Introduction
Starting with primary literacy
I recommend that visitors to this site first read Henrietta Dombey’s section on research into primary literacy before looking at this section in any detail. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, she begins with a helpful consideration of what educational research can claim to be and why it is important that we use it in our work with trainee teachers and she also opens with an invitation for you to reflect on research that you have already found demonstrably useful. Secondly, she explores the whole area of primary ‘English’, through the lens of ‘literacy’. Twenty years ago I suspect that lens would have been ‘language’ and, even though English has been the name mandated by the National Curriculum for what primary teachers actually teach from ages 5-11, the notion of the subject ‘English’ remains very much a secondary and tertiary pre-occupation. However, reading Henrietta’s overview will very much exemplify the rise of ‘literacy’ to a position where it could now be considered a ‘rival’ to English. This is, of course, debatable and this is where I start from, i.e. what English is and who should control it, is a source of constant controversy and debate. It is, equally, part of the research agenda of the English Education community and I will take up that theme in the first of our sub-sections.
Secondary English and research
So, if you have now looked at the primary section and the Introductory paragraph, then you will be able to anticipate that this overview of some key research themes in ‘English’ will use different categories and also a somewhat different orientation to the primary section. However it will, as the primary entry does, endeavour consistently to relate the themes to our work with trainee teachers. To some extent I will also work within the notion of the ‘living memory’ of the profession. This means I will orient research within the last 40 years and, when relevant, give a brief historical perspective as trainees, at times, need to recognise that their very senior colleagues have lived through a long period of intensive change and debate in which research has played a major part, almost always ‘behind the scenes’.
This latter point needs some elaboration. I think it entirely neutral to state that English teachers [probably all teachers] have very little direct contact with ‘research’. For example, the proportion of teachers with Masters degrees is currently tiny – and not surprising, given the working lives that teachers must endure. All this is very obvious. However, I think there has been, and will always be, a very active relationship between research and English teachers. Some of this research is empirical and within the social science tradition, but much of it is either qualitative or, what can only be called, ‘hypothetical’. By that, I mean the posing of questions that lead to answers that then require a new theoretical stance towards the whole subject or to a part of it. For example, back in the 1920s, I.A. Richards [Richards, 1929] undertook experiments with readers to produce ‘Practical Criticism’, some of his views were derived from some ‘real’ data. Frank Leavis never undertook anything so vulgar as an experiment in his life but, drawing on Richards and others, he posited a theory of reading [Leavis, 1969] that was hugely influential on classroom practice for at least 50years [see the section on Literature below]. So, in discussing ‘research’, it seems to me absolutely vital to acknowledge the importance of the kinds of research that are within the domain of intellectual enquiry. To some, such a tolerance of non-empirical research, sums up all that is wrong with educational research generally i.e. if research cannot be reliably replicated and verified on large scale experimental/control group models then it is simply not real research at all. There is some compromise, perhaps, in the EPPI model, see the concluding section.
Navigating this overview
The opening sub-section will focus on the subject of English, its ongoing evolution and the professional identity of its teachers and trainee teachers. This section will also include a brief look at English from a global perspective. We will then explore what remain the organising constituents of the National Curriculum, Speaking and Listening, Reading and Writing; all of these are huge fields in themselves. Subsequently we will explore as distinct categories, with their own histories, Literature and Drama, Media, ICT, Language and Grammar. At this stage in the development of this site, restricting myself to about 10,000 words I have not provided separate sections on either gender issues or assessment; there could, of course, be a number of other sections.
A final point concerns the fact that our trainees may find themselves in very different training contexts; there will be obvious differences between training in a small SCITT and at a research intensive University. Equally, some trainees may be on programmes where QTS is the sole focus, others may qualify with a significant number of credits at Masters level. The latter group in particular, will be asked to undertake reading and research at Masters level and may select individual topics that are definitely beyond the general expertise of any English tutor. This review of research will therefore attempt to reflect the challenges of this demand on individual tutors.
A partly personal story
I think a form of disclaimer is also needed as the concluding remark in this preamble. I have been a member of NATE for 30 years and, for almost all that time, involved in some aspect of its professional work but NATE does not have an official position on research and I am not trying to create one. This is a personal selection which attempts to be an overview, inflected by my first career as an English teacher and my second, as a teacher educator and researcher. I have enjoyed all the research I have completed, funded and unfunded, published and unpublished --- but it has been a constant struggle to find the time. I hope readers of these pages will find time to read research and to produce it, and will see themselves as part of a community that is engaged in consistent enquiry and dialogue and debate about the natures of ‘English’. I am very conscious of the huge gaps I am leaving by keeping these pages to a reasonable introductory length and also of the many highly influential figures from the last 30 years whose work does not even get a mention. I do highly recommend Richard Andrews book length overview Teaching and learning English: A Guide to recent research and its applications, [Andrews 2001]
Andrews, R. (2001) Teaching and Learning English: A Guide to Recent Research and its applications, London,Continuum.
Richards, I.A. (1929) Practical Criticism: a study of literary judgement, Harcourt, Brace and World, New York
Leavis, F. (1969) English Literature in our time and the University, Chatto and Windus, London.
 
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