Contrasts: Teaching English in British and American Universities

Abstract

This chapter draws on a wealth of personal experience to explore major contrasts between US and British university systems, and the light shed by those differences on the teaching of English Literature. Gerzina examines the different expectations entertained by staff and students; the approaches to writing as a craft; the marked differences in contact hours and frequency of class meetings. British provision still tends to be hamstrung by the assumption that students arrive at university having already grasped at least the basics of academic writing and argument. Above all, Gerzina articulates dismay at the degree to which the autonomy of academic teacher scholars has been undermined within the British system. She unpicks and illuminates the implications of a system of audit which (in the supposed interests of transparency) paradoxically ties lecturers’ hands and militates against pedagogic creativity.