Garth Boomer, English Teaching and Curriculum Leadership

“Garth Boomer and Bill Green are two of the most influential thinkers in the combined fields of English teaching and curriculum inquiry. To read Green on Boomer, in depth, is a precious opportunity to learn from the legacy of a man who died much too early. Educators need Boomer and his work today more than ever, in the fight to retain teacher agency and professionalism. Boomer, as pragmatic-radical, provocateur, bon vivant, bureaucrat and above all, teacher, emerges here, from his written archive, as both elusive and vital. He is a fascinating mystery for those like me, who never met him. Yet a quote from his writing introduces my PhD thesis and he inspires me every day. Green's pedagogical guidance, evocative writing and dialogic commentary keep Boomer alive for us all.”

Lucinda McKnight, Associate-Professor, Deakin University, Australia“In times when policy is driving an education in English that is increasingly reductive, formulaic and arid, a book on a thinker like Garth Boomer is urgently needed and very welcome. Not that Boomer is easily defined. Bill Green’s excellent analysis of Boomer’s contribution to curriculum inquiry, to pedagogy, and to thinking about English education presents a complex figure and one who himself was at the centre of policy development. Language, learning and their relationship; culture, politics and their connection to curriculum and pedagogy; and particularly the place of teacher professionalism – these were enduring themes in Boomer’s work as he moved between English education and broader curriculum thinking, often with language as a key bridging concept. No one is better placed to write this book than Bill Green, for whom, as Green himself says, Boomer was a major influence. ‘Disentangling’ the author from his subject makes one of the book’s interestingly foregrounded challenges. With its focus on Boomer through his texts – not an easy task since many of these are ‘informal’, or official documents, or speeches, or drafts on the way to publication – the book is a remarkable achievement. It stands as a major contribution to this series on key thinkers in English.”

Wayne Sawyer, Emeritus Professor, University of Western Sydney, Australia