TEACHING AS/A LEVEL LITERATURE

1
TEACHING AS/A LEVEL LITERATURE

• KEY FEATURES AND TOP TIPS

2
Aims

• To introduce trainees to the basic structure and
  requirements of A/S and A-Level Literature
  courses
• To outline assessment models
• To suggest ways of organising and delivering
  Literature lessons at Advanced Level

3
LOs. Trainees will . . .

• Identify and recognise key features of the exam
  specification
• Develop a working knowledge of the Assessment
  Objectives
• Explore strategies for planning and delivering
  lessons
• Establish a rationale for the place of Coursework

4
BACKGROUND and DEBATE

• The whole area of Advanced Level is very much
  a political issue. In recent months (and years)
  it has been variously argued that there are major
  flaws in the current system.
• TASK Consider the views expressed in the
  following slide. What is your response to them?

5

• A Levels are too easy
• A Levels fail to discriminate at grade A
• New top grades should be established
• Some A Levels are soft options
• AS Levels should be scrapped
• Coursework should be abolished
• A Levels constitute an unsatisfactory basis for
  university study
• An I.B. model should replace Advanced Levels
  (Tomlinson)

6
Teaching Literature

• GETTING STARTED
• Once you know the syllabus you will be
  teaching and have negotiated the texts and tasks,
  follow normal good practice . . .

7

• Study the syllabus requirements in detail.
• Note specifically the AOs of your set texts.
• Collate all available past papers and create
  comprehensive lists of AO related questions for
  your texts.
• Research and organise reference materials.
• Meet formally with your subject leader and
  teaching partners to discuss Department policy,
  practice and experience.
• Create initial SOW and have it reviewed.

8
The Examination Specification

• Although the various exam boards have produced
  variants, the basic specification is common to
  all.
• 6 Modules 3 A/S examined by end of Year 12
  
  
• 3 A2 examined by end of
  Year 13
• A/S is worth 50 of final A Level grade and
  is marked more leniently than A2.
• Modules can be repeated

9
Exam Board Models

• The criteria for Advanced Level syllabi from
  2000 are common to all Exam Boards and are
  prescriptive. (One Module of Coursework in each
  year and a Synoptic Module to finish the course)
• Particular emphasis is place on the Cultural
  Heritage aspect and the Modules are driven by
  specific Assessment Objectives.
• Here is the model devised by WJEC

10
(No Transcript)
11
(No Transcript)
12
A Worked Example

• ELit 3 Poetry text The Whitsun Weddings
  (Larkin)
• This is an AS level Open Book text. Assessment
  focuses on AO1 (10)
• AO2i
  (20)
• AO3
  (10)
• What is being assessed and what kinds of
  questions will be asked?

13

• Sample Question
• Look again at Talking in Bed. Explore
  Larkins presentation of relationships in this
  and one other poem.
• In your response you should include discussion
  of the following
• feelings and attitudes
• use of language, form and structure

14

• 
  Talking in Bed
• Talking in bed ought to be easiest,
• Lying together there goes back so far,
• An emblem of two people being honest.
• Yet more and more time passes silently.
• Outside, the winds incomplete unrest
• Builds and disperses clouds about the sky,
• And dark towns heap up on the horizon.
• None of this cares for us. Nothing shows why
• At this unique distance from isolation
• It becomes still more difficult to find
• Words at once true and kind,
• Or not untrue and not unkind.

15
Assessment

• WORK IS MARKED USING FOUR BANDS
• BAND 1. 0-7 marks
• BAND 2. 8-10 marks
• 11-13 marks
• BAND 3. 14-16 marks
• 17-19 marks
• BAND 4. 20-25 marks
• (Essentially, A to Unclassified)

16
Your Teaching Group

• Once you know names and numbers, it is
  essential that you perform a contextual analysis
  and utilise all available information and data.
  These details will inform your planning and
  approach.
• Specifically, you should

17

• Note the grades your students attained at
  G.C.S.E.
• Note any Alis/Alps data and the MTGs generated
  for each student
• Conduct a skills audit. This will help you to
  decide whether students will need help in such
  areas as
• - note making
• - independent
  research/study
• - subject specific knowledge

18
Materials/ Information to Share with the Students

• Having ascertained the needs of individuals
  and the group as a whole, you need to decide what
  materials they should have access to at the
  outset and the exact format of the initial
  Induction lessons.
• Documentation must include

19

• Key Syllabus details (texts, AOs, marking
  criteria, assessment guidelines)
• Sample past papers
• Study Skills advice/strategies
• Overview of how the course will be taught
• Indication of the demands that will be placed on
  them, as students
• List of known key dates and deadlines.
  (Coursework / Review Points etc.)

20
Lesson Planning

• Again, the context is vital. You need to
  consider
• The type of text being taught
• Time constraints
• Differentiation
• Enhancement and enrichment
• The necessary blend of didacticism with
  independent study and enjoyment.

21
Planning task

• You have decided to teach The Whitsun
  Weddings as a set text for ELit 3.
• TASK
• List the kinds of materials you might duplicate
  for the students to use and the reference
  sources/materials you would advise them to
  access.
• List the kinds of activities that will form the
  basis of
• your S.O.W.

22

• MATERIALS MIGHT INCLUDE
• A list of sample questions
• A bank of resources/criticism
• A selection of contextual/ background reference
  materials.
• An outline of the S.O.W., specifying what will be
  covered, and when
• Essay deadlines
• Reference texts
• A bank of exemplified technical terms/poetic
  features
• REFERENCE SOURCES/ MATERIALS YOU WOULD
  ADVISE THEM TO EXPLORE
• Critical guides / Biographies
• Internet
• T.V. and Video sources.

23

• POSSIBLE TEACHING STRATEGIES TO USE IN THE
  S.O.W.
• Asking students to pre-read and respond
• Modelling annotation techniques/note making
• Thematically grouping poems
• Lecturing on specific elements (thematic,
  stylistic etc)
• Consolidation of analytical knowledge/generic
  skills
• Asking individual students to present
  individual poems (link with Key Skills)
• Asking individual students to interpret and
  present published criticism (Key Skills)
• Production of sample essay plans as part of essay
  writing feedback
• Copying, sharing and analysing good essays
  produced by students
• Peer marking of essays and collectively assessing
  essays against the marking criteria
• Viewing documentaries/dramas and
  discussing/making notes
• Exploration of biographical relevance

24

• Periodic review of student files
• Explaining marking strategies, reinforcing the
  imperative of responding to the AOs and their
  weighting
• Individual target setting through Review Points /
  periodic interviews
• Wider reading the poetry of contemporaries
• Contextual investigation into contemporary
  society
• Actively differentiating to meet need
  (alternative tasks, targeting use of modelling,
  use of formal targets)
• Varying the format of lessons (teacher led, group
  activities, individual activities, problem
  solving, role playing, debates)
• This final point is important. Teachers must
  continue to use the varied, interactive
  strategies that have become the norm in Key
  Stages 3/4.

25
Coursework

• Coursework should be used to develop students
  independent research and writing skills. It is a
  clear opportunity to allow students to develop
  the skills they will need in Higher Education. It
  should also be an area where students can explore
  genres and writers that interest them!
• A few tips . . .

26

• Avoid setting a single title and teaching
  towards it.
• Suggest a range of alternatives that fit the
  assessment criteria.
• Differentiate. Really challenge the most able and
  play safe with the less confident.
• Provide clear guidelines and coaching on how to
  research, manage materials, compile
  bibliographies, structure the piece, integrate
  received and personal critical opinion etc.
• Set clear deadlines and identify lesson time
  where you will be available to offer individual
  support.
• Involve other colleagues who might know
  particular authors or genres better than you do.
• Be explicit in your warnings about plagiarism and
  rigorously pursue suspected instances.
• Do not allow copious re-drafting.

27
Enrichment

• Never forget that Advanced Level Literature
  teaching is about more than coaching students to
  pass an exam. It is fundamentally concerned with
  broadening the intellectual, personal and
  cultural horizons of the students, as
  individuals.
• Encourage wider debate, organise trips and
  residentials, introduce a piece of the week
  feature, enthuse them!

28
Some Useful Sources

• Living Literature (Myzar/Baker) strongly
  recommended
• Success in English Literature (Croft/Cross)
• English literature in Context (Gurn)
• Leading Questions (Peet/Robinson)
• The Forms of Poetry (Abbs/Richardson)
• Literature, Criticism and Style (Croft/Cross)
• Contexts ( variety of titles published by
  Cambridge)
• Concise Oxford Dictionary of English
  Literature
• learn.co.uk
• teachit.co.uk
• qca.org exam board websites