English teaching and media education - Andrew Goodwyn

This text explores the troubled relationship between English and media education. It places the hostility to the mass media of key figures like Leavis in its historical context, showing how this initial antipathy provided the starting point from which all English teachers began to take the media seriously. By charting the evolution of the media education/English relationship the author argues for siting the majority of media education within the field of English. He makes media theory accessible to English teachers and demonstrates how the developments of the last decade have moved media education away from its previously abstract concerns with purely theoretical matters. He illustrates how media education can be used to develop pupils' enjoyment and critical understanding of all texts within the constraints of the classroom. The National Curriculum has now made media education the official responsibility of all English teachers and the book outlines how to make the most of this opportunity to develop and improve existing good practice in English.