Pirie, Bruce A. 1953-

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PIRIE, Bruce A. 1953-

PERSONAL: Born September 12, 1953, in Barrie, Ontario, Canada; son of Albert (a stationary engineer) and Velma (Chappel) Pirie; married Jennifer Mansell (a teacher), November 15, 1990; children: Julian. Education: York University, B.A. and B.Ed., 1976, M.A., 1985; University of Toronto, M.A.T., 1981.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—Lorne Park Secondary School, 1324 Lorne Park Rd., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5H 3B1. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: High school teacher in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1976-77; Peel District School Board, Mississauga, Ontario, secondary schoolteacher, 1977—. Workshop presenter.

AWARDS, HONORS: Chris M. Worsnop Award, Peel District School Board, 1998, for Reshaping High School English; Teacher Recognition Award, Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, 2001.

WRITINGS:

Reshaping High School English, National Council of Teachers of English (Urbana, IL), 1997.

Teenage Boys and High School English, Heinemann Boynton/Cook (Plymouth, NH), 2002.

Contributor to periodicals, including Canadian Literature, Southern Literary Journal, English Journal, Indirections, English Record, and Education Forum.

SIDELIGHTS: Bruce A. Pirie told CA: "My books attempt to bridge the gap between (on the one hand) theory and research written by university faculty and (on the other hand) the practical realities of the secondary classroom teacher. My first book, Reshaping High School English, aimed to translate contemporary and postmodern theory into practices that would make sense to high school teachers like myself. It grew out of my frustrated realization that the university people had lots of exciting ideas, but had not translated them in a form that secondary teachers could use (or even read).

"My second book, Teenage Boys and High School English, grew out of my observation that boys typically don't perform as well as girls in the subject of English. The book synthesizes research in gender differences from the fields of education, psychology, sociology, and linguistics, and grounds it all in my own classroom experiences. The book includes descriptions of actual classrooms scenes, as well as practical strategies for increasing boys' chances for success."