Active Reading

Professor Ben Knights is Director of the English Subject Centre (part of the Higher Education Academy) and is a National Teaching Fellow at the University of Teesside, UK. Chris Thurgar-Dawson is a Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Teesside, UK.

• Preface; PART I: Pedagogic Context; 1. Contexts; 2. History and theory of a practice; 3. From influence to intertextuality: literary production as re-making; 4. Writing and literary criticism; PART II: Teaching, Learning and Assessment; 5. Introductions, starters; 6. Developing the group; 7. As the work matures; 8. Assessment; PART III: Beyond the Classroom; 9. Creative and transformative writing in psychotherapy, counselling and CPD; 10. Towards the autonomous learner; Annotated bibliography; Appendices:; Examples of activities; Notes on choosing texts and anthologies; Indicative list of literary examples; Bibliography; Index.

"'This is an important book, valuable in the first instance not only to student teachers and NQTs but also to those teaching in HE who need convincing of the value of using transformative writing as a literary tool...The enthusiasm of both students and teachers comes across clearly. There is a wide variety of examples given not only of students' writing in response to specified passages and authors but also, and very revealingly, of the ways in which this writing was assessed...' Adrian Barlow, Newsletter of The English Association. '...a terrific addition to any English department. It describes a practical rather than theoretical route to understanding English literature. The writing is meticulous, thoroughly researched and trustworthy...This way of learning makes sense to me...In many ways, this is the bridge-building book...between creative writing and literature, between the elitism of the critics and the writing process and between all the other disciplines that could benefit from this approach. I would recommend it.' Rosie Garner, Lapidus Autumn 2007"