Harold Rosen
In 1969 in a LATE publication, Harold Rosen wrote: ‘Classrooms would be transformed if children wrote what they wanted to write rather than what their teachers told them to.” This was one of several key quotations that we used in 2009 to illustrate the roots, principles and provenance of this project. NWP (UK) is about cultivating authentic voices rather than merely imitating authorised versions. Without doing so there can be little real learning and little hope of reducing social injustice.
From his background as an American Jew growing up in London’s East End in the 1930’s, Harold encountered blinkered establishment attitudes. His life’s work was devoted to ensuring that all children’s cultures and experiences were valued and incorporated into the proper work of the school community.
John Richmond, Harold’s lifelong friend and colleague, has painstakingly brought together Harold Rosen’s work in ‘Harold Rosen: Writings on life, language and learning 1958-2008’ which is published by UCL IOE Press. John introduced the book at the 10th Harold Rosen lecture on 20 March 2017. This digested read is largely based on that lecture which is available of the DARE website. John summarised into ‘a hand of five’, the advances in language learning initiated by Harold Rosen. These are the key principles which inform Harold's thinking:
1. Children’s and young people’s language and culture respected and incorporated in the life of the curriculum and the school.
2. The need for conversation and coherence of approaches to language and learning across a school and across schools.
3. Equality of esteem as between school teachers and supporters of school teachers.
4. Seeing linguistic diversity as a great bonus and as a key element of curriculum content.
5. The centrality of narrative in normal learning.
Notes and quotes:
1. We are teachers of children before we are teachers of English – and learning cannot happen if we leave the language – or the stories - of the home at the door of the school. In the 1958 Walworth Road School English syllabus, Harold wrote: ‘The curriculum must take notice of and respect the language, culture, interests and enthusiasms of the students .... Affectation can easily bedevil the teaching of English. Whatever language the pupils possess, it is this which must be built on rather than driven underground. However narrow the experience of our pupils may be – and it is often wider than we think – it is this experience alone which has given their language meaning. The starting point for English work must be the ability to handle effectively pupils’ own experience – oral work, written work and the discussion of literature must create an atmosphere in which the pupils become confident of the full acceptability of the material of their own experience. Only in this way can they advance to the next stage.’
5. In ‘The nurture of narrative’ 1985, HR writes: ‘narrative is central to learning ... it is part of the deep structure of the grammar of our world.’)
Simon Wrigley
May 2017
From his background as an American Jew growing up in London’s East End in the 1930’s, Harold encountered blinkered establishment attitudes. His life’s work was devoted to ensuring that all children’s cultures and experiences were valued and incorporated into the proper work of the school community.
John Richmond, Harold’s lifelong friend and colleague, has painstakingly brought together Harold Rosen’s work in ‘Harold Rosen: Writings on life, language and learning 1958-2008’ which is published by UCL IOE Press. John introduced the book at the 10th Harold Rosen lecture on 20 March 2017. This digested read is largely based on that lecture which is available of the DARE website. John summarised into ‘a hand of five’, the advances in language learning initiated by Harold Rosen. These are the key principles which inform Harold's thinking:
1. Children’s and young people’s language and culture respected and incorporated in the life of the curriculum and the school.
2. The need for conversation and coherence of approaches to language and learning across a school and across schools.
3. Equality of esteem as between school teachers and supporters of school teachers.
4. Seeing linguistic diversity as a great bonus and as a key element of curriculum content.
5. The centrality of narrative in normal learning.
Notes and quotes:
1. We are teachers of children before we are teachers of English – and learning cannot happen if we leave the language – or the stories - of the home at the door of the school. In the 1958 Walworth Road School English syllabus, Harold wrote: ‘The curriculum must take notice of and respect the language, culture, interests and enthusiasms of the students .... Affectation can easily bedevil the teaching of English. Whatever language the pupils possess, it is this which must be built on rather than driven underground. However narrow the experience of our pupils may be – and it is often wider than we think – it is this experience alone which has given their language meaning. The starting point for English work must be the ability to handle effectively pupils’ own experience – oral work, written work and the discussion of literature must create an atmosphere in which the pupils become confident of the full acceptability of the material of their own experience. Only in this way can they advance to the next stage.’
5. In ‘The nurture of narrative’ 1985, HR writes: ‘narrative is central to learning ... it is part of the deep structure of the grammar of our world.’)
Simon Wrigley
May 2017