Larissa McLean-Davies Larissa McLean-Davies i(A120902 works by)
Gender: Female
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1 Contingencies of Meaning Making : English Teaching and Literary Sociability Philip Mead , Brenton Doecke , Larissa McLean-Davies , 2020 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , 29 October vol. 35 no. 2 2020;

'This paper draws on interviews conducted as part of the Australian Research Council funded Discovery project Investigating Literary Knowledge in the Making of English Teachers. Those interviews inquire into the role of literary knowing in the professional learning of early career English teachers, focusing specifically on their experiences as they make the transition, via teacher education programmes, from university students of English to school teachers. We have also been interested in how key institutional settings, practices and policies might have shaped their experiences of literary education at tertiary level; the knowledge and values they bring to their work as English teachers; and the professional learning they undergo in their first years of teaching. The aim of this article is to present an exploration of ‘literary sociability’, a working concept of the project for identifying and exploring ways of literary meaning making that might have particular relevance and use for understanding early career English teachers’ experiences across the settings of their education and work.' (Publication abstract)
1 5 Australian Books That Can Help Young People Understand Their Place in the World Larissa McLean-Davies , Jessica Gannaway , Lucy Buzacott , Sarah E. Truman , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 23 December 2019; This article has recommendations for five Australian 'texts that connect with diverse teenagers’ experiences and interests.' 
1 Old White Men Dominate School English Booklists. It’s Time More Australian Schools Taught Australian Books Larissa McLean-Davies , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 20 November 2019;

'In recent weeks, Australian universities’ commitment to teaching Australian literature has come under scrutiny. This came amid revelations Sydney University has withdrawn funding from its Chair of Australian Literature – the nation’s first.' (Introduction)
1 Worldly Reading : Teaching Australian Literature in the Twenty-first Century Larissa McLean-Davies , Susan K. Martin , Lucy Buzacott , 2017 single work criticism
— Appears in: English in Australia , vol. 52 no. 3 2017; (p. 21-30)

'This paper examines the role of literature in the English classroom in Australia and its part in shaping national identity. We contend that it is important to consider the possible roles of national literatures in contemporary school contexts, where students are becoming local and global citizens and argue that reading Australian literature as a part of the field of ‘world literature’ can support a pedagogical approach which enables dynamic reading practices. Drawing on a 2016 research project titled Teaching Australia, which sought to explore English teachers’ engagement with Australian texts, this paper examines current and future uses of Australian literature in both the globalised world and in the Australian secondary English classroom.' (Publication abstract)
1 Toward Worlding Settler Texts : Tracking the Uses of Miles Franklin’s My Brilliant Career through the Curriculum Larissa McLean-Davies , Susan K. Martin , 2017 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , September vol. 32 no. 2 2017;

'Using Miles Franklin’s My Brilliant Career as its focus, this paper explores the institutional possibilities and constraints of ‘worlding’ settler texts in secondary school and university environments. We argue that the teaching of texts, and those who teach texts in schools and universities, play a key role in negotiating national and international textual boundaries. This paper expands on the practices of reading, to incorporate an analysis of documents that frame the intended, espoused, and enacted curriculum. Examining the publication and teaching history of My Brilliant Career in Australia and overseas and the use of literature as a tool of nationalism and globalisation, this paper argues that the teaching of literature in institutions acts as material evidence of our efforts to negotiate the demands of the national and the global. Literature teaching thus powerfully contributes to the ways in which we understand the work that is undertaken, the boundaries crossed and compromises brokered when we study settler texts in globalised contexts.' (Publication abstract)
1 Auditing Subject English: A Review of Text Selection Practices Inspired by the National Year of Reading Larissa McLean-Davies , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: English in Australia , vol. 47 no. 2 2012; (p. 11-17) The year 2012 is significant for English teachers in Australia, not only is it the National Year of Reading, but it is also the year when an increasing number of English teachers across the country are implementing the Australian Curriculum: English, the first national curriculum in the history of the nation. This paper addresses the ways in which Australian literature is privileged in both the National Year of Reading and in the Australian English curriculum documents, and considers what can be learnt about the challenges and rewards of teaching Australian literature through placing these two events, and their associated texts, in dialogue. This results in the recommendation that English teachers consider auditing the texts they set for study, and text selection practices more broadly, as part of their professional learning activities. In light of this, the second half of this paper is concerned with providing a rationale for a textual audit, and pragmatic suggestions for the way such an undertaking might be implemented (Author abstract).
1 Magwitch Madness : Archive Fever and the Teaching of Australian Literature in Subject English Larissa McLean-Davies , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Teaching Australian Literature : From Classroom Conversations to National Imaginings 2011; (p. 129-152) '...Magwitch madness...has been inspired by Derrida's notion of 'archive fever' - the 'compulsive, repetitive and nostalgic desire for the archive, an irrepressible desire to return to the origin' (Derrida, 1998, p. 9). Like the convict Magwitch in Charles Dickens's novel, who is relocated to Australia, but remains imaginatively and materially linked to the centre of the Empire through his patronage of the boy Philip Pirrip (Pip), contemporary manifestations of Magwitch madness, whether they be in curriculum documents, media debates, text selection or pedagogical practices, are distinguished by a nostalgia for classic texts...and metaphorical and virtual proximity to the cultural capital that these classic works represent. ...

In this chapter, I will examine some contemporary manifestation of Magwitch madness in Some Australasian texts set for study in senior English. Thorough this analysis, I will pursue the connection between these texts and a more systemic manifestation of this condition in the recent debate around the teaching of Australian literature and in the Australian Curriculum: English. In the final section of this chapter, I will explore the implications of Magwitch madness for classroom practice, by drawing on data collected in four diverse Victorian secondary schools in 2010 as part of the project National Stories: Teaching Australian Literature in Secondary English. Through the examination of these various and inter-connected expressions of antipodean archive fever in text, curriculum and practice, this chapter will map some of the complexities and challenges of teaching Australian literature in twenty-first century classrooms.' (From author's introduction, 130, 131-132)
1 National Imaginings and Classroom Conversations : Past and Present Debates About Teaching Australian Literature Brenton Doecke , Larissa McLean-Davies , Philip Mead , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Teaching Australian Literature : From Classroom Conversations to National Imaginings 2011; (p. 1-15) 'On August 21, 2011 the Melbourne Age reported that the University of Melbourne wasn't offering any formal undergraduate studies in Australian literature. In 'Uni brought to book for snub to local literature,' journalist Nicole Brady reported on a 'DIY' course in Australian literature organised by third-year Arts student Stephanie Guest in response to the absence of official undergraduate offerings in 2011. Guest's student-run seminar series took place in Melbourne's historic Law Quad on Friday afternoons, and hosted a number of writers, including Elliot Pearlman, who all came along to talk about their craft. Apparently, Guest became aware of an enthusiasm for and commitment to a national literature while on an exchange to Argentina, as a student of Spanish. This caused her to reflect on her own sparse knowledge of Australian literature, mostly gained at high school through the study of 'very dusty' texts about mateship, world wars and white men. Inspired by the ways literature in Spanish provides insights into the nuances of Argentinean culture, Guest keenly felt the absence of her national literary cultural capital, and resolved to remedy this situation when she returned to Australia. Disappointed, but not unfazed when she found that no formal course was available to her, Guest sought out like-minded peers, and set about contacting local writers.' (Authors introduction, 1)
1 1 y separately published work icon Teaching Australian Literature : From Classroom Conversations to National Imaginings Brenton Doecke (editor), Larissa McLean-Davies (editor), Philip Mead (editor), Kent Town : Wakefield Press Australian Association for the Teaching of English , 2011 Z1851330 2011 anthology criticism 'What role should Australian literature play in the school curriculum? What principles should guide our selection of Australian texts? To what extent should concepts of the nation and a national identity frame the study of Australian writing? What do we imagine Australian literature to be? How do English teachers go about engaging their students in reading Australian texts?

This volume brings together teachers, teacher educators, creative writers and literary scholars in a joint inquiry that takes a fresh look at what it means to teach Australian literature. The immediate occasion for the publication of these essays is the implementation of The Australian Curriculum: English, which several contributors subject to critical scrutiny. In doing so, they question the way that literature teaching is currently being constructed by standards-based reforms, not only in Australia but elsewhere.

The essays assembled in this volume transcend the divisions that have sometimes marred debates about the place of Australian literature in the school curriculum. They all recognise the complexity of what secondary English teachers do in their efforts to engage young people in a rich and meaningful curriculum. They also highlight the need for both secondary and tertiary educators to cultivate an awareness of the cultural and intellectual traditions that mediate their professional practice and to encourage a critically responsive pedagogy.' (Publisher's blurb)
1 Sensational Story : Rereading Female Heterotopias in Helen Garner's 'Cosmo Cosmolino' Larissa McLean-Davies , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Literature and Sensation 2009; (p. 61-72)
1 Reading Institutional Women : A Nexus Approach to Bourdieu, Summer Heights High, and the Fiction of Elizabeth Jolley Larissa McLean-Davies , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October/November vol. 24 no. 3-4 2009; (p. 66-78) The essay uses Bourdieu's theories to show the ways in which some key female characters in institutions in Lilley's Summer Heights High and Jolley's fiction support the workings of institutional patriarchal power. In the final section, the author draws on the concept of 'heterotopia', in order to discuss the ways in which 'these texts contest masculine institutional paradigms, and explore the limits and possibilities of the alternative views offered by these fictions' (74).
1 2 Building Bridges : Classic Australian Texts and Critical Theory in the Senior English Classroom Larissa McLean-Davies , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: English in Australia , vol. 44 no. 2 2009; (p. 7-15) 'In the past two years much has been said, by both media and government, about the role of secondary English teachers in promoting "classic" Australian literature. This article contends that the dominant voices in this discourse, which emphasise cultural heritage over rational and theorised approaches to texts, fail to recognise the ways in which critical theory can be used to facilitate student connection and engagement with classic works, and thus maintain rather than bridge cultural and historic divides. To explore the argument, this paper draws on a classic Australian text that continues to be much used (and loved) in secondary classrooms: Jessica Anderson's Tirra Lirra by the River. My aim is to both explore a theoretical paradigm which will offer a new reading of this significant Australian text, and also to suggest an approach to reading and teaching classic Australian literature which investigates an alternative to the more traditional pedagogies that have dominated media responses to this issue.' (Author's abstract.)
1 8 Telling Stories : Australian Literature in a National English Curriculum Larissa McLean-Davies , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: English in Australia , vol. 43 no. 3 2008; (p. 45-51) In the past two years, considerable media and governmenent attention has been directed towards the teaching of Australian literature in secondary schools. This article explores the main themes of this discourse, and considers recent discussions about Australian literature in the National English Curriculum in the context of this debate. By way of responding to the emphasis on canonical works that has been a hallmark of media texts about this issue, this article contends that Australian secondary students will be best served by an English curriculum that supports a nexus or relational approach to the teaching of Australian literature, and recognises the role the national literature plays in enabling students to mediate their lived experiences, and make connections with others.
1 [Review] Breath Larissa McLean-Davies , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Summer vol. 16 no. 4 2008; (p. 21)
— Review of Breath Tim Winton , 2008 single work novel The reviewer outlines 'the familiar Winton territory' which reappears in this novel, such as 'broken relationships, the legacy of the past, and the connection between landscape, identity and masculinity'. She describes Breath as being 'written with linguistic dexterity and insight' but is cautious about classroom use as it is ultimately about 'individuals for whom the possibility of death is all that makes life worth living'.
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