Title: The A/Effects of teaching literature

Submitted by: Jennie Darcy
Abstract: At the heart of this PhD project are questions concerning the purpose of studying literary fiction and the role of teachers in realising its affective value and regenerating ‘enjoyment-joy or interest-excitement’ (From Silvan Tompkin's Affect Theory Ahmed, 2010, p. 18). Positioned within a historical discourse which argues against reductionist notions of education, this research is interested in a social-relational approach to teaching literary fiction, allowing students insight into themselves, their place in the world and the wider human condition.
As an experienced English teacher, I researched alongside eight colleagues from a Victorian Catholic Diocese in a collaborative community of reflective practice. Bracketed by two Professional Learning Days (facilitated by myself), most of this data was generated through a series of one-on-one, semi-structured interviews via Zoom. Through a process of thematic analysis, the Theory of Practice Architectures (Mahon, Franciso, & Kemmis, 2017) was used to identify pre-existing cultural-discursive, material-economic and social-political arrangements which shape English teaching praxis, enabling and constraining attempts to realise the affective value of literature.

The data generated from this study raises specific issues related to regional contexts where classrooms are populated by teachers with marginal literature/secondary teaching expertise. It highlights the ways in which those positioned as ‘newcomers’ to English teaching are more susceptible to neo-liberal pressures of accountability and assessment. It also brings into focus ambiguities concerning English teaching identities and conceptualisations of English teacher’s work, specifically in relation to ‘difficult knowledge’(McLean Davies & Buzacott, 2022). Simultaneously, it demonstrates the affordances of approaching English teaching as ‘Rhetoric’, thereby generating ‘effects of power and persuasion, yes, but also effects of pleasure and effects of learning, and more….’(Green, 2017, p. 76).

Discussion Points

1) What matters when teaching literature?

2) What are the boundaries of L1 teaching responsibilities (specifically in relation to difficult knowledge)?

3) How do conceptualisations of English teaching identity (or lack thereof) shape understandings of what constitutes knowledge in L1?

Keywords

English teaching and:
• Knowledge
• Identity
• Rural
• Affect
• Literature

References
Ahmed, S. (2010). Happy Objects. In M. Gregg & G. J. Seigworth (Eds.), The Affect Theory Reader. Durham, UNITED STATES: Duke University Press.
Green, B. (2017). English as rhetoric? - Once more, with feeling. English in Australia, 52(1), 74-82. doi:10.3316/informit.725864472094375
Mahon, K., Franciso, S., & Kemmis, S. (Eds.). (2017). Exploring Education and Professional Practice - Through the Lens of Practice Architectures. Singapore: Springer.
McLean Davies, L., & Buzacott, L. (2022). Rethinking literature, knowledge and justice: selecting ‘difficult’ stories for study in school english. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 30(3), 367-381. doi:10.1080/14681366.2021.1977981