James Britton on Education

Introduction - James Britton's life and work

Section 1 The language of young children

1.1 The development of language: 'Learning to speak'

1.2 Early literacy: 'Young fluent writers'

1.3 Meaning-making, interaction and play: 'The anatomy of human experience - the role of inner speech'

Section 2 Language and learning at school

2.1 The value of talk: 'Now that you go to school'

2.2 'Language and learning'

2.3 In defence of 'progressive' practice: 'Language in the British primary school'

2.4 The disorderliness of learning: from 'Talking to learn'

Section 3 Writing

3.1 Expressive writing: 'Writing to learn and learning to write'

3.2 Functions and audiences in the development of writing: from The development of writing abilities (11-18)

3.3 What writers have in common: 'Shaping at the point of utterance'

Section 4 Teachers and research

4.1 'A note on teaching, research and "development"'

4.2. 'A quiet form of research'

4.3 The community of the classroom: 'Vygotsky's contribution to pedagogical theory'

Section 5 A certain idea of English

5.1 The scope of English: 'What is English?'

5.2 'Literature in its place'

5.3 Autobiographical coda: 'English teaching: retrospect and prospect'

5.4 Today's student teachers reading and discussing Britton