little publicity... Reflecting on the literacy and numeracy strategies, he says it was a mistake to underestimate their negative effect on teachers. Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Andrew Motion's dad – and the spectre of an art-free world - The Independent, Thursday June 9, 2011
An emotional appeal by the former Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion to ring-fence arts spending during the current spending cuts.Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Thousands of children 'fail to make progress in three-Rs' - Daily Telegraph, Thursday June 9, 2011
Up to a third of children are effectively going backwards in the three-Rs at secondary school, new figures suggest.
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - The real Ophelia? 1569 coroner's report suggests Shakespeare link - The Guardian, Wednesday June 8, 2011
Death of Jane Shaxspere bore hallmarks of character and girl may even have been relative of playwrightLink broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Gruffalo creator Julia Donaldson is new children's laureate - The Guardian, Wednesday June 8, 2011
Donaldson plans to promote music and drama and champion libraries during her tenureLink broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Fund to boost London child numeracy and literacy - BBC, Wednesday June 8, 2011
Businesses in London have been asked to donate £3m to improve child numeracy and literacy skills in the capital.
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Rich children 'have superior vocabularies by age of five' - Daily Telegraph, Tuesday June 7, 2011
Children living in wealthy households have far superior vocabularies and problem-solving skills than their poorer peers by the age of five, according to research prepared for Scottish ministers.
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Get London reading - London Evening Standard, Monday June 6, 2011
The London Evening Standard today launches an unprecedented campaign to Get London Reading - and we want you to help.Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Exams system risks 'damaging teenagers' reading ability' - Daily Telegraph, Sunday June 5, 2011
Well read is well bred. An education that does not provide the tools and the hunger to read beyond the narrow confines of a subject is, in the wider sense, no education at all.
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Demise of coursework has killed drafting skills, warns academic - Times Educational Supplement, Friday June 3, 2011
Controlled assessment 'fundamentally changes the way English is taught', she saysLink broken or innaccurate? Please report here - More errors follow Evening Standard illiteracy report - Full Fact, Thursday June 2, 2011
The problem with using shocking stats that take a bit of explainingLink broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Prof John Sutherland condemns 'ruinous' state of English literature at universities - Daily Telegraph, Wednesday June 1, 2011
The study of English literature in universities is in a “ruinous” state because students are treated as customers rather than being told what to read
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Like a rolling ode: academic conference weighs up Bob Dylan's poetic licence - The Guardian, Tuesday May 24, 2011
Seven Ages of Dylan event at Bristol University sees professors discuss whether musician should be considered a poetLink broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Books denied to 600,000 - Times Educational Supplement, Friday May 20, 2011
Full extent of swingeing cuts to school library services revealed for the first time in TES investigationLink broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Teachers give up making boys read long books - Daily Telegraph, Tuesday May 17, 2011
Teachers are giving up trying to make boys read long books because they cannot get past 100 pages, new research as found.
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Watchdog to investigate exam standards - BBC, Friday May 13, 2011
Fears that GCSEs and A-levels are getting easier are to be investigated by the exams standards watchdog.Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Teenagers must stick at English and maths - BBC, Friday May 13, 2011
Teenagers who fail to achieve good GCSE grades at English and maths will have to carry on studying the subjects beyond the age of 16.Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Death to high school English - Salon.com, Tuesday May 10, 2011
'My college students don't understand commas, far less how to write an essay. Is it time to rethink how we teach?' writes an American teacher and novelist.
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Boys are more confident communicators, survey finds - BBC, Wednesday May 4, 2011
More boys than girls feel confident expressing their views in class and social situations, a survey of eight- to 16-year-olds in the UK has found.Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Teachers TV relaunches as SchoolsWorld - The Guardian, Wednesday May 4, 2011
Education channel reaches deal with government to continue as free online service despite loss of public fundingLink broken or innaccurate? Please report here