A Stylistic Teacher

 PhD Research Project - ‘History theirs whose language is the sun.’ An investigation into the use of stylistics to improve engagement and attainment in poetry from students in KS3 English and the effect of these practices on the Professional Identity of Secondary School English teachers. Thank you very much for completing the survey and for assisting me in my doctoral research.   If you: ·          Are interested an integrated approach to teaching literary texts using  language strategies ·          Are/will be teaching poetry at KS3 during this academic year ·          Would like to be involved in a doctoral research project exploring its use in teaching poetry at KS3 Then please read more about this exciting research opportunity below.   What is an Integrated Approach to Language and Literature?   In short an integrated approach to lang...

Hello everybody. I want to thank everyone for all the kind words over the past couple of weeks and for the follows of my Twitter account. It really gives this wannabe Stylistic Teacher a big boost to have all those kind words. As this blog goes on I want to share some of the concepts I have been exploring in my PhD around English teacher identity, the divide between language and literature and curriculum design but for now I want to give you some practical tricks and tips that you could use in your classrooms right now!   Before we go on, I want to share a strategy that is so simple and is one that you can use straight away.  I took this idea from the Booker Prize winning author George Saunders' fascinating book on teaching reading called  A Swim in the Pond in the Rain . In this book, Saunders shares some of his lessons he learnt teaching Russian short stories to his students at Syracuse. It is an unbelievably fantastic book and I cannot thank Billy Clark enough for...

 Hello everybody, I wanted to introduce myself in this first post.  My name is Chris Walker and I am an English teacher  and PhD student living in Derbyshire. I am on a mission to share with as many teachers as I can the message which has reignited my teaching career and that is how to become a Stylistic Teacher! So the first question you may have is 'What is a Stylistic Teacher?' Firstly, let me make it clear it has nothing to do with the 1970s band who sung 'stop, look, listen (to your heart)', as my in-laws remind me every time they ask about my PhD.  No, stylistics is a pedagogical approach to teaching texts which focuses on language first and uses linguistic methods of analysis...I know but please contain your excitement. I believe stylistics (pedagogical stylistics in particular) is the way forward in teaching literature to our students.  I believe it will result in what Paul Simpson (who has written an amazing introduction to stylistics - see the link bel...