The practical methods of an inspirational teacher in delivering the Framework for Teaching in England

Abstract

From 1998 until 2006, The National Literacy Strategy Framework for Teaching was a practical tool to help teachers in delivering Literacy Hour classes. Although the framework clarified its objectives related to the specification and development of literacy skills, it also presented difficulties for some teachers in drawing together a range of objectives to create short blocks of work. To investigate how a good teacher delivers the framework, this study analyzes recorded data for some actual Literacy Hour classes given in Lancashire. Bernadette Wood was introduced to the researcher by the Local Education Authority as being the best teacher of Literacy Hour classes in Lancashire. She was the head teacher and also a class teacher at a primary school.

Within the unit using the “The Lady of Shallot” as its text, Wood focused on an objective related to “interpretation,” referring to entering into the story-world, and used an inspirational teaching method to stimulate the feelings and interests of the pupils. She also selected two other objectives related to “analysis,” as approaches to elucidating the story-world from the outside. Although these objectives are all from the same category of “Reading Comprehension,” the teacher did not locate the analyzing task between the interpreting tasks. That decision was motivated by her realization that the pupil's thoughts moving in and out of the story-world might suffocate her inspirational teaching methods for the interpreting tasks. In addition, she also selected an objective from the “Writing Composition” category, and located that task, of writing a poetry review on “The Lady of Shallot”, at the end of the unit in order to effectively integrate both the interpreting and analyzing tasks. In that way, Wood created a coherent short block of work.