Worldly reading: Teaching Australian literature in the twenty-first century

© 2017, AATE - Australian Association Teaching English. All rights reserved. This paper examines the role of literature in the English classroom in Australia and its part in shaping national identity. We contend that it is important to consider the possible roles of national literatures in contemporary school contexts, where students are becoming local and global citizens and argue that reading Australian literature as a part of the field of ‘world literature’ can support a pedagogical approach which enables dynamic reading practices. Drawing on a 2016 research project titled Teaching Australia, which sought to explore English teachers’ engagement with Australian texts, this paper examines current and future uses of Australian literature in both the globalised world and in the Australian secondary English classroom.