The attrition of the expertise of teachers of English: from the rich pedagogy of personal and social agency to the poverty of the powerful knowledge heritage model

Abstract

This chapter reviews conceptualisations of the developing expertise of English teachers and uses, as a lens, the history of selected professional development initiatives over the last 40 years, some local, some national, some international. One major purpose is to record the enduring values of English teachers as experts in how literature and language authentically and affectively are at the heart of education for all students. A “personal growth and social agency” model is an emancipatory view of English and focuses on developing nascent and maturing individual agents, constantly fostering their growing critical powers. The chapter summarises a number of research/development projects over the last 30 years that illustrate the tenacity of the Personal Growth and Social Agency model model for the majority of that period and then reveal the emergence of the Powerful Knowledge Heritage model. The rise of ‘Scientism’ and neoliberal notions of ‘Powerful Knowledge’ may come to dominate English teachers.