Reflections on poetry reading

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Sean O’Flynn’s account of poetry teaching. It really brought home to me that poetry should not be approached in a formal way. I am definitely one of those people who is ‘afraid of poetry’, and I think this may be due in part to the way I was taught about it. Despite learning rhymes and poems with my mother (Roald Dahl’s ‘Revolting Rhymes’ and ‘Dirty Beasts’ were always on in the car), at school we were taught the ‘dissection approach’, and it was only when I felt comfortable with the literary terms that I could assess poems – but I still don’t think I really enjoyed this approach, it was a bit to prescribed and systematic. I think if my introduction to poetry at school had been more light-hearted I would have been more appreciative of it in later life, as Suzi Clipson-Boyles suggests. I do remember looking at limericks at primary school age, but then I think we immediately asked to write our own limerick individually and I remember struggling with this task.


I like the idea of being creative with a poem – cutting it up and illustrating it is a great way of making it more accessible and fun. The relaxed form of questioning O’Flynn uses seems to bathe poetry in a positive light for his students. His scheme of work really shows how the best way to draw children into poetry is to make it fun, and this involves appealing to their level of humour. I would be interested to try the ‘gently does it approach’, but am a bit saddened by the acknowledgement that if I do go down the Secondary teaching route, the pressures of ‘teaching to the syllabus’ will impinge upon that. It is hard to see how at this level students can ignore the need to analyse poetry.

Taking into consideration the characters and likes of pupils is a great way of increasing the likelihood of them engaging in the poetry programme and I think it is vital that modern poems are included in the selection, in order for children to view poetry as ‘alive’. I was impressed with the way O’Flynn introduced the concepts of metaphor and simile and I liked the way he showed them how poetry can be a portrayal of experiences and emotions. The ‘strawberry exercise’ was a great way of getting the children to write using sensory imagery. Using ‘peer assessment’ in the redrafting process helps children to improve using other advice from others.

Clipson-Boyles’ chapter opened my eyes to the variety of knowledge that can be gained from poetry. I also agree with what she says about how poetry is a fantastic platform for the introduction of cultural diversity, something which continues to be evident throughout the key stages. I had never really thought about critical analysis being developed through poetry, and I think the discussion generated by poetry is extremely valuable.