Government policy rhetoric about literature teaching in England has had many versions since the first National Curriculum for English (NCE) of 1989. These statements have espoused creating a nation that loves reading in adult life. Simultaneously, some policies such as The National Literacy Strategy (1997-2013) have promoted much narrower and more functional conceptualisations of reading, principally for employment, reinforced by teacher standards, school inspections and the demands of high stakes testing, placing schools in league tables by outcomes. However, research throughout this period demonstrates that English teachers have consistently prized ‘the lifelong love of reading’. It remains one of the main motivators for joining the profession and for remaining a teacher (Goodwyn, 2011). At the height of the National Literacy Strategy, English teachers rejected being called teachers of literacy because they derided the strategy model as reductive and dispiriting, and not ultimately serving the complex reading needs of the reading public (Goodwyn, 2014). A national survey demonstrated (Goodwyn et al, 2017) that literature teaching remained the top priority and that its purpose was developing responsive readers in the traditions of John Dewey and Louise Rosenblatt (Dewey 2005 [1934]; Rosenblatt 1938). Further survey research demonstrated this is a consistent theme of English teachers work (Gibbons, 2017). Such teachers have also considered shifts towards digital modes of reading (Goodwyn, 2013, 2015) with some concern but ultimately they consider that the love of reading is more important than reading ‘real books’ even though they chiefly remain devoted to them at a personal level. This paper will examine the extent to which this dedication can be attribute to the resilience of the ‘Personal Growth’ Model [PG] of English which derives from Dewey’s enduring influence, traced through Rosenblatt and into the thinking of the London School of English that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s (Gibbons, 2017). Its emergence was chiefly a reaction to the Literary Heritage model from the Cambridge School (Goodwyn, 2014) and reconceptualised literature as part of the emancipatory and democratic project linked to social justice in the post war era. This model was advocated by Dixon in Growth Through English in 1967 (Dixon, 1967) as a result of the famous Dartmouth seminar (Goodwyn, 2017). Through this analysis, this paper will argue for the continued relevance of a ‘Personal Growth’ Model of reading, as it is recontextualised for the diverse reading publics and practices of the 21st century.

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