Poetry

Introduction

Poetry is a dynamic and multimodal form of expression which can be immensely pleasurable to teach. However, it is also a genre which seems to present a great many challenges for student teachers, connected both with subject and pedagogical knowledge. As tutors in ITE you will want to help your own student teachers to confront these challenges. You will also want to allay their fears and prejudices about the genre by helping them to create and engage in stimulating approaches to reading, writing, speaking and listening to poetry which they, in turn, can refine and use in their own classrooms. Suggestions for supporting development of subject and pedagogic knowledge in all four areas are outlined below.

In the last thirty years researchers including Benton (1984, 1986, 1999, 2000), Fleming (1996), Ray (1999) and Dymoke (2002, 2003, 2007) have identified that poetry teaching presents many challenges for teachers in both primary and secondary schools. These include:

• How to move beyond pupils' inbuilt dislike of the genre
• The danger of 'switching pupils off' poetry (Benton, 1986:10)
• The perception that poetry is strange and out of the ordinary
• Limited teacher knowledge or experience of poetry
• Limited or ad hoc professional development opportunities in ITE and beyond
• A fear of poetry amongst some student teachers and qualified teachers