Literary Constructions of Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE)
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Literary Constructions of Victorian Certificate of Education (V.C.E.) English Author Kitt, Bree Renae Published 2015 Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate) School School of Education and Professional Studies DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/2778 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367884 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au Literary Constructions of Victorian Certificate of Education (V.C.E.) English Bree Renae Kitt B. Teach (Sec), B.A, M.Ed (Lang & Lit.) School of Educational and Professional Studies Arts, Education & Law Group Griffith University Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy January 2015 Formatted: Position: Horizontal: Right, Relative to: Margin, Vertical: 0 cm, Relative to: Paragraph, Wrap Around ii ABSTRACT For more than a century English has been taught in Australian schools, encompassing a range of traditions and practices lived and enacted in classroom communities. English subjects are continually evolving, moving toward a new world of infinite possibilities for human ingenuity. Teachers’ perspectives on their practices are embedded within this dynamic context, and within discourses about the traditions and responsibilities of the English subjects. In contemporary times, however, new demands are made on English and English teachers. With an increased emphasis on ‘communication’, including multimodal forms of text and literacy, the need for young people to be critically literate, and the challenges of twenty first century society and globalization mean that English is expected to fulfill diverse agendas and roles. As the only compulsory subject in most states in Australia, English occupies a significant role, catering to a wide range of students with diverse needs and abilities. Within this context, the place of literature within mainstream English has become a matter of debate. Discussions about literature are inextricably bound to decisions about English, historically drawn together around debates about language, culture and canonicity. Definitions of literature and literary merit are therefore, inherently arbitrary and subjective. For the purpose of framing this research, literature is broadly perceived as both artifact and practice, encompassing literary dimensions of exploring ideas, language, contexts, aesthetics and form. An understanding of literature’s identity, role and place in V.C.E. English is challenging to discern, due to the absence of an explicit reference to literature in the Study Design, although the course recommends texts “should have literary merit, be worthy of close study and be an excellent example of form and genre” (V.C.A.A., 2006a, p. 13). A perspective of literature from the V.C.E. Literature Study Design (V.C.A.A., 2006b) is utilised as an operational definition within the thesis: Meaning is derived from the relationship between the text, the context in which it was produced and the experience of life and literature the reader brings to the texts…texts that vary in form and range from past to contemporary social and cultural contexts. Students learn to understand that texts are constructions, to consider the complexity of language and to recognise the influence of contexts and form (p. 7). The introduction of a revised final two-year English course in Victoria, V.C.E. English, in 2007- 2008 brought questions about literature, the composition and purposes of English to the fore. Drawing on interviews with eight teachers of Victorian Certificate of Education (V.C.E.), the study set out to explore the place of Literature in contemporary English curriculum, and the complex values, beliefs and practices that influence teachers’ views. Formatted: Position: Horizontal: Right, Relative to: Margin, Vertical: 0 cm, Relative to: Paragraph, Wrap Around iii Teachers were chosen to represent a range of experience, location and student cohorts. The study drew on narrative inquiry methodologies and critical discourse analysis to undertake and analyse three rounds of narrative interviews. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using three related frames, to identify core elements and discourses. The first iteration locates significant narrative sequences. The second subjects these narrative sequences to poetic restructuring and analysis, while the third introduces critical discourse techniques. The use of three forms of analysis enables the study to retain the principles of respect and open listening that sit at the heart of narrative inquiry while also revealing key concerns, discourses and priorities running through the narratives at a deeper level. Key themes associated with canonicity, aesthetics, humanity, passion and pleasure emerge in teachers’ narratives. English has an important role in deepening students’ connections to the world and conceptually, linguistically and aesthetically dealing with its challenges. Literature matters, and to varying degrees, is significant in how these teachers imagine the future of the subject as well as its present state. Literature is envisioned as an aesthetic mirror of society and a treasury of language and ideas that enrich students’ experiences of the world, calling on the enlightenment rhetorics of a golden age. Their perceptions of literature and its merit are also influenced by progressive rhetorics of globalization in a technological age. The motif of the global village pervades their reflections, shaping how they think about the role of English and literature in responding to issues of culture, citizenship, humanity and innovation in a time of unprecedented change. Collectively the reflections of these eight teachers suggest English has a responsibility to academically, ethically and aesthetically prepare students for future innovation and global citizenship. Significant discourses of passion, pleasure, ethics and democracy underpin their interpretations of the V.C.E. English Study Design, and how they envision the future of literature within Australian English subjects. Attending to teachers’ voices through research of this kind ensures that debates about English, and literary Englishes among these, reflect the depth and complexity of teachers’ understandings, and the need and possibilities for the continued presence of literature within contemporary and future secondary English curriculum. Formatted: Position: Horizontal: Right, Relative to: Margin, Vertical: 0 cm, Relative to: Paragraph, Wrap Around iv Statement of Originality This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself. (Signed)_____________________________ Bree R. Kitt Formatted: Position: Horizontal: Right, Relative to: Margin, Vertical: 0 cm, Relative to: Paragraph, Wrap Around v Contents COVER ............................................................................................................................................ i ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... iii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY .................................................................................... v CONTENTS .................................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... x CHAPTER ONE: ENGLISH AND LITERATURE IN SENIOR ENGLISH .......................... 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 1 1.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND PURPOSE ................................................................. 5 1.2 RATIONALE: INQUIRING INTO LITERARY ENGLISH ........................................... 6 1.3 RESEARCH OVERVIEW: INQUIRY INTO V.C.E. ENGLISH ..................................... 9 1.4 CONTRIBUTION TO THE FIELD ............................................................................ 13 1.5 SUMMARY AND THESIS STRUCTURE ................................................................. 14 CHAPTER TWO: PERSPECTIVES INFORMING ENGLISH IN AUSTRALIA ............... 16 2.0 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 16 2.1 ENGLISH IN AUSTRALIA – 19TH CENTURY TO POST WAR FORMATIONS ........ 18 2.2 CHALLENGES OF MODERNITY – MID 20TH CENTURY CONSTRUCTIONS ........ 24 2.3 ENGLISH IN THE 21ST CENTURY ........................................................................... 29 2.4 SUMMARY .............................................................................................................. 36 CHAPTER THREE: REVIEWING THE LITERATURE – LITERATURE AND ENGLISH ............................................................................................ 37 3.0 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 37 3.1 LITERARY DISCOURSES: DEMOCRACY, ETHICS AND TOLERANCE .................. 37 3.2 LITERARY DISCOURSES: PLEASURE, PASSION AND CRITICAL AESTHETICS . 41 3.3 PERSPECTIVES: CANONS AND OTHER LITERATURES .......................................... 44 3.4 PERSPECTIVES: LITERARY THEORY IN ENGLISH .................................................. 49