The grammar of memory

This essay focuses on two sites of memory in my professional life. One is from my very early years of teaching, the second from about 10 years later. Each is centred on a moment of controversy in English curriculum in New South Wales, Australia, and each is to do with the teaching of writing and the supposed neglect of language study, including grammar. In each case, the ‘Growth’ model or its manifestation in a particular Syllabus developed and implemented in New South Wales came under attack. I ask in hindsight whether these attacks stand up to the scrutiny of a reading of that Syllabus and argue that there was no conflict between, at least, this particular version of the ‘Growth’ model and the close study of language.