Good English Teaching

I want to focus on technology and English teaching, hence the "Techno English" title, but at the same time, what I am really interested in is good English teaching, especially good literature teaching.

I guess this year marks 26 years in front of the classroom for me. There is lots of great argo for talking about good teaching -- close reading, reader-response, constructivism, cultural studies, multiculturalism -- and all of these mean a great deal to me. There are some older words, that aren't specific to teaching English that matter a great deal to me.

Listening -- learning to clear your head as a teacher of all of the fog of your own experience, your own values and passions, and being able to listen well, to hear your students what they care about, what they need, what they are learning.

Compassion, understanding others -- to me this is what literature is about. It offers the possibility to imaginatively understand the experience of other people and to care about them. I think a good teacher cares what literature is about, not just how it is made. This means addressing issues, connecting literature to historical and cultural contexts.

Locating and activiting -- helping your students to discover where they are in the world, what their values are and to think critically about those values, how to act in accordance with ones values.