Teachers and Prophets: Literature and Spirit in the Making of the Secondary Teacher of English

Murie, John Andrew (1989) Teachers and Prophets: Literature and Spirit in the Making of the Secondary Teacher of English. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The teacher of English in the secondary school may be understood in terms of his spiritual orientation with regard to the literature he studies. As a result of his adoption and endorsement, usually at school age, of the values apparently implicit in that literature, he finds himself at odds with the outlook and philosophy of 'ordinary' people. Through the higher education of the teacher an attempt, seemingly successful, is made to 'correct' his outlook on life so that it becomes consistent with that of the people he will serve professionally. This attempt at 'correction' is in fact only partially successful and leaves the teacher, in spiritual terms, without a philosophy - he can neither embrace completely the 'correct' view of life nor surrender entirely that represented in literature. Thus, his condition aggravated by the part he plays in the purposes of the school, he becomes in a spirit of both hostility and resignation the 'archetypal' teacher: unsympathetic, uninspiring and alienated from those he is set to teach.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: Teacher education, Language arts
• Date of Award: 1989
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1989-78170
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 30 Jan 2020 15:38
• Last Modified: 30 Jan 2020 15:38
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/78170