Workshops for Trainee and Practising Sixth Form and University Literature Teachers
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1. Teaching Sixth Form English Literature "Outstanding! Gary has made teaching the course appear much more achievable and accessible. The resources provided are high quality and will be of great use to me. It was also a great pleasure to have been led by someone who is clearly very passionate and knowledgeable." "Excellent. Exactly what I needed to know. Reassuring, and excellent on how to make students more independent. Inspiring, useful and well-run." "Wonderful! Clear relevant, interesting. Refreshing and creative." "I am now feeling enthused and well-prepared. The wider context to teaching literature that Gary provides is valuable and serves as a timely reminder of what English teaching is really about." "Excellent. Very interesting with a vast amount of useful information and good ideas. The speaker was approachable and practical - lots of ideas and no silly jargon!" "A wonderful course - stimulating, refreshing, erudite, a reinforcement and a great refresher. A wealth of ideas presented in a lively, very engaging way." "I am impressed with the resources offered and with the instructor's ability to establish ways of teaching the subject to students of differing ability." "Fantastic workshop! It reminded me of why I teach!" "The students were effusive in their praise for your session - they couldn't speak highly enough of it." (Cambridge University PGCE) "Your session was very highly rated by students and many cited your work in their assignments." (Leicester University PGCE) I have been leading workshops on the teaching of literature in the Sixth Form since 2005, and am glad to say that they seem generally to have hit the spot, as some of the comments above suggest. I draw on my experience as a teacher of both A Level and I.B. English, as well as my research work. The workshops are for trainee teachers on PGCE courses and for in-service teachers, and can be tailored to suit various purposes:
I have led annual workshops for PGCE courses at Cambridge University, Brunel University and Leicester University, and for Keynote Educational Courses; and occasional workshops at NATE regional and local conferences and in other forums. 2. Teaching First Year Undergraduates English Literature Although the majority of my workshops are for sixth form teachers, I have also worked successfully on a number of occasions with university lecturers and postgraduate teaching assistants, for instance in sessions for the English Subject Centre and for the English department at the Queen Mary University of London. In these workshops, I can help teachers to explore some of the ways they can approach teaching and learning with undergraduates (especially first year undergraduates) by understanding the implications of students' prior teaching and learning drawing from my own experience of teaching in schools) and of their attitudes to English and to the transition between school and university English (drawing on my doctoral research into this transition). The workshops include:
Please contact me for further enquiries. 3. Workshop Materials |
Teaching English
Following an English degree at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, I trained to be an English teacher in 1988/9 at the Department of Education at Cambridge University, in the PGCE course led by Tony Adams.
I worked as an English teacher in 11-18 comprehensive schools in Cambridge for the next 14 years, first at Netherhall School, and then at Impington Village College, where I became Head of English. During these years, I taught both A Level and I.B. English in the Sixth Form, as well as 11-16 English. I have also taught at Parkside Community College. Since 2008, I have been teaching (part-time) A Level English Literature at Cheney School, Oxford - my local 11-18 comprehensive school. Since 2003, I have also been teaching I.B. English study courses to I.B. students from International Schools around the world for Oxford Study Courses in Oxford and Cambridge. Other teaching experiences have included:
I can offer workshops of various kinds for Sixth Form literature students. Please contact me for further details. |
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