Missed Opportunities: A Social Realist Perspective on Text Selection in Secondary School English

Abstract

The texts students study in the secondary school English classroom have a significant effect on what students learn in this subject. I interviewed six English teachers currently working in secondary schools in Auckland about their text selection practices. Six year twelve students at one of the participating schools also took part in a focus group to share their opinions about the texts they have studied. Working from a social realist perspective which recognises access to abstract, conceptual, academic knowledge as essential for an equitable education system that interrupts, rather than reproducing, inequality, I use the concepts of preference and judgement (Moore, 2010), the discursive gap (Bernstein, 2000), and the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1962) to investigate whether New Zealand English teachers' text selection practices lead them to select texts that provide access to such knowledge. Student preferences and the demands of the national assessment system were the most significant influences on the participating teachers' text choices. While these factors do not make it impossible for teachers to select texts that provide access to powerful conceptual knowledge, they do have a limiting effect when other factors are not considered by teachers. The participating teachers did not identify the complexity of the language used in texts as a significant factor, leading to missed opportunities to build students' literacy skills. While the participants identified the theme of a text as one aspect that influences student interest, further attention to the skill and nuance with which theme is explored in a text would enable teachers to develop students' literary tastes and help them develop their capacity for conceptual thought. Although there are likely to be few texts that are ideal in all respects, attention to linguistic complexity and literary quality, alongside continuing to seek out texts that students will enjoy and that suit assessment requirements, would allow teachers to select texts that make the most of the educational opportunities offered through the study of literature.