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Dr Joy Alexander

BA, BSc, MA, Dip.Ed, PhD
PGCE Course Director

Room 211
69/71 University Street
School of Education
Queen's University Belfast

Tel: +44 (0)28 9097 5939
Fax: 44 (0)28 9097 5066
Email: j.alexander@qub.ac.uk

“Look up in the sun's eye and give
What the exultant heart calls good
That some new day may breed the best
Because you gave, not what they would
But the right twigs for an eagle's nest!” W B Yeats. 

“The supreme gift of the imagination is to see things as they really are.” R L Russell.

Teaching:
PGCE (English)

Research/Scholarship

Research/Scholarship Interests:
My principal research interests relate to the teaching of English language and literature at secondary level. In particular I am interested in how English is constructed as a subject on the curriculum and in the role of the imagination and in literature in the classroom. Connected to this is my interest in methodologies which lead to more effective learning in English. A further related research interest is literacy. I have a special interest also in investigating the role of listening in the English classroom and the relation between the profile components of English, namely, talking and listening, reading and writing. Children’s literature is another field that I enjoy dipping into.

Research/Scholarship Projects:

  • 2011-12: Project 500: Exploiting Public Libraries as Informal Science Learning Environments, Ruth Jarman and Joy Alexander. Funded by STFC.
  • 2011-13: Get Newswise, Billy McClune, Ruth Jarman and Joy Alexander. Funded by AstraZenica Science Teaching Trust.
  • 2011-12: Prizing Science Books, Ruth Jarman and Joy Alexander.


Publications:

  • Alexander, J (2012) ‘Subject Synergy: Collaborations between English and Science,’ EnglishDramaMedia, 22, pp. 31-35.
  • Alexander, J (2011) ‘Arthur Mee, the ‘happy wonderer’: Instructing Children and Constructing Knowledge in the Children’s Encyclopedia,’ in Young Irelands, pp. 31-46, Dublin: Four Courts Press.
  • Alexander, J (2011) ‘On the ability to metaphorize: talking trees and singing tigers in the English classroom,’ Changing English, 18(3), pp.265-275.
  • McClune, B, Alexander, J and Jarman, J (2011) ‘Science literacy and media literacy: a missing link?’ Media Education Research Journal, 2(1), pp.43-56.                                     
  • Alexander, J (2010) ‘The affordances of orality for young people’s experience of poetry,’ in Poetry and Childhood, ed. M Styles, L Joy and D Whitley, pp.211-218, London: Trentham.
  • Alexander, J (2010) ‘Boys Reading Boys’ Writing,’ Oideas 55, pp. 42-51.
  • Alexander, J (2009) ‘Anne with two Gs: Green Gables and Geographical Identity,’ in 100 Years of  Anne with an ‘e’: the Centennial Study of Anne of Green Gables , ed H Blackford, chapter 3, pp.41-60, Calgary: University of Calgary Press.
  • Harbinson, H and Alexander, J (2009) ‘Asperger Syndrome and the English curriculum: addressing the challenges,’ Support for Learning, 24(1), pp.10-17.
  • Alexander, J (2008) ‘Listening – the Cinderella component of English,’ English in Education, 42(3), pp.219-233.
  • Alexander, J (2008) ‘Teaching with Holocaust narratives,’ The Use of English , 59(2), pp.127-138.
  • Alexander, J, Walsh, P, Jarman, R and McClune, B (2008) ‘From Rhetoric to Reality: advancing literacy by cross-curricular means’, Curriculum Journal, 19 (1), pp.23-35.
  • Alexander, J (2007) ‘“The uncreating word”: some ways not to teach English,’ in Rethinking English in S chools: Towards a New and Constructive Stage, ed. V Ellis, C Fox and B Street, chapter 8, pp.102-116, London: Continuum.
  • Alexander, J (2006) ‘Belfast, the Library and the Wardrobe’, School Librarian, 54(2), pp.68-69.
  • Alexander, J (2005) ‘The Verse-Novel: A New Genre’, Children’s Literature in Education , 36(3), pp.269-283.
  • Alexander, J (2005) “‘I hear what you say’: Soundings in L M Montgomery’s Life Writings,” in The Intimate Life of L.M. Montgomery, University of Toronto Press, pp.210-221.
  • Galbraith, A and Alexander, J (2005) ‘Literacy, self-esteem and locus of control’, in Support for Learning , 20(1), pp. 28-34.