Carol Atherton delivers NATE's Harold Rosen Lecture

This year, NATE (the National Association for the Teaching of English) chose Carol Atherton to deliver their annual Harold Rosen Lecture. In addition to delivering the lecture, Carol was honoured for her Outstanding Contribution to English Teaching. 

Carol's much acclaimed book Reading Lessons (2024, Fig Tree) draws on nearly three decades of teaching, exploring how the texts we read at school have been reinterpreted by our lived experiences and shifting social contexts. At the heart of both her work in the classroom and her writing on the page is her desire to champion the transformative potential of books, recognising their ability to bring us together, see other points of view, and understand ourselves.

Her lecture continued Rosen’s tradition of provoking debate and deepening understanding of English as both a discipline and a formative force in young people’s lives. But, more than that, for those of us outside the teaching profession, Carol's lecture is an engaging, powerful and moving reminder of the power of books – for all of us.

Harold Rosen (1919–2008) was a trailblazer in shaping the modern approach to English teaching. In 2012, his son – the renowned poet and author Michael Rosen – launched the Harold Rosen Lectures to continue his father’s legacy and spark new conversations about English teaching and its role in learning. The lectures bring together some of the brightest minds in education and English teaching, jointly organised by NATE, the Digital Arts Research Education Collaborative (DARE) at UCL Institute of Education, and the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA).