Poetry writing a ghost in the Queensland high stakes assessment environment.
Submitted by:
Anne Wood
Abstract:
PHD - Pre-Conference submission online
SIG: Literacies: Reading, Writing and Oracies
Theme: Language and Literature curricula and student agency
Poetry reading has earned a reputation as an academically demanding task in the literature (Andrews, 2018). In contrast, poetry writing has an uncertain reputation. Poetry writing is disappearing from the curriculum as teachers either fear it or think it is too personal to teach (Weaven & Clarke, 2013). This study will investigate how poetry pedagogies have been impacted by an increasingly accountable assessment environment in Queensland. Using Practitioner Inquiry (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2015), I have interviewed teachers and curriculum decision makers who have found opportunities for students to be creative and write poetry in their classrooms. I have also interrogated Queensland Education department school publications, including syllabus documents, for taken for granted understandings of poetry writing. As a secondary methodology, I am utilizing Poetic inquiry (Prendergast,2009), as both a means of investigation and as a mode to report my research. To this end, I will situate myself among teacher-poets, include my own experiences, and write poetry to represent and interpret the data. This study aims to increase understanding of what influences a teacher’s decision-making process regarding teaching poetry writing. It aims to provide an account of the implications of high-stakes assessment on creativity in the curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment. In doing so, the study will seek to provide a full and rich understanding of poetry writing pedagogies in Queensland.
Andrews, R. (2018). Multimodality, poetry, and poetics. Routledge.
Weaven, M., & Clark, T. (2013). 'I guess it scares us' - Teachers discuss the teaching of poetry in Senior Secondary English. English in Education, 47(3), 197-212. https://doi.org/10.1111/eie.12016
Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (2015). Inquiry as stance: Practitioner research for the next generation. Teachers College Press.
Prendergast, M. (2009). “Poem is what?” Poetic inquiry in qualitative social science research. International Review of Qualitative Research, 1(4), 541-568.