David Rudd

Five Have a Gender-ful Time: Blyton, Sexism, and the Infamous Five.

Enid Blyton (1897–1968) remains a publishing phenomenon. No British writer for children, other than Roald Dahl, has been commercially so successful—and like Dahl she has attracted endless controversy. Since the 1950s, the literary qualities of her work and the correctness of her social attitudes have been assaulted by critics, librarians, and educationists; not all of these attacks have been based on close discussions of the books themselves. In the article which follows, David Rudd (who is working on a doctoral thesis on Blyton), reexamines a Blyton series which retains its extraordinary popularity to the present day: The Famous Five.

Mark My Words: Encouraging Students to Self‐Assess their Essays and Improve Reflective Learning

Abstract This article records my experience of trying to make students more reflective about their learning. Specifically, it charts my attempts over several years to make students benefit from the feedback they receive from essays. Some success was eventually achieved when students were required to assess their own essays before submission.