This is a special episode of The Garret. It is an exploration of how we are passing Australian literature - including contemporary literature written by writers who appear on The Garret - on to the next generation.

Maxine McKew and Larissa McLean Davies discuss the importance of teaching Australian literature in schools, and what this mean for our students, our teachers, and of course, our writers.

Maxine’s work in government led to the National Agreement on Quality Standards in Early Childhood, and she published Class Act: An analysis of some of the key challenges in Australian schooling in 2014. For the past five years she has worked at MGSE in a variety of roles. In 2018 she launched the podcast Talking Teaching.

Larissa is an Associate Professor in Language and Literacy and the Deputy Director - Learning and Teaching in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne. Australian literature and the teaching of English are her specialities.

You can check out two of the current research projects at Melbourne Graduate School of Education - Investigating Literary Knowledge in the Making of English Teachers and Teacher-Researchers: Promoting Literature in English Education.

In 2019 The Garret is a finalist in the Australian Podcast Awards in the Literature, Arts and Music category.

You can read the transcript of this interview at thegarretpodcast.com. 

About The Garret

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Explore our back catalogue (and transcripts) at thegarretpodcast.com.