It is approaching 100 years since Sir Henry Newbolt was commissioned to write his report The Teaching of English in England. The report, compiled by an eminent group of academics, writers and educationists, followed closely on the heels of two significant “moments” in the development of English education. Firstly, H.A.L. Fisher’s Education Act of 1918, which sought in the immediate wake of the First World War to extend the duration, availability and quality of educational provision; and secondly, the establishment of the first English Literature tripos at Cambridge. Fisher’s landmark act set in motion the shaping of a recognisably “modern” English education system – a system founded upon more equitable principles and within which English (both as language and as literature) had a fundamental role to play. The Cambridge English Literature syllabus forged the subject as a literary discipline independent of the study of the Classics (Latin and Greek). In the wake of these seminal developments, Newbolt sought to establish a new function and direction for English as a subject in the twentieth century. Upon reading his report, it is striking to note how – a century on – Newbolt’s is still a powerfully relevant voice. The academic, curricular and pedagogic issues he and his fellow committee members encountered seem echoingly familiar to our own era. The committee observes, for instance, the inherent problems associated with a knowledgebased curriculum and those who, “urging that knowledge is power, load the youthful mind with more than it can properly assimilate” (Newbolt et al. 1921, 54). What, Newbolt considers, might be the alternatives to such a situation and how can pupils be provided with more flexible and enabling versions of English? The committee perhaps partially answered this in its identification of the pedagogical importance of practical education: “Learning by doing,” they observe, “is another concurrent educational gospel” (54). Simply “doing” at the expense of being able effectively to contextualise and more broadly and imaginatively apply learning, however, creates particular issues surrounding the possibilities and the functions of English – as both medium and object of learning. The committee was alive to the demands such content and pedagogic issues placed upon the teaching body – problematic issues that continue to face teachers of English. These demands are made more problematic by ideological, political and social impulses that prioritise measurable short-term gains and tend to diminish the role of the Arts and creativity – with their concomitant long-term advantages – within education. Newbolt and his fellow committee members pointed to a threat – a threat we are still facing, or perhaps facing anew, in our contemporary education system: “there is a danger that a true instinct for humanism may be smothered by the demand for measurable results, especially the passing of examinations in a variety of subjects . . . ” (56). It was against the backdrop of these and other pressing matters that Newbolt sets out his vision for the teaching of English to the benefit of all within society. His wide-ranging and worryingly ENGLISH IN EDUCATION 2019, VOL. 53, NO. 3, 195–198 https://doi.org/10.1080/04250494.2019.1657318

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Newbolt与学科英语的建构

亨利·纽博特爵士受委托撰写他的报告《英格兰英语教学》已经快 100 年了。该报告由一群著名的学者、作家和教育家编写，紧随英语教育发展的两个重要“时刻”之后。首先，HAL Fisher 的 1918 年教育法案，该法案在第一次世界大战之后立即寻求延长教育的持续时间、可用性和质量；其次，在剑桥建立了第一个英国文学馆。费舍尔的里程碑式行动推动了一个公认的“现代”英语教育体系的形成——这个体系建立在更公平的原则之上，英语（作为语言和文学）在其中发挥着根本性的作用。剑桥英语文学教学大纲将该学科打造为独立于古典文学（拉丁语和希腊语）研究的文学学科。在这些开创性的发展之后，纽博特试图为 20 世纪的英语学科建立新的功能和方向。在阅读他的报告时，令人惊讶地注意到——一个世纪过去了——纽博特的声音仍然是一个强有力的相关声音。他和他的委员会成员遇到的学术、课程和教学问题似乎对我们这个时代非常熟悉。例如，委员会观察到与以知识为基础的课程相关的内在问题以及那些“敦促知识就是力量，给年轻人的头脑带来的负担超出了它可以适当吸收的范围”（Newbolt 等人，1921, 54）。什么，纽博特认为，可能是这种情况的替代方案，如何为学生提供更灵活和更实用的英语版本？委员会在确定实践教育的教学重要性时可能部分回答了这个问题：“边做边学”，他们观察到，“是另一种同时发生的教育福音”（54）。然而，简单地“做”以有效地将学习情境化和更广泛、更有想象力地应用学习为代价，会产生围绕英语作为学习媒介和学习对象的可能性和功能的特殊问题。委员会对此类内容和教学问题对教学机构的要求充满活力——这些问题一直是英语教师面临的问题。这些要求由于意识形态、政治和社会冲动优先考虑可衡量的短期收益，并倾向于削弱艺术和创造力在教育中的作用 - 以及随之而来的长期优势。纽博尔特和他的委员会成员指出了一个威胁——在我们当代的教育系统中，我们仍然面临或可能重新面临这种威胁：“存在一种危险，即对可衡量结果的需求可能会扼杀真正的人文主义本能，尤其是通过各种科目的考试。. . ”（56）。正是在这些和其他紧迫问题的背景下，Newbolt 提出了他的愿景，即英语教学以造福全社会。他的广泛而令人担忧的英语教育 2019，VOL。53，没有。3, 195–198 https://doi.org/10.1080/04250494.2019.1657318 Newbolt 和他的委员会成员指出了一个威胁——在我们当代的教育系统中，我们仍然面临或可能重新面临这种威胁：“真正的人文主义本能可能会被对可衡量结果的需求所扼杀，尤其是通过各种科目的考试。. . ”（56）。正是在这些和其他紧迫问题的背景下，Newbolt 提出了他的愿景，即英语教学以造福全社会。他的广泛而令人担忧的英语教育 2019，VOL。53，没有。3, 195–198 https://doi.org/10.1080/04250494.2019.1657318 Newbolt 和他的委员会成员指出了一个威胁——在我们当代的教育系统中，我们仍然面临或可能重新面临这种威胁：“真正的人文主义本能可能会被对可衡量结果的需求所扼杀，尤其是通过各种科目的考试。. . ”（56）。正是在这些和其他紧迫问题的背景下，Newbolt 提出了他的愿景，即英语教学以造福全社会。他的广泛而令人担忧的英语教育 2019，VOL。53，没有。3, 195–198 https://doi.org/10.1080/04250494.2019.1657318 “对可衡量的结果的需求，尤其是通过各种科目的考试，可能会扼杀真正的人文主义本能。. . ”（56）。正是在这些和其他紧迫问题的背景下，Newbolt 提出了他的愿景，即英语教学以造福全社会。他的广泛而令人担忧的英语教育 2019，VOL。53，没有。3, 195–198 https://doi.org/10.1080/04250494.2019.1657318 “对可衡量的结果的需求，尤其是通过各种科目的考试，可能会扼杀真正的人文主义本能。. . ”（56）。正是在这些和其他紧迫问题的背景下，Newbolt 提出了他的愿景，即英语教学以造福全社会。他的广泛而令人担忧的英语教育 2019，VOL。53，没有。3, 195–198 https://doi.org/10.1080/04250494.2019.1657318