{"id":37474,"date":"2025-02-05T16:15:03","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T16:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shs2025.sophia.sytes.net\/?p=37474"},"modified":"2025-06-07T17:58:37","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T16:58:37","slug":"why-is-poetry-still-important-in-modern-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shs2025.sophia.sytes.net\/?p=37474","title":{"rendered":"Why Is Poetry Still Important in Modern Education?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

The Essential Role of Poetry in Education<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

As one writer aptly put it, \u201cWe are frequently told, often to the accompaniment of much hand wringing, that poetry needs readers. It may, but more to the point is the fact that readers need poetry. They don\u2019t always know it, but they do\u201d (Sutton<\/a>, 2005).<\/p>

Poetry is an artistic medium and as such, is intended to be admired, appreciated, and enjoyed. MacMonagle<\/a> (2000) tells us that \u201cit is an art form that exists in every known language.\u201d If we accept this judgement of poetry as a form of art, then Abbs<\/a> (1982) makes a very good case for poetry in education when he says that: \u201cArt is one of the enduring means for representing those truths latent within our experience\u2026 And once we have made a connection between art and knowledge, we can then demonstrate that no school which excludes the arts can be fully involved in the task of educating.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

Poetry as a Tool for Self-Expression and Emotional Growth<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

As educators, I believe that we have a duty to enable our pupils to achieve their full potential. This goes far beyond the mere acquisition of points for entry to third-level institutions. We have the privilege and the unrepeatable opportunity to make a positive impression on our students. We are far more likely to do this through the medium of poetry than through any other branch of the curriculum.<\/p>

The potential which this powerful language art has to affect and change our lives is acknowledged by O\u2019Hara<\/a> (1999):<\/p>

\u201cPoetry appeals to and prompts the senses; it can stir memory to make powerful connections with our human condition; it has the potential to affect our psyche and ways of seeing the world\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

The Power of Poetry to Inspire and Engage Students<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Many poetry books today point to the fact that the word poet in the English language comes from the Greek word for maker or creator. Samuel Taylor Coleridge<\/a> has defined poetry as, \u201cthe best words in the best order.\u201d Whichever way one chooses to define or describe it, poetry enriches the imagination and feeds the soul. Poetry gives us a way of naming experience.<\/p>

Poetry has the capacity to evoke unique and individual responses and should therefore be \u201cexperienced rather than studied\u201d according to O\u2019Hara (1999). He further emphasises the value of encouraging pupils to read poems \u201csimply for enjoyment.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Challenges of Teaching Poetry in Education<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Many writers bemoan the fact that poetry is often driven into the ground in schools because of an over-emphasis on analysing and probing for meanings (Motherway, 1987; O\u2019Hara, 1999; Brewbaker, 2005). Regrettably, many poems are still treated as comprehension exercises in many classrooms, and insufficient attention is paid to the function of the text as a stimulus activating elements of the reader\u2019s past experience (Pike, 2000).<\/p>

For children and adolescents to enjoy and benefit from reading poetry, it is essential that they are enabled to do this on a personal and individual basis\u2014irrespective of whatever views, opinions, images, and interpretations of meaning they come up with!<\/p>

Poetry has the capacity to evoke unique and individual responses and should therefore be \u201cexperienced rather than studied\u201d according to O\u2019Hara (1999). He further emphasises the value of encouraging pupils to read poems \u201csimply for enjoyment.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

Fostering a Lifelong Appreciation for Poetry\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

As well as needing to have many meanings, poetry needs to have no meaning (MacMonagle, 1994). Words can be enjoyed for their sound, rhythm, and rhyme, and this has absolutely nothing to do with their meaning.<\/p>

If each one of my students remembered just one poem that held special meaning for them\u2014one that inspired or comforted them and to which they continuously returned for enjoyment or sustenance\u2014then I think that this would define for me the role and purpose of including poetry in education<\/strong>.<\/p>

One of my favourite poets, Charles Causley, once said (1994):<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s not the function, I think, of any work of art to reveal all its secrets at once\u2026 However often we return to a work of art by a master, we should still be able to make fresh discoveries.\u201d<\/em><\/p>

He goes on to say of his favourite poem that \u201chowever many times I\u2019ve returned to it, it has never failed me.\u201d I believe that we should all have at least one such poem at our disposal to lift and inspire us, and we should ensure that our students do too.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Including poetry in education helps students think creatively, express emotions, and develop a deeper connection to language and learning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":37476,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[350,352,348,351,349],"class_list":["post-37474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-benefits-of-teaching-poetry-in-schools","tag-how-poetry-helps-student-learning","tag-importance-of-poetry-in-education","tag-poetry-in-21st-century-education","tag-why-poetry-matters-in-modern-classrooms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shs2025.sophia.sytes.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shs2025.sophia.sytes.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shs2025.sophia.sytes.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shs2025.sophia.sytes.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shs2025.sophia.sytes.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37474"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/shs2025.sophia.sytes.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39653,"href":"https:\/\/shs2025.sophia.sytes.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37474\/revisions\/39653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shs2025.sophia.sytes.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shs2025.sophia.sytes.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shs2025.sophia.sytes.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shs2025.sophia.sytes.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}