Remembering Professional Commitments: Trusting in Teachers

Authors

  • Jeannie Bulman University of Sheffield
  • Cathy Burnett Sheffield Hallam University
  • Guy Merchant Sheffield Hallam University
  • Emma Rogers Bishop Grosseteste University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20360/langandlit29550

Abstract

In England statutory expectations for literacy education place little emphasis on contemporary modes and media of communication and, as such, are out of step with contemporary life. We explore how open-ended, collaborative pedagogies can provide rich contexts for authentic everyday communication even in the context of such reductionist curriculum and assessment frameworks. This leads us to claim that the success of such approaches depends on the enthusiasm, experience and creativity of teachers and that remembering longstanding professional commitments in language and literacy teaching is at least as important as rethinking the curriculum when advocating for literacy provision more suited to current times.

Author Biographies

Jeannie Bulman , University of Sheffield

Jeannie Bulman earned her Ph.D. from the University of Sheffield (UK) and specializes in all aspects of primary English teaching and learning. Her 2015 doctoral research won the UK Literacy Association’s award for research in 2016 and her monograph, Children’s Reading of Film and Visual Literacy in the Primary Curriculum: A Progression Framework Model (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) was nominated for UKLA’s Academic Book Award 2018. She has also co-authored Film Education, Literacy and Learning with Becky Parry (UKLA 2017) and the chapter Children’s Literature on Screen with Lucy Taylor in The Palgrave Handbook of Children’s Film and Television (2019).

Cathy Burnett , Sheffield Hallam University

Cathy Burnett is Professor of Literacy and Education at Sheffield Institute of Education, Sheffield Hallam University where she leads the Language and Literacy in Education Research Group. Her books include Undoing the Digital’ (2020), ‘New Media in the Classroom’ (2019) (both with Guy Merchant) and the co-edited collections: New Literacies around the Globe’ (2014); ‘Literacy, Media, Technology’ (2016) and ‘The Case of the iPad’ (2016). She is a Past President of the United Kingdom Literacy Association.

Guy Merchant , Sheffield Hallam University

Guy Merchant is Professor of Literacy and Education at the Sheffield Institute of Education, Sheffield Hallam University. His research explores the ways in which literacy and technology intersect in the lives of children and young people. Guy is a founding editor of the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy and has written extensively about literacy and new media. He is co-author, with Cathy Burnett, of ‘Undoing the Digital’ (2020), ‘New Media in the Classroom’ (2019), and is a contributing editor for ‘Virtual Literacies’ (2013); ‘New Literacies around the Globe’ (2014); ‘Literacy, Media, Technology’ (2016) and ‘The Case of the iPad’ (2016).

Emma Rogers , Bishop Grosseteste University

Emma Rogers is a Senior Lecturer at Bishop Grosseteste University teaching English in Education. She worked for several years for the Primary National Strategies leading the successful Every Child a Writer programme and has developed languages curricula and assessment guidance in over 150 countries.  She is currently studying her PhD, researching Student teacher's reading identity. 

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Published

2021-06-09

How to Cite

Bulman , J. ., Burnett , C. ., Merchant , G. ., & Rogers , E. . (2021). Remembering Professional Commitments: Trusting in Teachers. Language and Literacy, 23(2), 3–15. https://doi.org/10.20360/langandlit29550

Issue

Vol. 23 No. 2 (2021): Reimagining Literacy: Being Literate in the Pandemic Era

Section

Articles

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