How to Tackle Context when Teaching Literature.

Post by Katherine Allvey @str8talkenglish

( I presented a slightly more visual version of this article at New Voices 3 on 12th October. Many thanks to the organisers and attendees!) 

Context is vast, and we need to remember that language means nothing in isolation. In order to digest this meal of a concept, I’ve cut it down into five tips: 

1. Language is not frozen in time. 

Take this line from ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ for example of what I mean by that statement: 

‘There was something unspeakable about him.’ 

To a reader in 2019 this clearly indicates some kind of arcane horror, but for readers in 1885 there were completely different connotations.  After the Criminal Law Amendment Act had been passed six months earlier, there was a huge clampdown on anything considered adult material. This included explicit images and magazines, but also pamphlets on birth control and scientific exhibitions. Most importantly perhaps, it criminalised homosexuality. In Oscar Wilde’s trial he described his relationship with his boyfriend as ‘the love that dare not speak it’s name’, so for one of the many readers who devoured the story of a man with a double life, the link to a same sex relationship would be glaringly obvious. In fact, in earlier drafts, Stevenson made it blatantly clear that this was the ‘devil’ which ‘came out roaring’ once Jekyll had taken the potion. 

If you don’t check how the meaning of words can change over time, then your analysis will not be factually correct, no matter how beautifully written it is.

2. Get to know your writer. 

Not through necromancy, obviously, which is strongly discouraged by all reputable authorities. By reading a biography or seeing where they wrote, we can get into their mindset and predict their views on the issues presented in their work. 

Take again the example of Jekyll and Hyde. Robert Louis Stevenson was a non-conformist in every sense: when other students were working hard, he was trying to buy cannabis in a cemetery. He hid illegal literature at his tobacconist so he could enjoy the works of Walt Whitman while smoking a pipe. Yet Louis sometimes felt he lived a double life between his conservative father’s expectations and his desire to be more bohemian. For Louis, to describe someone as living a typical mainstream life was to insult them. 

William Blake is another fabulous writer whose headspace we can enter. The definition of radical, Blake rejected everything that society placed in front of him, from the monarchy to the concept of marriage. He was an illustrator and artist who planned for his work to be reinforced visually, and felt a very personal and spiritual connection to the world around him, despite being critical of the Church as an institution. Just by placing Blake in his literary movement (Romanticism), we can extrapolate his views as we as readers know that the Romantics stood for the pure expression of emotion. 

By getting to know our writer, their intentions become clear without the need for wrangling with overly complex analysis. 

3. Get Out(side help). 

In London we are blessed with an excess of sites to see, and free transport, we can find the places which inspired our writers and access their context first hand. 

Let’s imagine you are teaching Oliver Twist. In Bloomsbury’s Dickens Museum not only can you see the desk in which Dickens sat to write this book, you can also visit the Barnardos museum where Thomas Bernardo set out to help the young people who would have formed the models for Oliver. If you wanted to delve deeper into the mindset of Dickens, the Clink Museum in London Bridge commemorates the debtors’ prison which Dickens saw as the most formative experience of his younger years. Even if you’re outside London, you can find echoes of the Victorian experience. 

Of course, no man is an island, and no teacher is alone in tackling context. You have at your disposal a history department of degree-level specialists in a variety of historical time periods, and even if they don’t have a working knowledge of Gothic literature they may well know someone who does. Universities such as Goldsmiths or Cardiff run outreach programmes and will be able to offer world class experts in your area.

Why not start a book club, or make context part of your CPD? Perhaps every teacher could present weekly on a different topic relating to a set text, or meet in the pub for a discussion of the same biography of a writer. 

Several schools have started after-school lecture programmes to stretch their most able students and invited outside speakers in, thus taking the burden off themselves to provide the most intimate details of a text. 

4. Love your library. 

Sadly, our librarians are frequently under-utilised by English teachers. It only takes an email to get an expert in the field of reading involved in your context struggles. If you’re blessed to have a library lesson, they can assist you in finding materials or focused reading on, say, the life of Shakespeare. For those of us who face the unending catastrophe of silent reading in form time, a box of hand picked books delivered to your door sounds blissful. A most able class could also benefit from a structured reading list or book club run by a knowledgable librarian. 

5. Love your language. 

Tokens are for trolleys, not context, and if I were in any position of power over a scheme of work (which, fortunately for some, I’m not) I would be integrating context from the very start. Language means nothing in isolation and without considering the resonance of the words you’re looking at at the time they were written, the meaning would be lost. Imagine a teacher of the future wrestling with ‘Lit’ or ‘Yeet’! 

If you love literature, which I am assuming you do, and you love words, then naturally you need to cultivate a love of context. 

Questions: 

Q: I live in rural Cambridgeshire. How can I access the outside resources you talked about? 

A: You will have a local historical society who will be knowledgable, and you live close to one of the oldest universities around! Both Cambridge University proper and Cambridge St Johns will be happy to run outreach, and there is the potential for YouTube and Skype lessons! 

Q: Are there any other subjects I can bring into my discussions of context? 

A: Art is a great way to look into context, especially with representations of Gothic, Romanticism and Imperial themes. 

Q: How can I get my lower ability students to connect their historical knowledge to the text? 

A: Try thinking of the text in terms of Semantic Fields. Blake would use imagery of light and dark as he was a religious man, so scan ‘London’ for words relating to light and dark. You can also use their own experiences to find a resonance between the context and the imagery in a text, such as smoking shisha in ‘The Sign of Four’. 

My experiences of New Voices

Post by Saj Mohammad
@I_get_it_now_ed

If you asked me to describe my experience of New Voices 2019 in one word, it would have to be ‘magical’. Let’s start with the venue, the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE). This is a lovely old school building transformed into a home for literacy learning and professional development with a reference library of around 2,500 children’s books. Judging by the work on the walls, the young people who have visited in the past adored it as much as I did.

It did make me wonder why we don’t have something similar for Further Education (FE)? Compulsory resits in FE are a vexed issue for many, so anything that could persuade our learners that reading can be a pleasure rather than a chore can only be a good thing.

As soon as I walked in to the CLPE, I was greeted warmly into an inviting space decked with fairy lights and rapidly filling with some much-needed breakfast items! It was clear that everyone involved in organising the event had a real passion. Let’s face it, no-one chooses to give up a precious Saturday unless there’s a good reason. Although I didn’t know a single person there, just about everyone I met was so kind and friendly.

There was a real feeling of solidarity, not just among us first-time speakers, but among those of us who care about education. It was wonderful to meet colleagues from Early Years, Primary, and Secondary who spanned the range from NQTs to time-served SENCOs.

It was also lovely to meet actual parents too and the theme of co-production was one that resonated throughout the day. As someone who works with EHCP students under the Care Act 2014, we centre the voice of the learner in everything we do. But I certainly began to think more about what we can do to listen more to parents’ voices.

I was speaking straight after the first morning break, so I summoned all the strength that my sleep-deprived and caffeine-addled brain could muster. Listening back to my talk, I think I just defaulted to teacher-mode in my delivery and probably talked quickly and mumbled at points due to nerves. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed it and even had the redoubtable Gareth D. Morewood acting as the Boswell to my Dr Johnson and livetweeting during the presentation!

With the presentation over, I was able to focus on watching other speakers and there were three particular highlights for me. Alice Visser-Furay gave an excellent presentation packed with detail about a whole-school approach to embedding academic reading throughout the curriculum. I saw aspects of my own practice in what she’s doing, along with numerous ideas for improving how I teach and support.

I’m rather too fond of saying that ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’, but I think it’s important to build change from the ground up, not just imposed from on high. It was great to see reading for purpose with authentic texts used not only in English, but also in curriculum areas such as sports. Alice’s approach was developed in a school setting, but it could easily work in FE settings with a commitment to do the best for their students.

Katherine Alvey gave a brilliantly clear talk with hand-drawn slides on using context to help learners access GCSE English Literature texts. It’s noticeable how FE students studying for English Language often ask lots of questions about texts, particularly ones from the 19^th century. Rather than assume students hate studying English, maybe we need to think more about whether they’re uncomfortable with their lack of knowledge?

I’m a great believer in using context and have used history in the past to bring poems like Blake’s London to life. But Katherine’s talk gave me so many more ideas to use. If we can use things like culture and the sense of place to illuminate the contexts from which literature emerges, perhaps we can not only make the study of English a pleasure, but also give learners a more rounded education. After all, knowledge doesn’t live in discrete silos, but is only truly meaningful in a wider context.

The final session that I saw was a last-minute replacement, but luckily Gareth D. Morewood was on hand (I told you he was redoubtable) along with Craig Astin, and they had a fascinating conversation about the Low Arousal approach to managing behaviour in schools. I had so many lightbulb moments in this session that it was ridiculous!

So much of what we do in terms of behaviour management is focused on the learner, but what can we do ourselves as educators? If we walk into a classroom in a low mood due to stress, we pass that on to our learners unwillingly. Before we can even think about tackling our learners’ behaviour, prioritising the wellbeing of staff so that they don’t pass on their ‘emotional contagion’ would be a good start.

At the end of the day, shouting at learners makes you feel bad, makes them feel bad, and often has little positive impact. I know myself that sometimes a subtler approach with a truly calm person at the helm can work wonders. But now I see the value of this approach so much more, thanks to Craig and Gareth’s sharing of their experiences.

The day ended with a raffle and a cocktail, a wonderful end to what was undoubtably a magical day. My experience demonstrated that grass roots initiatives are a lot of work for those involved, but the results are wonderful. I was definitely left with the strong conviction that practitioner-led events and indeed research are the way forward. In fact, the next event I’m speaking at (#FEResearchMeet Greater Manchester) is just that!

That’s why I’d love to give a big thank you to Jane Manzone, Ruth Luzmore, Kathleen Gilbert, and the army of volunteers helping behind the scenes for all their hard work. I also have to give a special mention to Smoky Gauchos, who provided an outstandingly delicious lunch of Brazilian barbecue delights. Also, if you work in primary and haven’t been to the CLPE yet, you are really missing out. See you again next year!