Making meaning has always been at the heart of what many English and drama teachers see as their role and yet, following the unprecedented terrorist attacks in the United States, many of us have struggled to establish our role as teachers. How do we begin to make meaning for young people in a world where communication through mobile phones and media can bring to us so directly a reality that seems impossible to understand or analyse?

What is the role of the teacher when it seems all meaning has been lost and all words, sentences and texts fail our understanding? What greater reminder is there to us all that what lies at the heart of teaching is not, or should not be, the need to merely cover objectives, meet targets and continually test understanding?

Ever since the World Trade Centre towers were struck, people have expressed their shock, confusion and loss through a variety of media. No doubt within the key stage 3 strategy these expressions could all be analysed, broken down into word and sentence level, and their audience, purpose and style identified.

We all know, however, that what that ignores is the language that is locked beneath the silences and the most important words trapped within the images on our televisions and in our minds.

I know that in many ways I am fortunate to be able to at least try to articulate my response and that the literacy strategy could, if successful, provide the “inarticulate” with a more confident voice. It is important to remember why we as a profession must maintain a balance. We need to hang on to our convictions and our knowledge that a strategy in isolation is not enough, because every day we have young people in our classrooms who are feeling loss, happiness or fear. Good English and drama teachers are acutely aware of that, which is why extended reading, writing and drama are essential parts of the English curriculum.

It is within that structured space that children can take risks and where language is developed with confidence. Of course we need to give them the understanding, structures and skills to express themselves effectively and I do believe that the KS3 strategy will be successful in doing so, but unless we provide time and space for students to take risks, to try to express the inexpressible, then we have forgotten what lies at the heart of much of our work. What I have to recognise, with or without a Framework, and as what I presume people would describe as an educated, articulate person, is my complete inability to make meaning of these tragic events or to find words, sentences or texts to explain the pictures and accounts we are all living with.

Surely the most important objectives will be met when young people have the skills and confidence to articulate anger and challenge prejudice. To achieve this, teachers must preserve a balance in their classrooms and allow students, and themselves, the freedom to fail to understand.

Ruth Moore is deputy headteacher at Hasland Hall Community School, Derbyshire, and chair of The National Association for the Teaching of English, 50 Broadfield Road, Sheffield S8 OXJ. E-mail: natehq@btconnect.comWeb: www.nate.org.ukTel:0114 255 5419