Poetry teaching in schools
Christopher Bantick’s interest in promoting the teaching of poetry in schools is to be commended (“Dying light of poetry”, 15-16/3). Some of his sweeping generalisations, however, must be challenged.
He claims that teacher training institutions - presumably all of them since he offers no qualification – “do not teach poetry as part of an English teaching degree”. I can tell him that I regularly use poems in courses for prospective secondary English teachers that I teach at the University of Queensland where I work as a sessional academic.
He also claims that teacher professional development never has anything to do with poetry. This weekend just past I presented a workshop as part of a mini conference run in Brisbane by the English Teachers Association of Queensland. The session was entitled “Grammar and poetry: Integrating the language and literature strands of the Australian English Curriculum”. The teachers who gave up half their Saturday to participate certainly thought it dealt with poetry.
It is to be hoped that Bantick reminds his own students that sweeping generalisations are often wrong and that claims should be moderated to accord with the available evidence.
Garry Collins
President, Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE)
Tags: Curriculum matters |
Short Stories - Year 11Emma Monfries and Kiri Lucas will present some practical activities and observations from Unit 2: Texts and Culture. With these activities, students can conceptualise in concrete ways the relationship between place and culture, for example, through layered maps, and to convey this in texts such as short stories. Students can a... |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Register | ||||||||||||
An Afternoon with Christine HillsThe Darling Downs Branch will present an Afternoon with Christine Hills and the Collins Writing Program on Wednesday, 26 February, 2020. Afternoon tea will be served from 3:15 to 3:45 pm. This workshop will allow teachers and school leaders an opportunity to: Explore elements of grammar that are central to good writing and align w... |
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
Register | |||||||||||||||
March Seminar 2020: Diving Deep into StoryLiterature is the lifeblood of the English classroom and we all endeavour to make our classrooms creative spaces, helping students to experience the pleasures of responding to and creating literature. This seminar will explore diverse ideas related to creativity in English. The keynote address will be presented by Assoc. Professor Kim Wil... |
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
Register | |||||||||||||||
Tony Hytch presentsTony will present a session on getting students assessment ready for Essential English. Further details are on the flyer.
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Register | ||||||||||||
Early Career Conference 2020: Diving Deep into TeachingThis event for teachers in their first firve years of teaching and those who are new to the teaching of English will submerge you in a new, colourful, and enchanting world where you can engage with your peers. it is also a 'not to be missed' event for preservice teachers. For those who are interested in offering a presentati... |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Register | ||||||||||||
This is the first time I have been to an ETAQ conference and it was really sensational to get so much at all of the sessions.
ETAQ conferences always have sessions that make me excited to be a teacher.
I know that ETAQ conferences in the past have never disappointed - valuable, relevant, practical, inspiring so I came again.
Read AllConnect to a great range of people who are passionate about English and have their finger on the pulse.