STUDENT-TEACHERS AND MODELS OF ENGLISH

The introductory section of the Cox Report, which formed the basis of the National Curriculum for English in England and Wales, posits five models for the teaching of English which it claims give a broad approach to the subject. Critics, however, suggest there is an unresolved conflict between the subject philosophies of the models represented in the report which might be perceived more sharply by those entering teaching. This paper explores the views of 23 English graduates in the early stages of a postgraduate training course to discover how they conceptualise the subject in the light of Cox's models as they make the transition from higher education to secondary school English teaching. An open-ended questionnaire together with an attitude questionnaire taken from a study of English teachers are used. The findings suggest that the student teachers, like the English teachers, recognise and broadly support all five models; differences do emerge, however, over the degree of support for the cultural analysis and adult needs models.