{"id":8836,"date":"2017-03-20T09:04:38","date_gmt":"2017-03-20T09:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=8836"},"modified":"2017-03-24T05:50:15","modified_gmt":"2017-03-24T05:50:15","slug":"making-poetry-their-own-the-evolution-of-poetry-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/making-poetry-their-own-the-evolution-of-poetry-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Making poetry their own: The evolution of poetry education"},"content":{"rendered":"

The American poet William Stafford<\/a> was often asked by friends, readers, students and colleagues: When did you become a poet? The response he regularly offered<\/a> was: \u201cThe question isn\u2019t when I became a poet; the question is when other people stopped.\u201d \"The<\/p>\n

Stafford was articulating what many poets believe: that the roots of poetry<\/a> (rhythm, form, sound) go far back \u2013 both personally and culturally \u2013 \u201cto the crib\u201d and \u201cto the fire in front of the cave.\u201d<\/p>\n

No surprise, then, that children delight in the pleasures of lullabies, nursery rhymes, chants and jingles. They bounce, clap, dance \u2013 responding in ways that involve their whole bodies. Yet as they get older, their delight in poetry often fades<\/a>. Their pleasure in language and form lessens. In Stafford\u2019s words, they stop being poets. <\/p>\n

How have schools been part of this evolution, and what can they do to bring back delight?<\/p>\n

History of poetry in schools<\/h2>\n
\n \"\"<\/a>
\n Excerpt from the 1777 \u2018New England Primer.\u2019<\/span>
\n The Federalist Papers Project<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Historically, poetry has played an important role in the curriculum of U.S. schools. Early American textbooks such as \u201cThe New England Primer\u201d<\/a> and the McGuffey Readers<\/a> taught children to read with a combination of poetry and prose. In this way, poetry was used to teach morals, patriotism and nationalism, along with subject areas<\/a> like geography and mathematics.<\/p>\n

In 19th- and early 20th-century classrooms<\/a>, \u201cschoolroom poetry\u201d was memorized and performed as a way to promote citizenship, to create a shared sense of community, to develop an American identity and to assist with language acquisition \u2013 particularly among immigrants. Because they were meant to be learned \u201cby heart,\u201d the poems taught usually rhymed, had regular meter<\/a> and used language that was easy to understand, remember and repeat.<\/p>\n

This ease of form and content was not, however, matched by historical accuracy. Writers sometimes rewrote history<\/a> into poems that celebrated American values. Take, for example, \u201cPaul Revere\u2019s Ride<\/a>\u201d by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1860. The narrative is compelling for memorization and performance, and portrays an admirable version of American heroism; however, it contains little documented historical \u201ctruth.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Learned \u201cby heart\u201d and shared with an audience, these poetic retellings of America\u2019s past had significant cultural impact: Both the performer and those listening internalized a story<\/a> that promoted a specific version of nationalism.<\/p>\n

In the mid-20th century, it became less important for schools to make citizens or teach English language through memorized lines. Instead, poetry in schools separated into two strands: \u201cserious poetry\u201d and \u201cverse.\u201d Serious poetry was studied; it was officially sanctioned, used to teach literary elements like iambic pentameter, rhymed couplets, metaphor and alliteration. Verse, on the other hand, was unsanctioned \u2013 playful<\/a>, irreverent<\/a> and sometimes offensive<\/a>. It was embraced by children for the sake of pleasure and delight.<\/p>\n

By the late 20th century, classrooms and curricula began to value the sciences over literary expression and information and technology over art. The study of any poetry \u2013 serious or not \u2013 became marginalized<\/a>, seldom occurring except in AP courses preparing students for college literature study.<\/p>\n