Poetryclass News

25-02-2008

'Teachers as Writers' INSET day

with popular children's poet Coral Rumble
4th February 2008, The Poetry Studio, London

Listen to interviews with participating teachers and with poet Coral Rumble

English teachers from schools located all over England gathered together in the Poetry Studio in Central London for an INSET day. This, however, wasn’t a typical training session by any means. Rather than a day of talks or demonstrations, these teachers had been gathered together purely to write.

Poetryclass INSET days are unique in that they provide teachers with time away from the classroom, not to focus solely on how to engage their students with poetry, but largely for them to nurture their own interests in poetry and to develop their own writing style. It is sometimes forgotten that English teachers were drawn to their subject because of their own creative endeavours, as well as their love of language and literature. However, their heavy schedules rarely allow them time to pick up a pen with the purpose of cultivating their own artistic ideas.

The day was led by popular children’s poet, Coral Rumble, who shared a range of ideas and approaches to poetry which the teachers themselves then put into practice to produce their own imaginative responses. Feeling very much like students in a classroom themselves to begin with, Coral very quickly drew them into word play exercises which soon disbanded the apprehension of sharing. The word games were described as user-friendly, effective and practical, as well as being fun! One teacher commented that the exercises really inspired her to feel that, through her enjoyment of poetry, she would be able to encourage her pupils’ enjoyment of poetry, and that it really gave her confidence to move their learning forward.

Coral reintroduced teachers to different forms of poetry, allowing them to explore words and how their meaning can vary according to pattern and rhythm. During the final session, the teachers were released from poetical constraints to write free verse through the metaphorical colouring of a picture. A poet, Coral adds, uses their notebook as a visual artist would use their sketchbook. Both build and draft ideas, and so the teachers were encouraged to paint a scene with words, similies, metaphors. As one participant pointed out, it’s important for students to see that their teacher is writing and sharing too, not simply handing out instructions and standing on the sidelines. Teacher participation is hugely encouraging for pupils’ own drive to write.

Coral Rumble added that primary school teachers in particular seem to struggle with poetry because they aren’t necessarily English specialists, and aren’t able to devote more time to one subject than another. Poetryclass develops enthusiasm for poetry, says Coral, and instills confidence, so that teachers are able to build an awareness of exactly what they are teaching and why they are teaching it. It’s also important to remember how versatile poetry is, and how easy it is to adapt poetry across and around other subject areas. Coral is concerned about how poetry has simply become a literacy exercise in schools, that “the study of poetry has been reduced to a very clinical process of box ticking… where this has happened, it has taken some of the wow factor out of the words, and children aren’t marvelling at what words can do, they’re just trying to get as many marks as they can on their sheet of paper”.

Through working with professional poets at Poetryclass days, teachers can build or rebuild a confidence and enthusiasm for poetry that they are able to carry back with them to the classroom, not just to boost literacy levels, but to explore new ways of working with poetry, and most importantly, to inject the fun back into learning.

INTERVIEWS

Poetryclass Coordinator, Angel Dahouk speaks to Coral Rumble about the barriers to poetry teaching and how Poetryclass can help to overcome these.

Following the day, two of the participating teachers - Barbara Boylan of Orley Farm School in Harrow, Middlesex, and Chris Taylor of Northolt High School, also in Middlesex - plus Adeen Ashton, Arts Development Co-ordinator at the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, spoke to Ben Knight about what they felt was so beneficial about the day and what they will be taking back with them to the classroom.