Key publications
Wilson AC (In Press). Teachers’ conceptualisations of the intuitive and the intentional in poetry composition. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 9(3), 53-74.
Wilson A (In Press). The Reader, the Text, the Poem: the influence and challenge of Louise Rosenblatt. Education 3-13: International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education
Myhill DA, Jones SM, Wilson AC (2016). Writing conversations: fostering metalinguistic discussion about writing.
Research Papers in Education,
31(1), 23-44.
Abstract:
Writing conversations: fostering metalinguistic discussion about writing
This article draws on data from a national study, involving an experimental intervention with 54 schools across the country, in which teachers were mentored in a pedagogical approach involving explicit attention to grammatical choices and which advocated high-level metalinguistic discussion about textual choices. The research focused upon primary children aged 10–11, and in addition to statistical analysis of outcome measures, 53 lesson observations were undertaken to investigate the nature of the metalinguistic discussion. The data were analysed inductively, following the constant comparison method, with an initial stage of open coding, followed by axial coding which clustered the data into thematic groups. The analysis demonstrates the potential of metalinguistic talk in supporting young writers’ understanding of how to shape meaning in texts and the decision-making choices available to them. It signals the importance of teachers’ management of metalinguistic conversations, but also the role that teachers’ grammatical subject knowledge plays in enabling or constraining metalinguistic talk. The study highlights the importance of dialogic classroom talk if students are to develop knowledge about language, to become metalinguistically aware, and to take ownership of metalinguistic decision-making when writing.
Abstract.
Wilson AC, Wilson AC (2013). ‘A joyous lifeline in a target driven job’: teachers’ metaphors of teaching poetry writing.
Cambridge Journal of EducationAbstract:
‘A joyous lifeline in a target driven job’: teachers’ metaphors of teaching poetry writing.
Drawing on Vygotsky’s notion (1978), developed by Bruner (1986), of learners growing into ‘the intellectual life of those around them’, this paper reports on a small-scale questionnaire survey of teachers’ thinking about poetry writing and their instructional practices of teaching it. Thirty three teachers, with a range of teaching experience and service, took part in the study. This paper presents, analyses and evaluates the central metaphor of ‘freedom’ used by teachers. This presents poetry writing instruction in four contrasting ways: as freedom to explore personal creativity; as a site of integrated thinking; as a rejection of ‘formulaic writing’; and as freedom from curricular ‘directives’. The paper argues that these metaphors indicate considerable personal investment by teachers of poetry and that they consider the teaching of poetry writing to have impact as much on themselves as on pupils.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Wilson AC, Myhill D (2012). Ways with Words:. Teachers’ Personal Epistemologies of the Role of Metalanguage in the Teaching of Poetry Writing.
Language and Education,
26(6), 553-568.
Abstract:
Ways with Words:. Teachers’ Personal Epistemologies of the Role of Metalanguage in the Teaching of Poetry Writing
The role of linguistic and literary metalanguage in the teaching of writing is contested, although there is some evidence that metalinguistic understanding supports writing development. This paper investigates the personal epistemologies of teachers in relation to the place of linguistic and literary metalanguage in the teaching of poetry writing. The data draws on 93 interviews with 31 secondary English teachers in the UK, following lesson observations, and the data is a subset of a larger study investigating the impact of contextualised grammar teaching on writing attainment. The interviews probed teachers’ pedagogical decision-making in three writing lessons and elicited their beliefs about the value of metalanguage. The analysis indicates that teachers’ personal epistemologies relating to metalanguage are ambivalent and, at times, contradictory. Teachers tend to view literary metalanguage as linked to the creative freedom of writing poetry, whereas linguistic metalanguage is constructed as associated with rules and restrictions. At the same time, teachers reveal a lack of confidence with subject knowledge in both literary and linguistic metalanguage which may be shaping their epistemological beliefs. Teachers’ comments on the place of literary and linguistic metalanguage in poetry writing are paradoxical, but do appear to be strongly connected to their. personal epistemologies. They subscribe to a literate epistemology which values literary metalanguage as part of the knowledge base of a creative, expressive subject, but linguistic metalanguage is not included within this literate epistemology. Policy initiatives to re-assert the role of grammar and linguistic metalaguage within the curriculum need to take account of these literate epistemologies.
Abstract.
Wilson AC, Myhill DA (2012). Ways with Words:. Teachers’ Personal Epistemologies of the Role of Metalanguage in the Teaching of Poetry Writing.
Language and Education,
26(6), 553-568.
Abstract:
Ways with Words:. Teachers’ Personal Epistemologies of the Role of Metalanguage in the Teaching of Poetry Writing
The role of linguistic and literary metalanguage in the teaching of writing is contested, although there is some evidence that metalinguistic understanding supports writing development. This paper investigates the personal epistemologies of teachers in relation to the place of linguistic and literary metalanguage in the teaching of poetry writing. The data draws on 93 interviews with 31 secondary English teachers in the UK, following lesson observations, and the data is a subset of a larger study investigating the impact of contextualised grammar teaching on writing attainment. The interviews probed teachers’ pedagogical decision-making in three writing lessons and elicited their beliefs about the value of metalanguage. The analysis indicates that teachers’ personal epistemologies relating to metalanguage are ambivalent and, at times, contradictory. Teachers tend to view literary metalanguage as linked to the creative freedom of writing poetry, whereas linguistic metalanguage is constructed as associated with rules and restrictions. At the same time, teachers reveal a lack of confidence with subject knowledge in both literary and linguistic metalanguage which may be shaping their epistemological beliefs. Teachers’ comments on the place of literary and linguistic metalanguage in poetry writing are paradoxical, but do appear to be strongly connected to their. personal epistemologies. They subscribe to a literate epistemology which values literary metalanguage as part of the knowledge base of a creative, expressive subject, but linguistic metalanguage is not included within this literate epistemology. Policy initiatives to re-assert the role of grammar and linguistic metalaguage within the curriculum need to take account of these literate epistemologies.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Publications by category
Books
Dymoke S, Barrs M, Lambirth A, Wilson A (2014).
Making Poetry Happen Transforming the Poetry Classroom., Bloomsbury Publishing.
Abstract:
Making Poetry Happen Transforming the Poetry Classroom
Abstract.
Wilson AC, Dymoke S, Lambirth A, Cremin T, Collins F, Matthewman S, Barrs M, Styles M, Myhill D, Kelly A, et al (eds)(2013).
Making Poetry Matter: International Research on Poetry Pedagogy. London, Continuum.
Abstract:
Making Poetry Matter: International Research on Poetry Pedagogy
Abstract.
Wilson AC (2012).
Love for Now. Exeter, Impress Books.
Abstract:
Love for Now
Abstract.
Author URL.
Wilson AC (2012).
Riddance. Tonbridge, Worple Press.
Abstract:
Riddance
Abstract.
Author URL.
Wilson AC (eds)(2009).
Creativity in Primary Education. Exeter, Learning Matters.
Abstract:
Creativity in Primary Education
Abstract.
Author URL.
Wilson AC (2007).
The Year of Drinking Water (2007). Exeter, Exeter Leukaemia Fund.
Abstract:
The Year of Drinking Water (2007)
Abstract.
Author URL.
Wilson, A.C. (2006). Full Stretch: Poems 1996-2006. Tonbridge, Worple Press.
Wilson, A.C. (2005). Creativity in Primary Education. Exeter, Learning Matters Ltd.
Wilson, A.C. (2002). Nowhere Better Than This. Tonbridge, Worple Press.
Journal articles
Wilson AC (In Press). Teachers’ conceptualisations of the intuitive and the intentional in poetry composition. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 9(3), 53-74.
Wilson A (In Press). The Reader, the Text, the Poem: the influence and challenge of Louise Rosenblatt. Education 3-13: International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education
Wilson A (In Press). The Reader, the Text, the Poem: the influence and challenge of Louise Rosenblatt. Education 3-13: International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education
Cremin T, Myhill D, Eyres I, Nash T, Wilson A, Oliver L (2020). Teachers as writers: learning together with others.
Literacy,
54(2), 49-59.
Abstract:
Teachers as writers: learning together with others
In the context of renewed interest in teachers' identities as writers and the writers as artist-educators, this paper reports upon the findings of “Teachers as Writers” (2015–2017). A collaborative partnership between two universities and a creative writing foundation, the study sought to determine the impact of writers' engagement with teachers on changing teachers' classroom practices in the teaching of writing and, as a consequence, in improving outcomes for students. The project afforded opportunities for writers and teachers to work together as learners in order to improve student outcomes. The study involved two complementary datasets: a qualitative dataset of observations, interviews, audio-capture (of workshops, tutorials and co-mentoring reflections) and audio-diaries from 16 teachers; and a randomised controlled trial (RCT) involving 32 primary and secondary classes. The findings reveal that the teachers' identities and assurance as writers shifted significantly. The Arvon experience also led to pedagogic shifts which the students reported impacted positively upon their motivation, confidence and sense of ownership and skills as writers. However, these salient dispositional shifts did not impact upon the young people's attainment. The professional writers gained new understandings which substantially altered their conceptions of writers' potential contribution in schools.
Abstract.
Wilson AC, Dymoke S (2017). Towards a model of poetry writing development as a socially contextualised process.
Journal of Writing Research,
9(2), 127-150.
Abstract:
Towards a model of poetry writing development as a socially contextualised process
Theoretical explanations of learners’ poetry writing development are relatively new and, compared to other genres, rare. Neither the cognitive models of writing development, nor the descriptions of poet-practitioners or inspired experts give a fully nuanced representation of the complexity at play in poetry composition. Also missing from these models is the social context of learning to write poetry. We link Vygotsky’s work on the symbolic function of inner speech to documented accounts of poets ‘answering’ the social world to which they belong. We propose a theoretical model of development in poetry writing that takes into account learners’ fluid social contexts, and which draws on Schultz and Fecho’s survey of writing development. This fusion is a new contribution to theorisations of writing development.
Abstract.
Myhill DA, Jones SM, Wilson AC (2016). Writing conversations: fostering metalinguistic discussion about writing.
Research Papers in Education,
31(1), 23-44.
Abstract:
Writing conversations: fostering metalinguistic discussion about writing
This article draws on data from a national study, involving an experimental intervention with 54 schools across the country, in which teachers were mentored in a pedagogical approach involving explicit attention to grammatical choices and which advocated high-level metalinguistic discussion about textual choices. The research focused upon primary children aged 10–11, and in addition to statistical analysis of outcome measures, 53 lesson observations were undertaken to investigate the nature of the metalinguistic discussion. The data were analysed inductively, following the constant comparison method, with an initial stage of open coding, followed by axial coding which clustered the data into thematic groups. The analysis demonstrates the potential of metalinguistic talk in supporting young writers’ understanding of how to shape meaning in texts and the decision-making choices available to them. It signals the importance of teachers’ management of metalinguistic conversations, but also the role that teachers’ grammatical subject knowledge plays in enabling or constraining metalinguistic talk. The study highlights the importance of dialogic classroom talk if students are to develop knowledge about language, to become metalinguistically aware, and to take ownership of metalinguistic decision-making when writing.
Abstract.
Myhill DA, Wilson AC (2013). Playing it Safe: teachers’ views of creativity in poetry writing. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 10, 101-111.
Wilson AC, Wilson AC (2013). ‘A joyous lifeline in a target driven job’: teachers’ metaphors of teaching poetry writing.
Cambridge Journal of EducationAbstract:
‘A joyous lifeline in a target driven job’: teachers’ metaphors of teaching poetry writing.
Drawing on Vygotsky’s notion (1978), developed by Bruner (1986), of learners growing into ‘the intellectual life of those around them’, this paper reports on a small-scale questionnaire survey of teachers’ thinking about poetry writing and their instructional practices of teaching it. Thirty three teachers, with a range of teaching experience and service, took part in the study. This paper presents, analyses and evaluates the central metaphor of ‘freedom’ used by teachers. This presents poetry writing instruction in four contrasting ways: as freedom to explore personal creativity; as a site of integrated thinking; as a rejection of ‘formulaic writing’; and as freedom from curricular ‘directives’. The paper argues that these metaphors indicate considerable personal investment by teachers of poetry and that they consider the teaching of poetry writing to have impact as much on themselves as on pupils.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Wilson AC, Myhill D (2012). Ways with Words:. Teachers’ Personal Epistemologies of the Role of Metalanguage in the Teaching of Poetry Writing.
Language and Education,
26(6), 553-568.
Abstract:
Ways with Words:. Teachers’ Personal Epistemologies of the Role of Metalanguage in the Teaching of Poetry Writing
The role of linguistic and literary metalanguage in the teaching of writing is contested, although there is some evidence that metalinguistic understanding supports writing development. This paper investigates the personal epistemologies of teachers in relation to the place of linguistic and literary metalanguage in the teaching of poetry writing. The data draws on 93 interviews with 31 secondary English teachers in the UK, following lesson observations, and the data is a subset of a larger study investigating the impact of contextualised grammar teaching on writing attainment. The interviews probed teachers’ pedagogical decision-making in three writing lessons and elicited their beliefs about the value of metalanguage. The analysis indicates that teachers’ personal epistemologies relating to metalanguage are ambivalent and, at times, contradictory. Teachers tend to view literary metalanguage as linked to the creative freedom of writing poetry, whereas linguistic metalanguage is constructed as associated with rules and restrictions. At the same time, teachers reveal a lack of confidence with subject knowledge in both literary and linguistic metalanguage which may be shaping their epistemological beliefs. Teachers’ comments on the place of literary and linguistic metalanguage in poetry writing are paradoxical, but do appear to be strongly connected to their. personal epistemologies. They subscribe to a literate epistemology which values literary metalanguage as part of the knowledge base of a creative, expressive subject, but linguistic metalanguage is not included within this literate epistemology. Policy initiatives to re-assert the role of grammar and linguistic metalaguage within the curriculum need to take account of these literate epistemologies.
Abstract.
Wilson AC, Myhill DA (2012). Ways with Words:. Teachers’ Personal Epistemologies of the Role of Metalanguage in the Teaching of Poetry Writing.
Language and Education,
26(6), 553-568.
Abstract:
Ways with Words:. Teachers’ Personal Epistemologies of the Role of Metalanguage in the Teaching of Poetry Writing
The role of linguistic and literary metalanguage in the teaching of writing is contested, although there is some evidence that metalinguistic understanding supports writing development. This paper investigates the personal epistemologies of teachers in relation to the place of linguistic and literary metalanguage in the teaching of poetry writing. The data draws on 93 interviews with 31 secondary English teachers in the UK, following lesson observations, and the data is a subset of a larger study investigating the impact of contextualised grammar teaching on writing attainment. The interviews probed teachers’ pedagogical decision-making in three writing lessons and elicited their beliefs about the value of metalanguage. The analysis indicates that teachers’ personal epistemologies relating to metalanguage are ambivalent and, at times, contradictory. Teachers tend to view literary metalanguage as linked to the creative freedom of writing poetry, whereas linguistic metalanguage is constructed as associated with rules and restrictions. At the same time, teachers reveal a lack of confidence with subject knowledge in both literary and linguistic metalanguage which may be shaping their epistemological beliefs. Teachers’ comments on the place of literary and linguistic metalanguage in poetry writing are paradoxical, but do appear to be strongly connected to their. personal epistemologies. They subscribe to a literate epistemology which values literary metalanguage as part of the knowledge base of a creative, expressive subject, but linguistic metalanguage is not included within this literate epistemology. Policy initiatives to re-assert the role of grammar and linguistic metalaguage within the curriculum need to take account of these literate epistemologies.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Wilson AC (2010). Teachers’ conceptualisations of the intuitive and the intentional in poetry composition.
English Teaching: Practice and Critique,
9, 53-74.
Abstract:
Teachers’ conceptualisations of the intuitive and the intentional in poetry composition
The status of poetry both in the writing curriculum and in wider popular culture is best described as mixed (Wilson, 2009). In spite of a strong post-war tradition of enthusiasm for the teaching of poetry writing, it is currently felt to be marginalised in the writing curriculum (Dymoke, 2007; Ofsted, 2007). This paper reports on the beliefs attitudes and values revealed by a small scale questionnaire survey of teachers of poetry writing. It finds that teachers of poetry writing adhere to a personal growth model of English teaching. Furthermore, there is evidence that teachers believe that intuition is central to the composing process of poetry. However, there is also evidence in their responses of the need for explicit teaching of design processes in poetry composition. It would appear that teachers reconcile the apparent conflict in their adherence to a model of teaching poetry writing which requires both inspiration and shaping by using a very subtle blend of different kinds of teaching prompts in the classroom. On this evidence teachers’ knowledge about pedagogy goes beyond what they know as readers to help children become writers of poetry. I argue that teachers demonstrate flexible thinking in their poetry writing pedagogy and this is evidence both of the wariness they feel towards the performative culture they work within and a celebration of practice which remains outside of formal scrutiny.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Wilson, A.C. (2007). *Finding a Voice?. Do literary forms work\r
creatively in teaching poetry writing?\r. Cambridge Journal of Education, 37(3), 441-457.
Wilson, A.C. (2005). *The best forms in the best order? Current poetry writing pedagogy at KS2. English in Education, 39(3), 19-31.
Wilson, A.C. (2005). *‘Signs of Progress': Reconceptualising response to children's poetry writing.\r. Changing English, 12(2), 227-242.
Wilson A (2001). Brownjohn, hughes, pirrie, and rosen: What rhymes with oral writing?.
English in Education,
35(2), 2-11.
Abstract:
Brownjohn, hughes, pirrie, and rosen: What rhymes with oral writing?
This article looks at the work of four writers who have had considerable influence on the teaching of poetry writing to primary school children. Each writer is considered in terms of their merits as a contributor to wider questions about writing, and in comparative terms with each other. Links are made between these writers’ explicit and implicit philosophies and approaches. Finally, the article considers how far discussions about voice and form within children’s writing are necessarily exclusive of each other. © 2001 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Abstract.
Wilson, A.C. (2001). Brownjohn,Hughes,Pirrie and Rosen:What Rhymes with Oral Writing?. English in Education, 35(2), 3-11.
Wilson, A.C. (2001). Children Poetry and Thinking. Teaching Thinking, 4, 8-10.
Wilson, A.C. (2001). Ted Hughes's Poetry for Children. Children's Literature in Education, 32(2), 77-90.
Chapters
Wilson AC (2014). A Pedagogy of Permission. In Dymoke S, Barrs M, Lambirth A, Wilson A (Eds.) Making Poetry Happen: Transforming the Poetry Classroom, London: Bloomsbury, 203-208.
Wilson AC (2009). Creativity and Constraint: Developing as a Writer of Poetry. In Beard, R, Myhill, D, Nystrand, M, Riley, J (Eds.)
The Sage Handbook of Writing Development, Sage, 387-401.
Abstract:
Creativity and Constraint: Developing as a Writer of Poetry
Abstract.
Author URL.
Wilson, A.C. (2005). Poetry, Children and Creativity. In Wilson AC (Ed) Creativity in Primary Education, Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd, 70-87.
Wilson, A.C. (2002). Using poetry to discuss issues of identity, language and loss, and for text level work. In Holden CE (Ed) Education for Citizenship: Ideas into Action. A practical guide for teachers of pupils aged 7-14, London: Routledge/Falmer, 42-44.
Wilson, A.C. (2002). ‘'Anything you want it to be’: Reading and Writing Poetry’. In Bearne E (Ed) Making Progress in Writing, Routledge, Taylor and Francis, 108-109.
Conferences
Wilson A (2015). Thinking allowed? Facilitating high-level thinking about grammar in the writing classroom. 16th Biennial EARLI Conference on Learning and Instruction. 25th - 29th Aug 2015.
Abstract:
Thinking allowed? Facilitating high-level thinking about grammar in the writing classroom
Abstract.
Wilson AC (2009). Development in the Writing of Poetry. Development in the Writing of Poetry. 2nd - 3rd Jul 2009.
Abstract:
Development in the Writing of Poetry
Abstract.
Author URL.
Wilson AC (2009). Poetry Writing as Cognitive and Affective Action: Teachers’ Views of Children’s Thinking. EARLI: Fostering Communities of Learners. 25th - 29th Aug 2009.
Abstract:
Poetry Writing as Cognitive and Affective Action: Teachers’ Views of Children’s Thinking
Abstract.
Author URL.
Wilson AC (2009). ‘A joyous lifeline in a target driven job’: teachers’ metaphors for poetry writing pedagogy. UKLA: Making Connections: Building literate communities in and beyond the classroom. 10th - 12th Jul 2009.
Abstract:
‘A joyous lifeline in a target driven job’: teachers’ metaphors for poetry writing pedagogy
Abstract.
Author URL.
Publications by year
In Press
Wilson AC (In Press). Teachers’ conceptualisations of the intuitive and the intentional in poetry composition. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 9(3), 53-74.
Wilson A (In Press). The Reader, the Text, the Poem: the influence and challenge of Louise Rosenblatt. Education 3-13: International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education
Wilson A (In Press). The Reader, the Text, the Poem: the influence and challenge of Louise Rosenblatt. Education 3-13: International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education
2020
Cremin T, Myhill D, Eyres I, Nash T, Wilson A, Oliver L (2020). Teachers as writers: learning together with others.
Literacy,
54(2), 49-59.
Abstract:
Teachers as writers: learning together with others
In the context of renewed interest in teachers' identities as writers and the writers as artist-educators, this paper reports upon the findings of “Teachers as Writers” (2015–2017). A collaborative partnership between two universities and a creative writing foundation, the study sought to determine the impact of writers' engagement with teachers on changing teachers' classroom practices in the teaching of writing and, as a consequence, in improving outcomes for students. The project afforded opportunities for writers and teachers to work together as learners in order to improve student outcomes. The study involved two complementary datasets: a qualitative dataset of observations, interviews, audio-capture (of workshops, tutorials and co-mentoring reflections) and audio-diaries from 16 teachers; and a randomised controlled trial (RCT) involving 32 primary and secondary classes. The findings reveal that the teachers' identities and assurance as writers shifted significantly. The Arvon experience also led to pedagogic shifts which the students reported impacted positively upon their motivation, confidence and sense of ownership and skills as writers. However, these salient dispositional shifts did not impact upon the young people's attainment. The professional writers gained new understandings which substantially altered their conceptions of writers' potential contribution in schools.
Abstract.
2017
Wilson AC, Dymoke S (2017). Towards a model of poetry writing development as a socially contextualised process.
Journal of Writing Research,
9(2), 127-150.
Abstract:
Towards a model of poetry writing development as a socially contextualised process
Theoretical explanations of learners’ poetry writing development are relatively new and, compared to other genres, rare. Neither the cognitive models of writing development, nor the descriptions of poet-practitioners or inspired experts give a fully nuanced representation of the complexity at play in poetry composition. Also missing from these models is the social context of learning to write poetry. We link Vygotsky’s work on the symbolic function of inner speech to documented accounts of poets ‘answering’ the social world to which they belong. We propose a theoretical model of development in poetry writing that takes into account learners’ fluid social contexts, and which draws on Schultz and Fecho’s survey of writing development. This fusion is a new contribution to theorisations of writing development.
Abstract.
2016
Myhill DA, Jones SM, Wilson AC (2016). Writing conversations: fostering metalinguistic discussion about writing.
Research Papers in Education,
31(1), 23-44.
Abstract:
Writing conversations: fostering metalinguistic discussion about writing
This article draws on data from a national study, involving an experimental intervention with 54 schools across the country, in which teachers were mentored in a pedagogical approach involving explicit attention to grammatical choices and which advocated high-level metalinguistic discussion about textual choices. The research focused upon primary children aged 10–11, and in addition to statistical analysis of outcome measures, 53 lesson observations were undertaken to investigate the nature of the metalinguistic discussion. The data were analysed inductively, following the constant comparison method, with an initial stage of open coding, followed by axial coding which clustered the data into thematic groups. The analysis demonstrates the potential of metalinguistic talk in supporting young writers’ understanding of how to shape meaning in texts and the decision-making choices available to them. It signals the importance of teachers’ management of metalinguistic conversations, but also the role that teachers’ grammatical subject knowledge plays in enabling or constraining metalinguistic talk. The study highlights the importance of dialogic classroom talk if students are to develop knowledge about language, to become metalinguistically aware, and to take ownership of metalinguistic decision-making when writing.
Abstract.
2015
Wilson A (2015). Thinking allowed? Facilitating high-level thinking about grammar in the writing classroom. 16th Biennial EARLI Conference on Learning and Instruction. 25th - 29th Aug 2015.
Abstract:
Thinking allowed? Facilitating high-level thinking about grammar in the writing classroom
Abstract.
2014
Wilson AC (2014). A Pedagogy of Permission. In Dymoke S, Barrs M, Lambirth A, Wilson A (Eds.) Making Poetry Happen: Transforming the Poetry Classroom, London: Bloomsbury, 203-208.
Dymoke S, Barrs M, Lambirth A, Wilson A (2014).
Making Poetry Happen Transforming the Poetry Classroom., Bloomsbury Publishing.
Abstract:
Making Poetry Happen Transforming the Poetry Classroom
Abstract.
2013
Wilson AC, Dymoke S, Lambirth A, Cremin T, Collins F, Matthewman S, Barrs M, Styles M, Myhill D, Kelly A, et al (eds)(2013).
Making Poetry Matter: International Research on Poetry Pedagogy. London, Continuum.
Abstract:
Making Poetry Matter: International Research on Poetry Pedagogy
Abstract.
Myhill DA, Wilson AC (2013). Playing it Safe: teachers’ views of creativity in poetry writing. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 10, 101-111.
Wilson AC, Wilson AC (2013). ‘A joyous lifeline in a target driven job’: teachers’ metaphors of teaching poetry writing.
Cambridge Journal of EducationAbstract:
‘A joyous lifeline in a target driven job’: teachers’ metaphors of teaching poetry writing.
Drawing on Vygotsky’s notion (1978), developed by Bruner (1986), of learners growing into ‘the intellectual life of those around them’, this paper reports on a small-scale questionnaire survey of teachers’ thinking about poetry writing and their instructional practices of teaching it. Thirty three teachers, with a range of teaching experience and service, took part in the study. This paper presents, analyses and evaluates the central metaphor of ‘freedom’ used by teachers. This presents poetry writing instruction in four contrasting ways: as freedom to explore personal creativity; as a site of integrated thinking; as a rejection of ‘formulaic writing’; and as freedom from curricular ‘directives’. The paper argues that these metaphors indicate considerable personal investment by teachers of poetry and that they consider the teaching of poetry writing to have impact as much on themselves as on pupils.
Abstract.
Author URL.
2012
Wilson AC (2012).
Love for Now. Exeter, Impress Books.
Abstract:
Love for Now
Abstract.
Author URL.
Wilson AC (2012).
Riddance. Tonbridge, Worple Press.
Abstract:
Riddance
Abstract.
Author URL.
Wilson AC, Myhill D (2012). Ways with Words:. Teachers’ Personal Epistemologies of the Role of Metalanguage in the Teaching of Poetry Writing.
Language and Education,
26(6), 553-568.
Abstract:
Ways with Words:. Teachers’ Personal Epistemologies of the Role of Metalanguage in the Teaching of Poetry Writing
The role of linguistic and literary metalanguage in the teaching of writing is contested, although there is some evidence that metalinguistic understanding supports writing development. This paper investigates the personal epistemologies of teachers in relation to the place of linguistic and literary metalanguage in the teaching of poetry writing. The data draws on 93 interviews with 31 secondary English teachers in the UK, following lesson observations, and the data is a subset of a larger study investigating the impact of contextualised grammar teaching on writing attainment. The interviews probed teachers’ pedagogical decision-making in three writing lessons and elicited their beliefs about the value of metalanguage. The analysis indicates that teachers’ personal epistemologies relating to metalanguage are ambivalent and, at times, contradictory. Teachers tend to view literary metalanguage as linked to the creative freedom of writing poetry, whereas linguistic metalanguage is constructed as associated with rules and restrictions. At the same time, teachers reveal a lack of confidence with subject knowledge in both literary and linguistic metalanguage which may be shaping their epistemological beliefs. Teachers’ comments on the place of literary and linguistic metalanguage in poetry writing are paradoxical, but do appear to be strongly connected to their. personal epistemologies. They subscribe to a literate epistemology which values literary metalanguage as part of the knowledge base of a creative, expressive subject, but linguistic metalanguage is not included within this literate epistemology. Policy initiatives to re-assert the role of grammar and linguistic metalaguage within the curriculum need to take account of these literate epistemologies.
Abstract.
Wilson AC, Myhill DA (2012). Ways with Words:. Teachers’ Personal Epistemologies of the Role of Metalanguage in the Teaching of Poetry Writing.
Language and Education,
26(6), 553-568.
Abstract:
Ways with Words:. Teachers’ Personal Epistemologies of the Role of Metalanguage in the Teaching of Poetry Writing
The role of linguistic and literary metalanguage in the teaching of writing is contested, although there is some evidence that metalinguistic understanding supports writing development. This paper investigates the personal epistemologies of teachers in relation to the place of linguistic and literary metalanguage in the teaching of poetry writing. The data draws on 93 interviews with 31 secondary English teachers in the UK, following lesson observations, and the data is a subset of a larger study investigating the impact of contextualised grammar teaching on writing attainment. The interviews probed teachers’ pedagogical decision-making in three writing lessons and elicited their beliefs about the value of metalanguage. The analysis indicates that teachers’ personal epistemologies relating to metalanguage are ambivalent and, at times, contradictory. Teachers tend to view literary metalanguage as linked to the creative freedom of writing poetry, whereas linguistic metalanguage is constructed as associated with rules and restrictions. At the same time, teachers reveal a lack of confidence with subject knowledge in both literary and linguistic metalanguage which may be shaping their epistemological beliefs. Teachers’ comments on the place of literary and linguistic metalanguage in poetry writing are paradoxical, but do appear to be strongly connected to their. personal epistemologies. They subscribe to a literate epistemology which values literary metalanguage as part of the knowledge base of a creative, expressive subject, but linguistic metalanguage is not included within this literate epistemology. Policy initiatives to re-assert the role of grammar and linguistic metalaguage within the curriculum need to take account of these literate epistemologies.
Abstract.
Author URL.
2010
Wilson AC (2010). Teachers’ conceptualisations of the intuitive and the intentional in poetry composition.
English Teaching: Practice and Critique,
9, 53-74.
Abstract:
Teachers’ conceptualisations of the intuitive and the intentional in poetry composition
The status of poetry both in the writing curriculum and in wider popular culture is best described as mixed (Wilson, 2009). In spite of a strong post-war tradition of enthusiasm for the teaching of poetry writing, it is currently felt to be marginalised in the writing curriculum (Dymoke, 2007; Ofsted, 2007). This paper reports on the beliefs attitudes and values revealed by a small scale questionnaire survey of teachers of poetry writing. It finds that teachers of poetry writing adhere to a personal growth model of English teaching. Furthermore, there is evidence that teachers believe that intuition is central to the composing process of poetry. However, there is also evidence in their responses of the need for explicit teaching of design processes in poetry composition. It would appear that teachers reconcile the apparent conflict in their adherence to a model of teaching poetry writing which requires both inspiration and shaping by using a very subtle blend of different kinds of teaching prompts in the classroom. On this evidence teachers’ knowledge about pedagogy goes beyond what they know as readers to help children become writers of poetry. I argue that teachers demonstrate flexible thinking in their poetry writing pedagogy and this is evidence both of the wariness they feel towards the performative culture they work within and a celebration of practice which remains outside of formal scrutiny.
Abstract.
Author URL.
2009
Wilson AC (2009). Creativity and Constraint: Developing as a Writer of Poetry. In Beard, R, Myhill, D, Nystrand, M, Riley, J (Eds.)
The Sage Handbook of Writing Development, Sage, 387-401.
Abstract:
Creativity and Constraint: Developing as a Writer of Poetry
Abstract.
Author URL.
Wilson AC (eds)(2009).
Creativity in Primary Education. Exeter, Learning Matters.
Abstract:
Creativity in Primary Education
Abstract.
Author URL.
Wilson AC (2009). Development in the Writing of Poetry. Development in the Writing of Poetry. 2nd - 3rd Jul 2009.
Abstract:
Development in the Writing of Poetry
Abstract.
Author URL.
Wilson AC (2009). Poetry Writing as Cognitive and Affective Action: Teachers’ Views of Children’s Thinking. EARLI: Fostering Communities of Learners. 25th - 29th Aug 2009.
Abstract:
Poetry Writing as Cognitive and Affective Action: Teachers’ Views of Children’s Thinking
Abstract.
Author URL.
Wilson AC (2009). ‘A joyous lifeline in a target driven job’: teachers’ metaphors for poetry writing pedagogy. UKLA: Making Connections: Building literate communities in and beyond the classroom. 10th - 12th Jul 2009.
Abstract:
‘A joyous lifeline in a target driven job’: teachers’ metaphors for poetry writing pedagogy
Abstract.
Author URL.
2007
Wilson, A.C. (2007). *Finding a Voice?. Do literary forms work\r
creatively in teaching poetry writing?\r. Cambridge Journal of Education, 37(3), 441-457.
Wilson AC (2007).
The Year of Drinking Water (2007). Exeter, Exeter Leukaemia Fund.
Abstract:
The Year of Drinking Water (2007)
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Author URL.
2006
Wilson, A.C. (2006). Full Stretch: Poems 1996-2006. Tonbridge, Worple Press.
2005
Wilson, A.C. (2005). *The best forms in the best order? Current poetry writing pedagogy at KS2. English in Education, 39(3), 19-31.
Wilson, A.C. (2005). *‘Signs of Progress': Reconceptualising response to children's poetry writing.\r. Changing English, 12(2), 227-242.
Wilson, A.C. (2005). Creativity in Primary Education. Exeter, Learning Matters Ltd.
Wilson, A.C. (2005). Poetry, Children and Creativity. In Wilson AC (Ed) Creativity in Primary Education, Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd, 70-87.
2002
Wilson, A.C. (2002). Nowhere Better Than This. Tonbridge, Worple Press.
Wilson, A.C. (2002). Using poetry to discuss issues of identity, language and loss, and for text level work. In Holden CE (Ed) Education for Citizenship: Ideas into Action. A practical guide for teachers of pupils aged 7-14, London: Routledge/Falmer, 42-44.
Wilson, A.C. (2002). ‘'Anything you want it to be’: Reading and Writing Poetry’. In Bearne E (Ed) Making Progress in Writing, Routledge, Taylor and Francis, 108-109.
2001
Wilson A (2001). Brownjohn, hughes, pirrie, and rosen: What rhymes with oral writing?.
English in Education,
35(2), 2-11.
Abstract:
Brownjohn, hughes, pirrie, and rosen: What rhymes with oral writing?
This article looks at the work of four writers who have had considerable influence on the teaching of poetry writing to primary school children. Each writer is considered in terms of their merits as a contributor to wider questions about writing, and in comparative terms with each other. Links are made between these writers’ explicit and implicit philosophies and approaches. Finally, the article considers how far discussions about voice and form within children’s writing are necessarily exclusive of each other. © 2001 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Abstract.
Wilson, A.C. (2001). Brownjohn,Hughes,Pirrie and Rosen:What Rhymes with Oral Writing?. English in Education, 35(2), 3-11.
Wilson, A.C. (2001). Children Poetry and Thinking. Teaching Thinking, 4, 8-10.
Wilson, A.C. (2001). Ted Hughes's Poetry for Children. Children's Literature in Education, 32(2), 77-90.
Wilson, A.C. (2001). ‘You made them believe they were authors’: my visit to the Butts’, Writing Together Conference Report. , 10-11.
