The "New Look" in English

Senior Tutor at Keele, talked about the wide range of courses available at British universities, and emphasised the advantages and disadvantages in choosing courses which have no direct relationship to the subjects studied at school. Mr. Holbeche, the Headmaster of King Edward VI School, Bath, and a former senior English Master at St. Peter's, talked about choosing a university. The Convention reached an impressive climax with a talk entitled "The World Beyond" given by Mr. J. Wren-Lewis of I.C.I. This reached out into the broadest possible issues which will confront present-day school-leavers throughout their lives : scientific and technological problems, artistic and moral dilemmas, and correspondingly incorporated a wide field Of reference—Voltaire, Shakespeare, Dr. Who, and space ships.

The whole school was very grateful to Mr. Coulthard and Mr. Hirst and their assistants for such a helpful and stimulating Convention. T.M.D.

THE "NEW LOOK" IN ENGLISH By A Correspondent

Much-publicised changes are taking place in the teaching of Mathematics and French, where S. M. P. and the audio-visual method are making their respective impacts, but it must not be imagined that development is in any way restricted to these fields. In the teaching of English, a quiet revolution is taking place, which is no less exciting or relevant than the modern methods applied to other subjects.

The abolition of the purely grammatical question at "0" Level— "Correct the errors in the following sentences . . ." or "Use the following words in complete sentences so as to bring out their meanings as fully as possible . . ."—is an indication that greater stress may now be laid on work designed primarily to stimulate a lively response in the boys. This means that, although insistence on accuracy at all times must clearly be retained, it is no longer the primary concern, and the teaching of those "skills" which need to be fostered can easily be incorporated into the body of the subject, rather than remain isolated as a separate limb.

Consequently, a much greater emphasis is now placed on creativity of all descriptions, and evidence of this is to be found on the walls of many Junior School classrooms, where work is displayed which shows that the concern with themes—every boy will write poetry or prose describing his response to a given subject—"A Storm" or "A Windy Day"—begins here in an embryonic stage. It will reach maturity in the teaching of the Third and Fourth Forms in the Senior School in a much more advanced form— examples of themes suggested are "Sea", "Extremes" and "Authority".

A term's work will be centred around one of those themes, and, as far as possible, all the work will be related to it, including whatever work on the formal "skills" is deemed necessary. It is easy to visualise, for example, how work on letter-writing could be incorporated into themes of "War", which is suggested for the Third Form. The "Primer" remains a feature of English teaching, but its use is severely limited : "essentially to suggest something of the variety which is to be encouraged in kinds of sustained writing."