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Emeritus Professor Andy Goodwyn

Areas of interest

Research Interests

  • The investigation of the conceptualisation of English as a school subject combined with understanding the values and professional identities of English teachers and student teachers
  • A second strand is researching what we mean by 'expert teaching' and examining the various models that have been developed around the world

Postgraduate supervision

Doctoral students

I have supervised (as first, second or third supervisor) over 50 students and externally examined 42.

Teaching

Teaching Expertise

  • Theory and practice of English teaching as a first language
  • The values and purposes of English as a school subject and the professional identities of English teachers
  • Literacy
  • Literary reading (how and why we read and learn from literature)
  • Darwinian perspectives on culture and specifically literature
  • Media Education
  • The development of expertise
  • Expert teachers, policy and practice
  • Information and Communications Technology in improving teaching and learning, digital literacies

Research projects

  • Evaluating the Schoolreader’s programme [Bedford based Charity] 2023-2024
  • What can we learn from BAME Teachers with successful careers in the teaching profession? 2020-23
  • The Pleasure and Pains of English teaching: an international investigation into the quality of professional life in the ‘middle years’. [UK, USA, Australia] [2020-22]
  • Who is leading English? Investigating the emergence of the Lead Practitioners of English phenomenon. NATE and IRED 2019-21     
  • The state of English teaching – a national survey The National Association for the Teaching of English/BERA 2019-2020               
  • Textual Matters: the feelings of L1 English teachers, student teachers and school students about why certain texts truly 'matter' personally and in society'. 2019-2020
  • Investigating the development of The Chartered College for Teaching [CCT] CCT 2018-19       
  • – Visions, versions and revisions of English – an international perspective (2016-2019)
  • Voices from the contested territories of English and literacy education in times of change: a comparative study of Australia and England. In collaboration with Dr. Kerrie O’Sullivan, Macquarie University, Sydney. (2017-2019)
  • English teachers and literary subject knowledge: a comparative study of Australia and England : Australian Council for Educational Research (2015-2018)
  • Senior Leaders in schools and their perspectives on the future of expert teaching – phase 2 (2015-2016)
  • Futures of English Project (2014-2015)
  • Senior Leaders in schools and the future of expert teaching – phase 1

Background

Biography

I have a long connection with The University of Reading, having undertaken my English Literature degree there between 1973 and 1976, followed by my PGCE 1977-78, in between I completed a Masters in Victorian Literature at Leicester University. Subsequently (1978-2088) I taught English in secondary schools, also spending 1 year (1980-81) teaching in the USA. I became PGCE English course leader at The University of Reading in 1988, course leader of the MA in English and Language in Education in 1990, Head of Continuing Professional Development 2002- 2006, Director of Teaching and Learning, Deputy Head of School, 2002- 2007, appointed Professor in 2005, and was Head of School from 2007-2015 and was created Emeritus Professor at Reading in 2016. I then worked as Director of Research at the independent Centre for Research and the Use of Evidence in Education [CUREE] 2016-17 and then at the University of Bedfordshire, as Professor of Education 92017-20240, Head of the School of Education and English (2017-22) and Director of the Institute of Research in Education (2018-22).

Research

A major area of my research is the teaching of English in schools with a special emphasis on the careers and identities of English teachers. I have been active in The National Association for the Teaching of English for 40 years, being Chair 2009-11 and currently Research Officer and Trustee. I am President of the International Federation for the Teaching of English and I was one of the founders of The International Association for the Improvement of Mother Tongue Education in 1999 [now ARLE]. In the field of English, my latest books are Goodwyn, A., Roberts, R., Durrant, C., Sawyer, W., Manuel, J., Zancanella, D. & Scherff, E. (November, 2022). (Eds.). International Perspectives on English Teacher Development: From Initial Teacher Education to Highly Accomplished Professional: [IFTE Volume Four]. London, Routledge and Goodwyn, A., Durrant, C., George, M., Manuel, J., Sawyer, S. & Shoffner, M. (December, 2024) International perspectives on the role of English as an emancipatory subject, promoting social justice and democracy. London. Routledge

My other major area of research is teacher expertise, for example a book about expert teaching from a global perspective, Expert Teaching: an international perspective, Routledge 2016. A more nationally focused chapter was on the Advanced Skills Teacher, Goodwyn, A. (2019) ‘A voice for advancing the profession of teaching’. In Wearmouth, J. & Goodwyn, A. (2019) (Eds) Student and Teacher Voice. Ch.8, pp. 123-139. London. Routledge.  A recent international chapter is Goodwyn, A. [2024] ‘The increasingly global phenomenon of the expert teacher designation: a critical realist perspective and analysis’, in Global Perspectives on Educational Research, WERA Volume 5. Routledge, London.

As well as NATE, for whom I am the Research Officer, I am an active member of The British Educational Research Association, The American Educational Research Association, The European Educational Research Association, The Australian Association for the Teaching of English and The National Council for The Teaching of English (USA), and try to present regularly at their [and other] conferences. I have worked extensively and developed projects with organisations and universities internationally.  In September 2017 I launched the BERA Special Interest Group ‘English in Education’ and was convenor 2017-2023.

Academic qualifications

  • BA English Language and Literature - University of Reading
  • MA Victorian Literature and its Background - University of Leicester
  • Postgraduate Certificate of Education (with Merit) - University of Reading
  • PhD by publication - University of Reading

Awards and honours

  • Recipient of the Outstanding Achievement award [NATE] for a lifetime contribution to NATE (2023)
  • Recipient of the Terry Furlong Award [NATE] for a distinguished contribution to research in English Education (2018)

Professional bodies/affiliations

  • Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts

Selected publications

Recent Publications

  • International Series Editor: Key Thinkers in English in Education and The Language Arts – Routledge
  • Smagorinsky. P. [October, 2023] LS Vygotsky And English in Education and The Language Arts, Routledge, London.
  • Green, B. [April, 2024] Garth Boomer and English in Education and The Language Arts, Routledge London
  • Six volumes are in development

Recent edited volumes and chapters

  • Goodwyn, A., Majid, N. & Tsege, S. (2025) (Ed)  Ethnic minority agency in mainstream education; a regional perspective on a national challenge, Emerald, London.
  • Goodwyn, A. [2025] The doctoral passport: where should it take you? In Kanwarjeet Singh, Damien Lyons & Jane Southcott, “Relational Voices: Shaping the Doctoral Experience”, Maryland, Lexington Books.
  • Goodwyn, A., Durrant, C., George, M., Manuel, J., Sawyer, S. & Shoffner, M. (2024) International perspectives on the role of English as an emancipatory subject, promoting social justice and democracy. London. Routledge
  • Goodwyn, A. (2024) ‘English as the Emancipatory Subject’, in Goodwyn, A., Durrant, C., George, M., Manuel, J., Sawyer, S. & Shoffner, M. (2024) International perspectives on the role of English as an emancipatory subject, promoting social justice and democracy. London. Routledge
  • Goodwyn, A. [2024] ‘The increasingly global phenomenon of the expert teacher designation: a critical realist perspective and analysis’, in Global Perspectives on Educational Research, WERA Volume 5. Routledge, London.
  • Goodwyn, A. [2024] ‘Reflecting on the identity of the teaching profession: time for some higher status?’ In Reflections on Identity – Narratives from Educators. In Neil Hopkins & Carol Thompson, London. Springer.
  • Goodwyn, A., Roberts, R., Durrant, C., Sawyer, W., Manuel, J., Zancanella, D. & Scherff, E. (November, 2022). (Eds.). International Perspectives on English Teacher Development: From Initial Teacher Education to Highly Accomplished Professional: [IFTE Volume Four]. London, Routledge.
  • Goodwyn, A. [November, 2022], ‘The attrition of the Expertise of teachers of English: from the rich pedagogy of Personal and Social Agency to the poverty of the Powerful Knowledge Heritage model’.  In, Goodwyn, A., Roberts, R., Durrant, C., Sawyer, W., Manuel, J., Zancanella, D. & Scherff, E. (2022). (Eds.). International Perspectives on English Teacher Development: From Initial Teacher Education to Highly Accomplished Professional: [IFTE Volume Four], London, Routledge.
  • Goodwyn, A. [November, 2022], ‘The Remarkable Careers of English Teachers’.  In, Goodwyn, A., Roberts, R., Durrant, C., Sawyer, W., Manuel, J., Zancanella, D. & Scherff, E. (2022). (Eds.). International Perspectives on English Teacher Development: From Initial Teacher Education to Highly Accomplished Professional: [IFTE Volume Four], London, Routledge.
  • Goodwyn, A. [2022] ‘Hybrids? when staff become students: emergent academic identity on Professional Doctorate programmes’. in Creative Resistance: How Professional Doctorate Programmes Transform Professional Identity, Knowledge and Practice. Ed. Dave Trotman and Lesley Saunders, Cambridge Scholars Press.
  • Goodwyn, A., 2021 ‘A Tale of two committees: Newbolt illuminated through the Cox models’. In A. Green [Ed] The New Newbolt Report: One Hundred Years of the Teaching of English in England. Chapter 4, pp.31-48.  London, Routledge.
  • Goodwyn, A. (2020) Educating Willy and Frank: teaching ‘Educating Rita’ in Shoffner, M.& Richard St. Peter Teacher Representations in Dramatic Text and Performance, Ch.2 pp. 34-39. St. Peter. New York: Routledge
  • Goodwyn, A. (2019) [5th Ed.] ‘Media Literacy and English’, in  How to Teach English in the Secondary School. (ed) J. Davidson et al. London Routledge. Ch. 8. pp. 119-135.
  • Wearmouth, J. & Goodwyn, A. (2019) (Eds) Student and Teacher Voice. London. Routledge.           1
  • Goodwyn, A. (2019) ‘A voice for advancing the profession of teaching’. In Wearmouth, J. & Goodwyn, A. (2019) (Eds) Student and Teacher Voice. Ch.8, pp. 123-129. London. Routledge.

Recent refereed articles

  • Snapper, G., Gibbons, S., Goodwyn, A., & Hodgson, J. (2024). Subject associations in a neo-liberal context. English in Education, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/04250494.2024.2410513
  • Elf, N. Goodwyn, A. & Sawyer, W. [2024] Future memories: The history of The International Association for the Improvement of Mother Tongue Education [IAIMTE] and the International Association for Research in L1 Education [ARLE], English in Education. Vol. 58, Issue 4, pp. 1-13. DOI: 10.1080/04250494.2024.2411954
  • Goodwyn, A. (2022) ‘Only disconnect: Rereading Margaret Meek – of policies and practices’, English in Education. Vol. 56, Issue 3, pp.261-73. DOI 10.1080/04250494.2022.2094759
  • Goodwyn, A. (2021) What does Literature mean to the human species: will it help us to evolve and survive? The Garth Boomer address, 2020. English in Australia. Vol, 56. [1], 7-16.
  • O’Sullivan, K. & Goodwyn, A. (2021) Subject English for Future Students: the visions of English Teachers in NSW and England.  English in Australia. Vol, 56. [1], 34-45.
  • Goodwyn, A. ( September 2019) ‘Adaptive agency: some surviving and some thriving in interesting times’.  Invited Paper to English Teaching Practice and Critique – special issue on teacher agency. Vol, 18. Issue 2.  pp. 21-35.
  • Goodwyn, A. [2019] English teachers as researchers, from reflecting on practice to researching into practice.  The English Magazine, Summer 2019.
  • Goodwyn, A. (2019) What’s in a name? who is leading the subject of English ---  and where are they taking it? The English Magazine. Spring, 2019. London, NATE.
  • Goodwyn. A [2019]. How teachers with ‘authentic’ expertise fully connect with their students in adapting technology for improved teaching and learning. Impact: journal of the Chartered College of Teaching, Issue 6. [January 2019 Published online]
  • Goodwyn, A. (2018) ‘Evolution of L1 English as school subject’ in Ontologies of English Reconceptualising the language for learning, teaching, and assessment. [Eds]  Hall, C.J. and Wicaksono, R., [Eds] Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
  • Enow, L & Goodwyn, A. (2018). The invisible plan: how English teachers develop their expertise and the special place of adapting the skills of lesson planning. English in Education. Vol 52. Issue 2. pp.120-134.
  • 2018-19 Goodwyn, A., Durrant, C., Sawyer, W., Zancanella, D. & Scherff, E. (Eds.). The Future of English teaching worldwide and its histories: celebrating 50 years from the Dartmouth conference. London, Routledge.  (June 2018)
  • Goodwyn, A., Durrant. C and Reid, L [Eds] International perspectives on the teaching of Literature, Routledge, April 2017
  • Goodwyn, A., Expert Teachers: an International Perspective, London: Routledge, Falmer, December 2016.
  • Goodwyn, A. (2017) A critique of the National Curriculum for English, Goodwyn, A., Durrant. C and Reid, L [Eds] International perspectives on the teaching of Literature, Routledge.
  • Goodwyn, A. (2015) Is it still King Lear? The e-reader: the phenomenon of the Kindle and other reading devices’, (Eds) Tzu-Bin, Chen, Victor and Chai, Ching Sing, New Media and Learning in the 21st Century: A socio-cultural perspective, London, Springer.
  • Goodwyn, A. (2014) English and Literacy in Education – National Policies.   In Leung, C and Street, B. eds. The Routledge Companion to English Language Studies, London, Routledge.
  • Goodwyn, A. (2017). From Personal Growth (1966) to Personal Growth and Social Agency  – proposing an invigorated model for the 21st Century, English in Australia, 52(1), 66-73.
  • Goodwyn, A. (2017). And now for something completely different … A Critique of the National Curriculum for English in England: a new rationale for teaching literature based on Darwinian Literary Theory. The Use of English, 68(2), 9-22.
  • Enow, L & Goodwyn, A, (January, 2017). Multimethod Study: Secondary English Teacher Cognition, SAGE Research Methods Cases Part 2, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781473993976.
  • Goodwyn, A. (2016). Still growing after all these years? The Resilience of the ‘Personal Growth model of English’ in England and also internationally. English Teaching, practice and critique. 15(2), 7-21.
  • Goodwyn, A. & Cordingley, P. (2016). The Potential of Chartered Teacher Status, Education Today. 66 (2), 21-44.

External Roles

  • Journal Editorial Boards: L1: Educational Studies of Language and Literature, English Teaching: Practice and Critique, The International Journal of Media Education, English in Education, English in Australia, Literacy, Learning Research and Practice
  • Journal Article Reviewer: Research in the Teaching of English, English Education, The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, The International Journal of Learning and Media, The Journal of Education for Teaching, The British Journal of Educational Technology. The British Journal of Educational Studies, The Education Review, Education, Communication, Information, Changing English

Recent and current External roles

  • External Examiner: University of Glasgow, MEd in Professional Practice with PGDE (2023-27)
  • External examiner: MA in Education, Brunel University (2020-24)
  • Consultant to Qualification Wales [new English GCSE] (2021-22)                 
  • Consultant to The Premier League Primary Writing Stars Project (2019-2020)        
  • Consultant to Schoolreaders (2017-ongoing)  
  • Consultant to The Norwegian Extended Teacher Project (2016-2022]
  • External Examiner: Professional Doctorate in Multi-professional Practice, Newman University (2015-2020)
  • External Examiner: MA in Education, The University of Durham (2015-2020)
  • External Examiner: UG degree, RMAS Sandhurst Academy (2015-2017)
  • External Examiner: MA in Media, Culture and Education, The Institute of Education, London (2009-2014)
  • External Examiner: Recent PhD and EdD examiner [2016-2024] at University of Oxford, Oxford Brookes, Exeter University, Durham University, University College London,  University of Bath Spa, Griffith University Melbourne, Kings College London , University of Bath, Edith Cowan University, University of Staffordshire, University of Reading, University of Sydney, 

Publications

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