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Schools, Literature and the British
Council
Early in 2002, the Literature Department of the British Council
put out a call for bids within the 'Strategy for Europe 2002-2005'
for funding as part of their initiative 'Animating Literature'.
This resulted in the creation of an ambitious project in Portugal.
The project, named 'BritLit', has just taken off, and is due to
last - initially - for three years.
Some of the aims of the Literature Department's 'Strategy for
Europe' are summarised as follows:
To 'animate' the Council's literature activity through innovative,
interactive programmes emphasising the reader's experience and
by so doing broadening the range, scope and accessibility of literature
activity in Europe. By targeting British literature this would
change perceptions of the UK literary scene, and leave lasting
regional 'footprints'.
Using 'gatekeepers' such as publishers, teachers and academics,
new audiences would be created, and existing audiences widened.
Increasing the profile of literature, books and reading in European
countries should utilise the potential of new technology and Knowledge
and Learning Centres (KLCs) and help to join up literature activities
with British Council arts and teaching activity.
The key words for the initiative, according to the Literature
Department, are in 3D:
- Difficult - risk taking, experimental,
and unafraid to challenge perceptions
- Diverse - fresh, reflecting
diversity, accessible in a range of languages and via new media
- Dynamic - topical, interactive
and relevant to varied audiences
One of the early consequences was to arrange a workshop in London
for British Council staff from the European countries who had
been invited to bid for projects. The workshop, while being challenging
and exciting in its own right, offered the usual opportunity to
'network', but with a difference - the mix of information officers,
librarians, information technology experts, teachers, managers
and administrators was dynamic, and made sense within the Council's
new 'joined up' policy.
Meeting the challenge
So, what were we going to do about the challenge thrown out to
us by the Literature Department? In Portugal - as elsewhere -
the paucity of student involvement in reading per se, and literature
in particular, is, frankly, depressing. But, we thought, if we
are to develop a more active interest in reading, then we might
as well make sure that it is British literature that is firmly
established in people's reading habits. We have nothing against
English literature from other countries - far from it - but given
the impetus from the 2001 British Council workshop 'Open your
Coursebooks' in Krakow, Poland, the need to support the British
cultural element became self-evident. Involved as we are in teaching
English, our natural professional contacts within Portugal are
with teachers of English in the state school sector; some excellent
relationships between our teaching centres and libraries and schools
and individual teachers have developed. This seemed to be a perfect
starting point. But what to do?
One conflict to be resolved was between the obvious desire of
the Literature Department to promote involvement in, and knowledge,
of the exciting contemporary British literary scene, and the rather
more prosaic approach which is, understandably, being adopted
by the Ministry of Education in Portugal in regards to the selection
of authors and books in the study of the English language in their
schools.
However, it was clear that the school curriculum might be a useful
starting point. We had good relationships with Portuguese teachers
of English; they were obliged - in 10th, 11th and 12th years -
to choose some works of literature to work on in class; some of
these works were British. Our cunning plan was to create such
highly effective resources to aid the study of these British works
that any teacher not choosing British literature might be considered
a volume short of a library!
Then there was another consideration to be taken into account.
The Literature Department were keen to see if 'Reading Groups'
- a relatively recent, and successful phenomena in the UK - could
be integrated into any successful 'Animating Literature' bid for
funding. 'Reading Groups' recognise that reading is not just a
skill, but an art form as well, and that readers are essential
to complete the artistic circle started by writers. The need to
develop competence in the art of reading is at the heart of 'Reading
Groups', just as the skills and art of writing are for groups
of writers who meet to share and discuss their writing.
Working in a country where English is not the first language the
problems, but also the needs, are amplified. It is our concern
that, at first, we try to develop 'Reading Groups' amongst teachers
of English in geographical areas. The chance that they will grow
in confidence and enthusiasm about reading English literature,
and using it in class as a result, should be high. The chance
that such enthusiasm would be passed on to their students would
also be maximised.
Putting it all together
Well, this all sounded very good and focussed, but how exactly
were we going to put the ideas into practice? We had a lot to
consider - encouraging reading; promoting British literature;
producing classroom materials; supporting teachers; balancing
cultural expectations and resolving cultural differences. We also
felt that we might have a chance to influence the decision-makers
in the Portuguese education system in the future regarding their
choice of British literature to be included in the curriculum.
We want them to consider more contemporary authors and works.
But that's a longer term project than the one facing us immediately.
We put in an application for funding for a project that would
attempt the above. It was revised, rationalised, modified, modulated,
tweaked and trimmed more than a few times. Eventually (a word
that has heavy irony) funding was agreed. By this time we had
already started the project, swept along by the enthusiasm that
it seemed to be creating wherever we went and with whomever we
spoke. It appeared that even the suggestion of the idea demanded
some kind of commitment from us. A presentation at the APPI conference
in Porto in April sealed our personal and professional commitment:
we would have to supply the goods some way or other: the need
and expectation was defined.
To meet the requirements demanded by cultural sensitivity, awareness
and plurality it was imperative that we worked in close conjunction
with Portuguese teachers of English. It seemed clear to us that
our natural allies in this undertaking would be APPI, not just
because they had the best network of connection within the profession
in the country, but because we already had a good working relationship
with them. The management committee of APPI seemed to be as keen
as us to become involved, and they nominated two of their members
to work on a small advisory group with the British Council, and
also supplied the names of 25 teachers in the secondary sector
who were willing to act as the first guinea pigs in the project.
APPI also suggested that we worked on an initial pilot project
to set standards and define expectations. It was this suggestion
that brought our start time forward so that the project began
before it had started, so to speak - the intensive work started
in May 2002, at least three months before we had expected anything
substantial to get fully underway.
It was decided that the project would supply teaching materials
for use by secondary school teachers and would be in adherence
with the national curriculum. The switch of government (and hence
the suspending of plans to change the curriculum) caused us some
anxiety for a while, but not for long. We would work with what
we had. The 'hard copy' materials in the form of worksheets and
project proposals would be backed up with electronic support materials.
We imagine this to be a web page offering additional material
links, interactive sites for students, information about related
events (for example, visits of British writers, etc, to Portugal),
Message Boards to develop discussion amongst teachers throughout
the country, and immediate contact with project staff based in
Porto. We even envisage a series of 'chat-room' link ups with
living British authors, bringing both teachers and their students
into direct contact with the writers of the works they are studying,
and works that they might in the future read and enjoy. We also
needed to know where teachers stood in regards to experience and
experiences in developing literature projects in their schools,
and so a 'baseline' survey was devised in questionnaire form,
as this will provide a measurable basis from which to assess future
achievement.
Short stories
Before taking on board the project, there was one final piece
of information to absorb. This was stressed over and over again
by participants at the APPI conference. There was an urgent need
to recognise that 10º Ano and above classes in English were
inherently of very mixed ability - ranging from false beginners
to fairly advanced language users in the same class. This is hard
for those of us who work in the rigidly defined 'level' system
of the British Council teaching centres to get to grips with,
but unless we respond to this key demand, we will fail in our
objectives.
APPI told us that using short stories as our first literature
option was the area that, at least at first, would help to fill
an area that required most help and support. Many of the set novels
(frequently classics) had such things as York Notes and more locally
produced materials published by the Ministry of Education as support
material and, whatever the drawbacks of these materials for non-native
speakers, at least there was some support existing for the hard-pressed
teacher. There appeared to be no apparent support material for
short stories, however, and as a source for the production of
pilot materials this option appeared to meet all expectations:
the need was shown; the resources would be relatively easy to
produce, wouldn't they? After all, it was only a short story,
wasn't it?
Wrong! A short story presents as many cultural and linguistic
challenges as a full length novel, frequently containing language
that condenses meaning into terse, word-rich texts so that almost
as much work is required to decipher it for non-native speakers
as would a much longer text.
The book chosen for us to work on by APPI was 'Modern British
Short Stories', edited by Malcolm Bradbury and published by Penguin
Books in 1988. The story we chose to work on for the pilot project
was Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie by Beryl Bainbridge. The main
criteria for this choice were:
- the subject matter (it fitted in with one of the curriculum
study areas for Ano 10º - the family)
- the relatively contemporary setting and writing style (1985)
- the cross-cultural interpretation requirements
- the fact it was a short text.
As a trivial piece of information, and an example of a small
work producing a whole lot more, the story Clap Hands… is
7 pages long (in A5 book form) and this produced 55 pages of worksheets
and support materials (in A4 form)! But working on this story,
as well as testing the water in other contexts, produced the current
working model. This model requires us to write materials that
- explore the context for the story
- develop an understanding of the characters met in the story
- explore and exploit the language used in the story
- introduce substantial quotes from the text before the students
read the whole story.
In the first two categories (context and characterisation) there
is ample opportunity to explore cultural similarities and differences.
As an example, the Bainbridge story is a sad little tale of Liverpool
family, and a delicious example of Liverpudlian black humour,
which involves the attendance of the family at a pantomime. The
wholly British concept of 'pantomime' needs to be explained and
explored, and this is presented to students with all its curious
traditions and trappings intact. Examples of how this might happen
are given (Robin Hood is the context, João Pinto is the
contemporary fall guy), and then students are asked to translate
a traditional Portuguese tale (from the Algarve) into English
as a story telling exercise, and then turn this into a little
scene from their 'own' pantomime.
The latter two categories (language and quoting from the text)
meet two needs: the first being the demands of the Portuguese
system to focus on grammar aspects (in Clap Hands,… narrative
tenses are explored) while the second, we feel, is vital, because
the text itself is difficult. To be honest, very few of the texts
(short stories or novels) would be within the easy reach of any
but the best of our own Proficiency students, but here they are,
presented to students who, if they are talented, might have a
use of English around Cambridge First Certificate level. It occurred
to us that one way of dealing with this problem was to quote from
the text, within certain contexts, so that the vocabulary was
explored and understood before the student was expected to read
the complete text. In other words, the three defining factors
of the way the 'Resource Kits' are presented are: Context; Context;
Context!
Feedback
Making the project alive is all about making it interactive, about
asking for and responding to feedback. We will sink or swim by
making ourselves relevant to those teachers who want to use the
materials we produce. Initial responses have been very favourable,
and while we enjoy seeing positive adjectives like 'relevant'
'exciting' 'provoking' 'imaginative' and 'fun' applied to what
we have so far produced, we are even more excited by positive
criticism, and already we are reshaping our ideas from the well-considered
responses we have received. Yes, a subject overview for class
discussion before embarking on the materials is something we hadn't
thought about. Isn't a 'green' sheet on Characterisation essential?
- how right you are! More 'yellow' projects? - of course!
Green? Yellow? There's blue too! This is an attempt to get to
grips with mixed ability teaching. Material printed on yellow
paper means it is quite easy in language and what it demands,
while blue means it is fairly difficult - quite challenging in
some cases. What happens when you mix yellow and blue? - you get
green, of course, and that means it is suitable for (almost) any
level within the range. It's a fine art, and we're just beginning
to learn how to do it. The more feedback we get from teachers
the better we'll get at it, and the more teachers who get involved
the better it will all be.
So, where are we now?
The initial pilot resource kit has been sent out and we're currently
analysing the responses and planning the next kit, which should
be ready in late Autumn. The web site is still in its infancy
and like all babies needs to be cooed at and treated with love
and kindness! The Readers Group projects are being lined up, one
by one, on the starting blocks, and should be racing into action
quite soon. We're involved in bringing animated British literature
to Portugal, and will be pushing hard to make sure that every
such event is a resounding success, with the visit of author Romesh
Gunesekera being just the first of what we hope will be a long
line of events we will be supporting in whatever way we can. Other
relevant events are being planned, mainly in the Porto area for
2002/3, but countrywide after that.
3D - Back to the 3D aspect of the original initiative's
aims
Difficult?
Are we being risk-taking and experimental? In one sense we aren't,
because much of the material in the sense of choices we are dealing
with has been carved in rock before us, but in two senses we are.
The first is related to the kind of materials we are hoping to
develop - cross-cultural, co-operative and available in a variety
of formats. The other is that we are setting ourselves up to have
an influential voice in future choices of the literature chosen
by the Ministry of Education. If successful this would allow us,
for the first time, to mix the aims of Portuguese State school
teachers in teaching literature, and the aims of the British Council
in promoting the best of contemporary British literature.
Diverse?
The project is bursting with the freshness required by the planners,
and celebrates the diversity of the intercultural contexts posed
by marrying syllabus demands and the myriad ideas penned by authors.
By using the project as a focus of attention we plan to lead our
audience into new realms of literary and dramatic experiences.
Having first gained their attention, and later their confidence,
we hope then to be able to lead them on to pastures new.
Dynamic?
We are being topical by relating the texts to contemporary life,
within the constraints of the syllabus. If the project aims to
be anything at all, then 'interactive' is the buzzword. While
the work the students will do involves a high degree of interactive
participation, the means by which the materials are to be made
available is interactive, and the materials themselves are subject
to constant change due to input from those who use them - teachers,
and through them, students.
So, all looks set fair for an interesting voyage from a safe
harbour into somewhat uncharted waters. Already we are beyond
the protective wall and guiding buoys and into open water. The
excitement that thrills the beginning of a journey is all around
us.
All in all, would it be too fanciful to imagine that - within
the next few years - British Council produced classroom materials
will have a presence in every single High School in Portugal?
We don't think so!
Fitch O'Connell
Contact: brit.lit@pt.britishcouncil.org
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