Literature, Creative Writing and Skills



Literature and Skills

What skills do you learn from studying literature and creative writing?

The study of literature and creative writing offers intellectual rewards, personal fulfilment and social, political and ethical awareness, and is a good thing in its own right. It also is a vehicle for learning an array of skills which will be essential for whatever you go on to do after graduating.

A major study of Higher education argued that are three groups of skills taught by a university degree. The first are key skills, the basic transferable skills taught by any degree. These are: communication skills; numeracy; the use of information technology; learning how to learn. The second group of skills are cognitive skills common to any humanities degree and subject specific skills, which you will learn only from an English degree.

The tables below break these three groups down in more detail:

|Table 1: Key skills |

|These skills key to your future success, whatever you intend to do in later life. They are core transferable skills. |

|Communication skills |Writing |writing fluently, in a specialised language and in response to a range of |

| | |different parameters. |

| |Speaking |prepared work: presentation to peers and assessors |

| | |unprepared work: responding to questions, following discussions |

| | |dialogue: group discussion and reporting (e.g. in buzz groups) |

| | |questioning peers and staff |

| |Listening |evaluating what is useful |

| | |effective note taking |

| | |observing professionals at work |

|Numeracy |English degrees don’t claim to help you learn to be numerate. We do, however, expect you to learn |

| |skills traditionally associated with numeracy: for example, abstract reasoning, the ability to |

| |manage effectively both concrete and abstract systems of thought. (See cognitive skills, below) |

|Computer Skills |Basic skills |use of computer software, especially word-processing and presentation |

| | |packages |

| | |use of various information technology resources (e.g. the library catalogue, |

| | |effective use of the internet, virtual learning environments and other |

| | |networking media) |

|Learning how to learn |Explicit skills |study skills |

| | |learning how to respond effectively to different tasks (e.g. essay writing, |

| | |seminar presentations, creative writing workshops) |

| | |awareness of how to find and use appropriate resources |

| |Intellectual |questioning peers and staff |

| |development |providing models and methodologies which can be applied to other areas |

| | |reflecting on your own practices (consultation, revision, exams, reflective |

| | |journals) |

| | |ability to judge significance of material |

| | |models of expertise |

| |Personal development |time management |

| | |task prioritisation |

| | |independent thinking |

| | |teamwork and co-operation |

| | |self discipline, both intellectual and social |

| | |pro-active self-motivation |

|Table 2: Cognitive Skills |

|These are general skills in the arts and humanities that are concerned with gathering and assembling knowledge (research); |

|analysing knowledge (independent thinking); reflection on both your knowledge and your analysis of that knowledge (active |

|self-reflection). These are transferable skills. |

|Knowledge (generally to do with |disciplined and focussed attention to issues and texts |

|gathering and assembling |assembling and critically reproducing bodies of knowledge |

|knowledge, or research). |techniques for analysing objects of knowledge |

| |analysis of texts and ideas at the appropriate level of detail |

| |sensitivity to language and to historical, cultural and intellectual contexts |

| |encountering different assumptions and world views |

|Analysis (generally to do with |assessing the relevance of your research and ideas |

|analysing knowledge, or |using evidence |

|independent thinking). |ability to make constructive comparisons and contrasts |

| |understanding of the place of both detail, on the one hand and overarching structures and |

| |designs, on the other. |

| |learning to judge the appropriate level of detail. |

| |understanding the terms, procedures, process, content and style of others’ arguments, which |

| |leads to… |

| |effective use of the terms, procedures, process, content and style of argument yourself |

| |drawing conclusions, following both lateral and logical inferences |

| |evaluating and judging arguments |

| |questioning others’ assumptions and presuppositions |

| |understanding the process of gathering professional expertise |

|Reflection (generally to do with |judging the relevance of your material and ideas |

|reflecting on both your knowledge |judging the effectiveness of your use of evidence |

|and your analysis of that |judging the effectiveness of your comparisons and contrasts |

|knowledge, or active |judging the effectiveness of your understanding of detail and of intellectual structures. |

|self-reflection). |evaluating the effective use of the terms, procedures, process, content and style of your own|

| |argument |

| |techniques for analysing your own intellectual practices |

| |questioning your own assumptions and presuppositions |

| |reflecting on the process of gathering professional expertise |

|Table 3: Subject specific skills |

|These are skills and knowledge that you will specifically learn from studying English and English with Creative writing. |

|the intellectual rewards, personal fulfilment and social, political and ethical awareness specific to the study of literature and |

|creative writing |

|knowledge about literatures in English, including a knowledge of the historical, cultural and intellectual contexts of their |

|production and reception |

|an understanding of the creative, cultural and intellectual forces active in shaping literature in English and English literary |

|studies |

|a knowledge of contemporary debates about literature |

|a knowledge of literary uses of language, form and genre |

|a knowledge of the technical and professional language of literary studies, and reflections on its use |

|an understanding what it is to become an expert in this particular field |

How are these skills to be learnt?

There are two ways in which skills can be taught: either by embedding them in the course or by creating special courses explicitly for developing them. While the ‘embedded model’ is harder to set up and run, it is significantly more successful and has considerable long-term advantages.

In this department, although there are some parallel modules explicitly for ‘skills development’, we believe that you learn best - and we teach best - by embedding the skills in the degree scheme. All the skills outlined above are embedded in the different activities that you take part in during your degree (the ‘learning practices’ in ‘a range of different learning environments’).

These activities are, in the main:

• independent study, thinking and reflection

• resource work (e.g. library work)

• essay writing

• dissertation writing

• seminars

• lectures

• consultations

• computer courses

• study groups

• student-led curricular activity

• student-led extra curricular activities.

Each learning activity has a number of skills embedded in it – a total list would be very long, but here are three examples.

When you research, plan and write an essay, you are also learning, developing and using a number of embedded skills and knowledges. In terms of specific skills you are learning about a specific subject or issue, its historical, cultural and intellectual contexts, its role in contemporary debates about literature, how it relates to literary uses of language, form and genre and how to use the technical and professional language of literary studies. In terms of cognitive skills, you are developing a disciplined and focussed attention to issues and texts, assembling a body of knowledge, assessing the relevance of your research and ideas, using evidence, learning how to make constructive comparisons and contrasts, analysing and using effectively the terms, procedures, process, content and style of argument, drawing conclusions, following both lateral and logical inferences and questioning your own and others’ assumptions. And, finally, in terms of key skills, you are developing your communication skills by writing in response to a specific tasks, fluently and in a specialised language, developing your IT skills in using computer software and various information technology resources (e.g. the library catalogue, the internet), and learning how to learn by judging the relevance of material, and developing your ability to think independently and your self- discipline.

When you go to a consultation, to have written work returned, you are also learning skills. You have a chance to reflect on how successfully you have learnt and deployed the subject specific skills, and how you might improve these skills and knowledge. You have the opportunity to improve your cognitive skills, by discussing and judging the relevance of your material and ideas, the effectiveness of your use of evidence, the effectiveness of your comparisons and contrasts, and the effectiveness of your understanding of detail and of intellectual structures. In conversation, you can evaluate the use of the terms, procedures, process, content and style of your own argument and discuss techniques for analysing your own intellectual practices. In terms of your key skills, you are developing your abilities in communication skills, though responding to questions, and learning how to learn by reflecting on your own practices, what you did less effectively and what you did well.

In seminars, you develop specific skills, by discussing works of literature in English and their historical, cultural and intellectual contexts, the creative, cultural and intellectual forces active in shaping them, their reception, contemporary debates they may be involved in, their literary use of language, their form and genre. This will take place in the professional language of literary studies. This will help develop your cognitive skills by focussing your attention on issues and texts, providing techniques for analysing objects of knowledge and heightening your sensitivity to language and to historical, cultural and intellectual contexts. It will help you assess the relevance of your research and ideas, use evidence, make constructive comparisons and contrasts, understand of the place of both detail, on the one hand and overarching structures and designs, on the other and judge the appropriate level of detail. It will also develop your understanding the terms, procedures, process, content and style of others’ arguments, which in turn leads to the effective use of the terms, procedures, process, content and style of argument yourself. Seminars will help you draw conclusions, follow both lateral and logical inferences, evaluate and judge arguments and question your own and others’ assumptions and presuppositions. Finally, seminars are a place to learn and develop embedded key skills. Your communication skills are developed by presenting prepared work to peers and assessors, ‘thinking on your feet’ by doing unprepared work (responding to questions, following discussions), engaging in dialogue, group discussion and group reporting and questioning peers and staff. Through learning how to respond effectively to tasks, questioning peers and staff, reflecting on your own practices, independent thinking, teamwork and co-operation, self discipline, both intellectual and social, you also learn how to learn.

Put like this, it seems rather overwhelming. But because the skills are embedded in the degree scheme, they will be introduced to you in context as you proceed through your degree. Where you might need specific guidance (on, for example, giving seminar presentations) this will be provided, or you can ask your advisor. Moreover, learning is a cumulative process: you are involved in the process of learning these skills and nobody expects you to have them all immediately (if you did have them all already, well developed, what would be the point of coming to university?). The aim of what you have been reading is to make clear the skills that you will be learning.

Professor Robert Eaglestone

Professor Judith Hawley

June 2012

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