Our mission
Our mission is to foster excellence in English teaching and research; to connect teachers, lecturers, and other professionals in schools, colleges, and universities; and to promote the study and enjoyment of English in all its forms, including literature, language, and creative writing. As the only subject association for English which spans every tier of education and every branch of the subject, the English Association is an ideal home for people who want to keep abreast of developments and effect meaningful change right across the discipline.
Our values
- We are committed to continuous learning and improvement for our staff and our members.
- We believe the best work is done in the spirit of collaboration and communication.
- We welcome diversity of opinion and inclusiveness.
- We strive to embody equity in our organisational structures, policies, and activities.
Explore our work
We are a learned society, membership association, and registered charity incorporated by Royal Charter. Whoever you are, we hope you’ll find something in our offer to members that appeals to you.
- We work for positive change on behalf of our members by responding to national consultations. As a member, your voice will be heard in important discussions about research, teaching, and learning.
- Led by our Education Committees, our research explores the state of our discipline, and allows us to work with government and policy-makers on behalf of our members and the discipline as a whole.
- We foster discussions of methods of teaching and learning English at all academic levels. Our publications are read in schools, libraries, and universities all over the world, making sure that all our members can share research, best practice, and cutting-edge pedagogies.
- We deliver practical, affordable, and accessible support to teachers of English at Early Years, Primary, and Secondary and FE levels through CPD events and a curated collection of online resources.
- We support English departments in universities that are facing staff cuts and other challenges, and we work with all departments in helping them adapt to the changing ecology of the subject.
- Our prizes and awards recognise the best early-career scholarship in the field, offer opportunities to younger scholars to develop their thinking, and celebrate the best children’s picture books, as chosen by practising teachers and education experts.
- We collaborate with other organisations knowing that a robust discipline of English studies has much to contribute to other disciplines across the arts, humanities, and sciences.
- We believe English should be at the heart of national education and we envision a society in which the value of studying English to education, career, and personal life is recognised by all.
