Poetryclass News

March 2011

Poetryclass Teacher Training Pilots

In Ofsted’s ‘Poetry in Schools’ report, they note that “poetry has not been a national priority for training in recent years”.

Two teacher training providers, Roehampton University and Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln, have confirmed their commitment to working with the Poetry Society in order to develop specialised poetry sessions in partnership with poet-educators over the next two years.

The pilot scheme aims to develop tailored poetry sessions and materials to be introduced into primary teacher training courses in order to encourage working directly with poet-educators to develop course content, and to promote cross-curricular poetry study. The hope is that primary teachers will have the opportunity to widen their knowledge, confidence and enjoyment of poetry in their initial stage training to energise their subsequent teaching of poetry in schools.

If poetry is not a specialist interest for a primary teacher, the tendency is to use the same poems repeatedly without feeling the need to find new material. Rarely is the potential explored in selecting poems to support a process of learning across a variety of topics. Enabling teachers to read, enjoy and practice poetry themselves at training level, and to learn from poets directly, will build their confidence and skills in teaching poetry, and will allow them to develop a flexible approach to poetry in the classroom.

It is hoped that the pilot scheme will produce a model that can be replicated in all teacher training providers across the country.

Funds have been received from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.