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

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 Larkin’s 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 wind’s 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 MTG’s 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