‘We not I’ not ‘I Me Mine’: Learning from Professional Memory about Collectivist English Teaching

Abstract

This article investigates the professional memories of English teachers who began their careers between 1965 and 1975. The teachers began their careers in circumstances that offered opportunities to work in collectivist ways. Their memories reveal a strong collective identity, a powerful sense of agency and a critical engagement with the aims of English teaching. It is argued that by exploring these memories, and by re-imagining English as a ‘relational’ or ‘heteroglossial’ activity, current practitioners might find inspiration to work collectively and collaboratively to challenge dominant conceptions of the subject.

Keywords:

• Professional memory
• history of English teaching
• collectivism
• collective memory
• dialogism
• heteroglossia

Notes

1. As it transpired, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan was forced into a humiliating climb-down on this policy following the threat of industrial action from all teacher unions, disquiet among local authorities, and even a potential rebellion from some Tory backbenchers.