Academic articles
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Abstract or Description For many English teachers, teaching Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG) is daunting. The stakes have always been high: if your pupils are not good spellers, struggle to punctuate correctly and have a tendency to use non-standard forms in their writing, then invariably they won’t achieve highly, particularly in exams.Since the beginning of […]
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Abstract or Description PurposeThis paper focuses upon the affordances of and issues surrounding the teaching of George Orwell’s novel 1984 (1949) as a set text for GCSE English and English Literature in an examination-obsessed and heavily surveilled school system. It considers this by focusing on the classroom practice of a beginning teacher tackling the teaching […]
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Abstract or Description An article for NAWE’s peer-reviewed magazine Writing in Education about how mindfulness can be used by creative writers to develop their practice and pedagogy. Reference details: Gilbert, Francis. 2019. Mindfulness and Creative Writing. Writing in Education(77), ISSN 1361-8539 [Article] TextFGilbert_NAWE_magazine_Jan_2019 (2).pdf – Accepted VersionAvailable under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial.Download (149kB) | Preview Official URL: https://www.nawe.co.uk/writing-in-education.html You can […]
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Note in 2024: This article contains some interesting ideas about educating English teachers in relation to Teaching Standards set since 2012 for teachers to be measured against. However, these standards could well change and are less emphasized now than they used to be. Gilbert, Francis. 2019. The Teachers’ Standards and English Teaching. Teaching English(19), pp. 33-36. […]
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This article examines the author’s interactions with the teaching strategy known as Reciprocal Teaching, sometimes also called Reciprocal Reading, which involves students learning to read collaboratively in small groups. Reciprocal Teaching typically involves students teaching each other by following a rubric of activities that are aimed at primarily improving their comprehension skills. In brief, students […]
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This article explores how I became ‘aesthetically literate’ in my life; how I used other artistic work to educate and heal myself. It argues that ‘aesthetic literacy’ is just as important, if not more important, than other forms of literacy because of its therapeutic dimensions.
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Is English a mindful subject? How can mindfulness help English teachers teach their subject? This article explores these issues, arguing that mindful awareness of the present moment can assist teachers, and help learners appreciate the qualities of literature.
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An explanation of a creative writing and reading project the author carried out with students at Deptford Green school, which involved putting the principles of Reciprocal Teaching into practice. Reference: Gilbert, Francis. 2017. Dreaming of a Better World. Teaching English, [Article] TextDreaming of a Better World FGilbert NATE Magazine June 2017.docx – Accepted VersionAvailable under License Creative Commons […]
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This is a very useful article for anyone who is thinking of teaching creative writing. It shows that there are certain pedagogical strategies, such as encouraging freewriting, using prompts and fostering flow which can significantly help learners to write creatively. The article is designed to be dipped in and out of, and be used for reference.
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This article aims to examine the benefits of teachers using their own autobiographical writing in the classroom. It explores the blurring of truth and fiction in autobiographical writing and argues that teachers can help students if they provide students with the cloak of fiction when writing about their own lives. Furthermore, it puts forward the […]
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My article, published in Changing English, argues that the concept of ‘aesthetic learning’ can be helpful for English teachers on two levels. First, it can be a useful identity for English teachers and students to adopt, based upon my own experiences as a secondary English teacher, creative writer and PhD student. Second, I argue that […]