RECOMMENDED READING FOR PGCE ENGLISH
NATIONAL CURRICULUM DOCUMENTS
We will refer to the current National Curriculum Programme of Study for
English throughout the course and it is obviously essential that you
become familiar with the details of this. Copies of the National Curriculum
will be given to you at the start of the course. These documents are also
available online (see previous section).
GCSE and A level syllabuses will also be introduced at appropriate points
in the course (and are also easily available from the exam board
websites).
COURSE READERS
We strongly recommend that you buy two of the following books about
English teaching.
Davison, Jon and Dowson, Jane (eds) (2009) Learning to Teach
English in the Secondary School (3rd edition). London:
RoutledgeFalmer
This is a comprehensive textbook that includes contributions from nine
experienced English teachers and PGCE tutors. Clearly signalled subsections and learning activities make this a useful book to refer to
throughout the course, particularly for English subject coursework
assignments.
Fleming, Michael and Stevens, David (2010) English Teaching in
the Secondary School (3rd edition). London: David Fulton
This book provides a very readable introduction to issues and approaches
in English teaching, raising important questions in an intelligent way.
Although covering a lot of the same topics as Davison and Dowson, the
two books take a complementary approach and different material is
covered in each.
Clarke, Stephen, Dickenson, Paul and Westbrook, Jo (2010)
Complete Guide to Becoming an English Teacher (2nd edition).
London: Sage
This text is particularly useful for offering an unusually large range of
practical suggestions for developing your subject knowledge.
FURTHER READING
A large number of government reports on the teaching of English are
important to all those who have an interest in this subject; we will refer to
some of those listed below, along with others, in English sessions and you
will find it useful to follow up these references at various points in the
course. These reports are often easily downloadable from the internet
(see information on websites, or follow links provided in sessions).
The other books recommended below are available from the University
Bookshop and/or from the DLRC. We have grouped the books into areas
of English teaching. You should refer to these books to support the
development of the depth and range of your subject knowledge and
understanding of secondary English. Those in bold type are those we
consider good core texts for this purpose. Of course, this list cannot
be exhaustive and we will suggest other books during the year,
particularly in connection with your English subject assignments and
tasks. Teachers and your fellow students may share other
recommendations with you. You should also find articles in the journals
English in Education, Literacy, Media Magazine, E-Magazine, Teaching
English.
ENGLISH TEACHING - GENERAL
Andrews, Richard (2001) Teaching and Learning English. London:
Continuum.
Barton, Geoff (2012) Don’t Call it Literacy: What every teacher
needs to know about speaking, listening, reading and writing,
London: Routledge.
Brindley, Susan (Ed) (1994) Teaching English. London: Routledge.
Clarke, Stephen, Dickinson, Paul, and Westbrook, Jo (2004) The Complete
Guide to Becoming an English Teacher. London: Paul Chapman
Davison, Jon, Moss, John (1999) Issues in English Teaching. London:
RoutledgeFalmer.
Dean, Geoff (2000) Teaching Reading in the Secondary School.
London: David Fulton.
Davison, Jon, Daly, Caroline and Moss, John (eds) (2011) Debates
in English Teaching. London: Routledge.
Dymoke, Sue (2009) Teaching English Texts 11-18, London: Continuum.
Green, Andrew (ed.) (2011) Becoming a Reflective English
Teacher. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education/ Open University
Press.
Goodwyn, Andrew (1999) English in a Digital Age. London: Continuum.
Goodwyn, Andrew (2010) The Expert Teacher of English, London:
Routledge.
Harris, Simon (1990) Lesbian and Gay Issues in the English Classroom.
Buckingham: Open University Press.
Kress, Gunther, et al. (2005) English in Urban Classrooms.
London: Routledge
Lankshear, Colin and Knobel, Michele (2011) New Literacies:
Everyday Practices and Social Learning (3rd edition). Maidenhead:
McGraw-Hill Education/ Open University Press.
Lewis, Maureen, and Wray, David (1999) Literacy in the Secondary
School. London: David Fulton.
Marshall, Bethan (2004) English Assessed. NATE.
Pope, Rob (2012) (3rd edition) Studying English Literature and
Language: An Introduction and Companion, London: Routledge.
Pullman, Philip (2002) Perverse, All Monstrous, All Prodigious Things.
NATE.
QCA (1998) Can do better – Raising boys’ achievement in English.
London: QCA.
QCA (1999) Improving writing at key stages 3 and 4. London: QCA.
Ofsted (2009) English at the crossroads: an evaluation of English
in primary and secondary schools 2005/08. London: Ofsted
Ofsted (2011) Excellence in English. London: Ofsted
Ofsted (2012) Moving English Forward. London: Ofsted
Robinson, Ken (2003) All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and
Education. DfES (See especially the section on teaching and learning.)
LITERATURE
Andrews, Richard (1991) The Problem With Poetry. Buckingham: Open
University Press.
Atherton, Carol, Green, Andrew and Snapper, Gary (2013)
Teaching English Literature 16-19: An Essential Guide, London:
Routledge.
Barry, Peter (2007) Literature in Contexts, Manchester: Manchester
University Press.
Benton, Peter (1996) Pupil, Teacher, Poem. London: Hodder and
Stoughton.
Brownjohn, Sandy (1994) To Rhyme or Not To Rhyme. London:
Hodder and Stoughton.
Cockcroft, Susan (2000) Contexts. London: Hodder Headline.
Dymoke, Sue (2003) Drafting and Assessing Poetry. Paul Chapman
Publications.
Dymoke, Sue, Lambirth, Andrew and Wilson, Anthony (eds) Making Poetry
Matter: International Research on Poetry Pedagogy, London: Bloomsbury.
Eaglestone, Robert (2000) Doing English: A Guide for Literature
Students. London: Routledge.
Evans, E (Ed) (1992) Reading Against Racism. Buckingham: Open
University Press.
Gamble, Nikki, and Yates, Sally (2002) Exploring Children’s literature:
Teaching the Language and reading of Fiction. London: Paul Chapman
Gibson, Rex (1997) Teaching Shakespeare. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Hall, Christine, and Coles, Martin (1998) Children’s Reading Choices.
London: Routledge.
Hunt, Peter (1991) Criticism, Theory and Children's Literature. Oxford:
Blackwell.
Koch, Kenneth (1999) Making Your Own Days. New York: Scribner.
Leach, Susan (1992) Shakespeare in the Classroom. What's the
Matter? Buckingham: Open University Press.
Marshall, Bethan (2001) Reading Prose. London: Hodder Headline.
McEvoy, Sean (2000) Shakespeare: the Basics. London: Routledge.
Millard, Elaine (1997) Differently Literate. London: Falmer Press.
Montgomery, Martin, Durant, Alan, Furniss, Tom and Mills, Sara (2012)
(4th edition) Ways of Reading: Advanced Reading Skills for Students of
English Literature, London: Routledge.
Moss, Gemma (1989) Un/Popular Fictions. London: Virago.
Myszor, Frank (2001) Reading Poetry. London: Hodder Headline.
Pennac, Daniel (1994) Reads like a novel. London: Quartet.
Pope, Robert (2000) How to Study Chaucer. London: Macmillan.
Scafe, Suzanne (1989) Teaching Black Literature. London: Virago.
Yates, Cliff (1999) Jumpstart: Teaching poetry in the secondary
school. London: The Poetry Society.
LANGUAGE
Aitchison, Jean (1997) The Language Web: The power and
problem of words. London: Cambridge University Press.
Barton, Geoff (2010) Grammar Survival: A Teacher's Toolkit,
London: Routledge.
Cameron, Deborah (2007) The Teacher’s Guide to Grammar.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Carter, Ron (ed.) (1982) Linguistics and the Teacher, London: Routledge.
Carter, Ron and McCarthy, Michael (1997) Exploring Spoken English,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Carter, Ron, Goddard, Angela, Reah, Danuta, Sanger, Keith and
Swift, Nicki (2007) (3rd edition) Working With Texts, London:
Routledge.
Crystal, David (2004) Making Sense of Grammar. London:
Longman.
Crystal, David (1997) The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English
Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dean, Geoff (2003) Grammar for Improving Writing and Reading in the
Secondary School. London: David Fulton Publishers.
Denham, Kristin and Lobeck, Anne (2010) Linguistics at School: Language
Awareness in Primary and Secondary Education, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Giovanelli, M. (2014) Teaching Grammar, Structure and Meaning:
Exploring Theory and Practice for Post-16 English Language
Teachers, London: Routledge.
Goddard, A. (2012) Doing English Language, London: Routledge.
Illingworth, M. and Hall, N. (2012) Teaching English Language 1619: A comprehensive guide for teachers of AS/A2 level English
Language, London: Routledge.
Jackson, Howard and Stockwell, Peter (2010) (2nd edition) An
Introduction to the Nature and Functions of Language, London:
Continuum.
Kolln, Martha and Gray, Lorraine (2012) (7th edition) Rhetorical Grammar:
Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical Effects, London: Pearson.
Locke, Terry (2010) (ed.) Beyond the Grammar Wars: A Resource
for Teachers and Students on Developing Language Knowledge in
the English/Literacy Classroom, London: Routledge.
Montgomery, Martin (2008) (3rd edition) An Introduction to
Language and Society, London: Routledge.
Mullany, Louise and Stockwell, Peter (2010) Introducing English
Language, London: Routledge.
Newby, Michael (1988) The Structure of English. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Simpson, Paul (2014) Stylistics, London: Routledge.
QCA (1998) The Grammar Papers. London: QCA.
QCA (1999) Not whether, but how – teaching grammar in English
at KS3 & 4. London: QCA.
SPECIAL NEEDS
Benton (2000) Special Needs and the Beginning Teacher. London:
Continuum.
Cooper, Paul, Smith, Colin J and Upton, Graham (1994) Educational and
Behavioural Difficulties. London: Routledge.
Goodwyn, Andrew (1995) English and Ability. London: David Fulton.
Montgomery, Diane (1997) Spelling: remedial strategies. London:
Cassell
Reason, Rae, and Boote, Rene (1986) Learning Difficulties in Reading and
Writing. A Teacher's Manual. London: NFER-Routledge.
Smith, Dorothy (2004) Specific Learning Difficulties. NASEN
Westwood, Peter (1997) Commonsense Methods for Children with Special
Needs. London: Falmer.
MEDIA
Bazalgette, Cary (1991) Media Education. London: Hodder and
Stoughton.
Branston, Gill (1999) The Media Student’s Book. London:
Routledge.
Buckingham, David (1993) Children Talking Television: The Making of
Television Literacy. London: Falmer.
Burton, Graeme (1997) More Than Meets the Eye. (2nd edition.)
London: Arnold.
Dutton, Brian (2000) Media Studies. (2nd edition.) London: Longman.
Ellis, John (1992) Visible Fictions. London: Routledge (Plenty in
Amazon’s second-hand section)
Goodwyn Andrew (1992) English Teaching and Media Education.
Buckingham: Open University Press.
Hart Andrew (1991) Understanding the Media. London: Routledge.
Lusted, David (1991) The Media Studies Book: A Guide for Teachers.
London: Routledge.
Masterman, Len (1985) Teaching The Media London: Comedia.
Price, Stuart (1998) Media Studies. London: Longman
DRAMA
Bambrough, Paul (1994) Simulations in English Teaching. Buckingham:
Open University Press.
Bolton, Gavin (1984) Drama as Education. London: Longman.
Bunyan, Paul, Catron, John and NATE Drama Committee (2000)
Cracking Drama -Progression in Drama within English (5 - 16).
Sheffield: NATE
Bunyan, Paul and Rainer, John (1996) The Patchwork Quilt. Sheffield:
NATE.
Fleming, Michael (1994) Starting Drama Teaching. London: David
Fulton.
Hornbrook, David (1989) Education and Dramatic Art. Oxford: Blackwell
Education.
Kempe, Andy and Ashwell, Marigold (2000) Progression in Secondary
Drama. Oxford: Heinemann
Moore, Ruth and Bunyan, Paul (2006) NATE Drama Packs. Sheffield:
NATE.
Neelands, Jonothan & Goode, Tony (2000) Structuring Drama
Work (second edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Nicholson, Helen (ed) (2000) Teaching Drama 11 – 18. London:
Continuum
O'Neill, Cecily, Lambert, Alan (1993) Drama Structures. London:
Hutchinson.
ORACY
Alexander, Robin (2004) Towards Dialogic Teaching. Rethinking
classroom talk. Cambridge: Dialogos
Barnes, Douglas, Britton, James & Rosen, Harold (1969) Language, the
Learner and the School. London: Penguin Books
Barnes, D. and Todd, F. (1994) Communication and Learning Revisited.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
Carter, Ronald and McCarthy, Michael (1997) Exploring Spoken English.
Cambridge University Press
Edwards, A.D. and Westgate, D.P.G. (1994) Investigating classroom talk.
Second edition. London: Routledge Falmer
Mercer, Neil (2000) Words and Minds: how we use language to
think together. London: Routledge
Norman, Kate (ed.) (1992) Thinking Voices: the work of the National
Oracy Project. London: Hodder & Stoughton
QCA (2004) Introducing the grammar of talk. London: QCA
QCA (2003) New perspectives on spoken English in the classroom.
Discussion papers. London: QCA
2.4
LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS
The PGCE English loan collection includes a wide range of children's novels
and short story anthologies commonly found as class readers, for wider
reading and in school libraries. Some may appear more suitable at first
sight for younger children. However, many teachers have realised that it
is a good idea to continue to make available the best of junior school
fiction, since this offers a bridge of enjoyment and familiarity to children
in the comprehensive school. We hope you will read at least twenty
children’s books before next July, preferably many more!
Texts shown in bold are those most often used in schools.
Within the
KS3 list, those highlighted in bold will form the basis of a subject
workshop in the first term about planning the teaching of a novel-length
narrative text. We shall expect you to have read at least seven titles to
participate in this session. You need to make a start on reading these
early on in the course to avoid having to do extra reading in an autumn
term which will make heavy demands of you. Many of the titles can be
found very cheaply online.
These are suggested titles which will help to develop your subject
knowledge in this broad area. Please share with others any other titles
you encounter either in your own teaching or in your reading. During the
year, many schools also follow the developments of the Carnegie Award
for writing for children and young adults. This is an exciting and very
helpful way to keep up to date with new writing for this age group.
Further details of the Carnegie Award, including the Shadow Scheme, can
be found at:
http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk
KEY STAGE 3 (SOME ALSO RELEVANT TO KEY STAGE 2 OR 4)
Alcock, Vivien
Almond, David
Bawden, Nina
Blackman, Malorie
Bloom, Valerie
Blume, Judy
Bowler, Tim
Boyce, Frank Cottrell
Branford, Henrietta
Brooks, Kevin
Byars, Betsy
Cassidy, Anne
Choldenko, Gennifer
Colfer, Eoin
Collins, Suzanne
Cooper, Susan
Cormier, Robert
Creech, Sharon
Crossan, Sarah
Crossley-Holland, Kevin
Dahl, Roald
Doherty, Berlie
Donnelly, Jennifer
Doyle, Malachy
Dowd, Siobhan
Duncan, Lois
The Monster Garden
Clay
Skellig
Carrie’s War
Noughts and Crosses
Hacker
Surprising Joy
Forever
Starseeker
Millions
Fire, Bed and Bone
Martyn Pig; Lucas; The Bunker Diary
The Eighteenth Emergency
The Midnight Fox
Looking for JJ
Al Capone Does My Shirts
Artemis Fowl
The Hunger Games
Catching Fire
Mockingjay
Prince of Shadows
After the First Death
I am the Cheese
Fade
Love That Dog
Ruby Holler
The Weight of Water
Arthur: the Seeing Stone
Boy
Revolting Rhymes
Tales of the Unexpected
Dear Nobody
Deep Secret
A Gathering Light
Georgie
A Swift Pure Cry; Bog Child
I know what you did last summer
Fine, Anne
Forde, Catherine
Gaiman, Neil
Gardner, Graham
Gardner, Sally
Garner, Alan
Gavin, Jamila
Geras, Adele
Gibbons, Alan
Gleitzman, Morris
Hartnett, Sonya
Hearn, Lian
Hinton, Nigel
Hinton, S.E.
Horowitz, Anthony
Howker, Janni
Ibbotson, Eva
Jung, Reinhardt
Kaye, Geraldine
Laird, Elizabeth
Le Guin, Ursula
Lester, Julius
Magorian, Michelle
McCaughrean,
Geraldine
Mark, Jan
Morgan, Nicola
Morpurgo, Michael
Naidoo, Beverley
Ness, Patrick
Nicholson, William
O’Dowd, Siobhan
Peet, Mal
Pratchett, Terry
Flour Babies; Goggle Eyes; The Tulip Touch
Fat Boy Swim
Coraline
The Graveyard Book
Inventing Elliot
Maggot Moon
Elidor
The Owl Service
Coram Boy
The Wheel of Surya
Troy
Shadow of the Minotaur
The Edge
Two Weeks with the Queen
Thursday’s Child
What the Birds See
Across the Nightingale Floor
Buddy
The Outsiders
Point Blanc
Stormbreaker
Badger on the Barge
The Nature of the Beast
Journey to the River Sea
The Star of Kazan
Bambert’s Book of Missing Stories
Comfort Herself
Garbage King
A Wizard of Earthsea
Basketball Game
Goodnight Mister Tom
Back Home
A Pack of Lies
The Kite Rider
Do you read me?
Heathrow Nights
Fleshmarket
The Butterfly Lion
Private Peaceful
Robin of Sherwood
War Horse
Journey to Jo'burg
The Other Side of Truth
Out of Bounds
A Monster Calls
Slaves of the Mastery
The Wind Singer
Bog Child
Tamar
Life: An Exploded diagram
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated
Price, Susan
Pullman, Philip
Rees, Celia
Reeve, Philip
Richter, Hans Peter
Rosoff, Meg
Rowling, J K
Sachar, Louis
Sedgwick, Marcus
Shan, Darren
Singer, Nicky
Sutcliffe, Rosemary
Swindells, Robert
Tolkien, J R R
Townsend, Sue
Westall, Robert
Wilson, Jacqueline
Yen Mah, Adeline
Zephaniah, Benjamin
Rodents
Prince of Shadows
The Sterkarm Handshake
Clockwork
His Dark Materials(trilogy)
Witch Girl
Mortal Engines
Friedrich
Just in Case
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Holes
My Swordhand is Singing
Cirque du Freak
Feather Boy
Dragon Slayer
Stone Cold
Abomination
The Hobbit
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole
The Capuccino Years
The Machine Gunners
The Scarecrows
The Lottie Project
The Illustrated Mum
Chinese Cinderella
Face
KEY STAGE 4 (SOME ALSO RELEVANT TO KEY STAGE 3)
Emboldened titles are sometimes/often used in GCSE syllabuses. NB We
have also included some commonly used plays in this list.
Achebe, Chinua
Angelou, Maya
Anthony, Michael
Austen, Jane
Ballard, J.G.
Belbin, David
Bradbury, Ray
Bronte, Charlotte
Bronte, Emily
Burgess, Melvin
Cormier, Robert
D'Aguiar, Fred
Desai, Anita
Dhondy, Farrukh
Dickens, Charles
Doyle, Roddy
Golding, William
Gordimer, Nadine
Haddon, Mark
Things Fall Apart
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Green Days by the River
Pride and Prejudice
Empire of the Sun
Love Lessons
The Illustrated Man
Fahrenheit 451
Jane Eyre
Wuthering Heights
Junk
Heroes
Mama Dot
Games At Twilight
Come To Mecca
Great Expectations
Hard Times
Paddy Clarke, Ha, ha, ha
Lord of the Flies
Jump and other Stories
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the
Hardy, Thomas
Hartley, L.P.
Hill, Susan
Hines, Barry
Hodge, Merle
Johnston, Jennifer
Jones, Toeckey
Keyes, Daniel
Lamming, George
Lawrence, D.H.
Lee, Harper
Lee, Laurie
Lessing, Doris
MacLaverty, Bernard
Miller, Arthur
Mitchell, David
Naipaul, V.S.
Narayan, R.K.
OCR anthology
Orwell, George
Priestley, J.B.
Rhys, Jean
Russell, Willy
Salinger, J D
Selvon, Samuel
Shelley, Mary
Simpson, Joe
Smith, Rukshana
Steinbeck, John
Stevenson, R. L.
Swift, Jonathan
Swindells, Robert
Taylor, Mildred
Twain, Mark
Walker, Alice
Wells, H G
2.5
Night Time
Short Stories
The Go-Between
I'm the King of the Castle
The Woman In Black
A Kestrel for a Knave [Kes]
Crick Crack Monkey
Shadows on our Skin
Go Well, Stay Well
Flowers for Algernon
In the Castle of my Skin
Selected Tales
To Kill a Mockingbird
Cider With Rosie
Nine African Stories
Cal
The Best of Bernard MacLaverty Short Stories
A View from the Bridge
The Crucible
Death of a Salesman
Black Swan Green
Miguel Street (short stories)
Painter of Signs; Malgudi Days (short stories)
Opening Worlds
Animal Farm
An Inspector Calls
Wide Sargasso Sea
Blood Brothers
Educating Rita
Our Day Out
Catcher in the Rye
Short Stories
Frankenstein
Touching the Void
Sumitra's Story
Of Mice and Men
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Gulliver’s Travels
Daz 4 Zoe
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Color Purple
The Time Machine
CHILDREN’S POETRY
You should also, of course, read a broad selection of poetry throughout
the course. Your tutor has a wide range of poetry used in schools and you
will also receive guidance in this area in the poetry subject sessions and in
connection with your poetry subject assignment. As a start you could try
to find some of the anthologies and collections of children’s poetry
suggested here.
Agard, John
Berry, James
Bhinda, Madhu (ed)
Dhondy, Farrukh (ed)
Duffy, Carol Ann
Heaney, Seamus &
Hughes, Ted (eds)
Jones, Michael (ed)
Kay, Jackie
McGough, Roger (ed)
Peters, Andrew Fusek
Zephaniah, Benjamin
Get Back Pimple
Playing a Dazzler
Jumping Across Worlds
Ranters, Ravers and Rhymers
The Oldest Girl in the World
The Rattle Bag
Visible Voices
Three’s Gone
Strictly Private
Sheep don’t go to school
Talking Turkeys
Wicked World
2.6 NATIONAL CURRICULUM READING REQUIREMENTS FOR
KEY STAGES 3/4
The National Curriculum Programme of Study for English requires pupils to
read ‘a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, including in particular whole
books, short stories, poems and plays with a wide coverage of genres,
historical periods, forms and authors. The range will include high-quality
works from English literature, both pre-1914 and contemporary, including
prose, poetry and drama; Shakespeare (two plays); seminal world
literature’. From as early on in the course as you can, and making use of
your subject knowledge audit to guide you, you will need to start
addressing any gaps in your knowledge in order to be prepared to teach
texts from the wide remit defined by the National Curriculum. Your tutors,
mentors and departments will be able to guide you in terms of the texts
most commonly taught so that you can prioritise your reading.
2.7 EXAM BOARD WEBSITES
GCSE and A level information is most easily obtained direct from the
exam boards.
AQA
Edexcel
OCR
WJEC
www.aqa.org.uk
www.edexcel.org.uk
www.ocr.org.uk
www.wjec.co.uk