Title: The Most Neglected of the Neglected R: Poetry Research We Have; Poetry Research We Need
1The Most Neglected of the Neglected R Poetry
Research We Have Poetry Research We Need
- Janine Certo, Laura Apol,
- SeokJu Yoon Erin Wibbens
- Michigan State University
- LARC Research Symposium
- October 26, 2007
2-
- . . . and Id like a world, wouldnt you, in
which people actually took the time to think
about what they were saying? It would be, Im
sure, a more peaceful, more reasonable place. I
dont think there could ever be too many poets.
-Ted Kooser
3Presentation Overview
- Sources of Data Methodologies of the Literature
- The Poetry Writing Research We Have
- Conclusions/Discussion
- Implications for Future Research The Poetry
Writing Research We Need - Discussion, Comments and QA
4A Reading. . .
- The Writer (Richard Wilbur)
- http//www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15487
5A Researchers Definition of Poetry
- Poetry is literary language used to represent
the writers real or imaginary experiences and
to create a virtual experience for readers
(Britton, Burgess, Martin, McLeod Rosen, 1975).
6Sources of Data
- ERIC, Education Abstracts, Proquest
Dissertations, SAGE journals online - Keywords poetry, poetry writing, poetic genres,
genre, genre development, teacher education,
teacher professional development - Sources included peer reviewed journals,
Handbooks, technical reports, books, and
dissertations. - Criteria for inclusion poetry writing, the
relationship between reading poetry and writing
poetry, a focus on - K-12 teacher education and professional
development.
7Methodologies of the Literature
- Qualitative (20)
- Mostly case study, ethnography, collaborative
intervention or self study. - A select few researchers used content or
discourse analysis. - Methods included observation (field notes and/or
observational checklists, analysis of
student-authored texts, and/or self report
(interviews or questionnaires). - Mostly descriptive characteristics of the
research phenomena. - Much of the literature is lacking important
details in the historical transitions of
qualitative research. - Quantitative or Mixed Methods (5)
- Experimental, quasi-experimental, survey, mixed
methods
8The Poetry Writing Research We Have Themes that
Define the Review
- Beliefs and Attitudes
- Poetic Genre Knowledge
- Poetry Writing Instruction
- Finding a Voice
- Teacher Education and Professional Development
9Beliefs and Attitudes
- Elementary students have very basic perceptions
about poetry and what poems do (Apol Harris,
1999). - Interest, engagement and enjoyment of poetry
builds among elementary students with exposure to
poetry writing and performance (Apol Harris,
1999 Mentzer Boswell, 1995). - Seventh-and eighth-grade students who were
saturated with poetry showed an increased liking
for writing the genre (Manicoff, 1939).
10Poetic Genre Knowledge
- Elementary-aged children are capable of writing
poems independently and with teacher-instructed
attributes (Apol Harris, 1999 Chapman,
19941995 Kamberelis, 1998 Rodgers, 1972). - Children appropriate material for their own
poetry writing from poetry books in their
classrooms, radio songs, and their cultural and
popular landscape (Dyson, 2003). - Urban adolescents use a hybridity of genres,
including poetry, to provide a way to express
youth identity (Jocson, 2006). - Poetry writing can be a vehicle for preservice
teachers increasing genre knowledge (Rosaen,
2003).
11Poetic Genre Knowledge (Kamberelis, 19981999)
- Most children composed poems that depended
heavily on rhyme and singsong meter patterns for
their poetic effects. - Children who had a difficult time writing poems
tended to produce texts that were more like
stories than poems. - Young children are capable of producing
sophisticated poems. - Genre development is complex and varies as a
function of generic constraints, task conditions,
and other contextual variables. Most children
displayed much more knowledge of fictional
narratives, less on poems.
12Poetry Writing Instruction
- Methods that encourage poetic writing expression
among preadolescents include reading poetry, more
exposure to poetry, ample time to write poetry,
teacher enthusiasm, emotional climate, original
thought (not grammar or spelling), visual
auditory aides, praise, and words as tools
(Schaefer, 1973). - Instruction in the musical elements of poetry did
not cause children to write poetry different from
children who did not received such instruction,
but there was evidence that committed teachers
and a leisurely instructional pace were crucial
to the success of poetry writing (Duffy, 1968). - Technology can be used at all ages to
successfully pre-write poetry, organize
information and ideas in many ways (Roberts,
2002), and provide a forum for peer feedback
while building a sense of self as poet (Kammer,
2002).
13Poetry Writing Instruction
- A sense of, and preparation for, an authentic
audience for poetry motivated high school
students to write, revise and perform poetry
(Kammer, 2002 Jocson, Burnside Collins, 2006). - High school students who read their written
original poems improved their oral skills, had
increased comfort with oral communication, and
had a sense of improved self-esteem and
self-image (Kassab, 1984).
14Finding a Voice
- Poetry writing allows students to provide a way
to express youth identity (Jocson, 2006). - Poetry writing can be a vehicle for exploring
preservice teacher identity (Rosaen, 2003). - Fifth grade boys equate poetry writing with
expressing their feelings (Damico Carpenter,
2005).
15Teacher Education and Professional Development
- Prospective teachers are not required to take
courses in or demonstrate poetic interpretation
or skill (Stiles, 1965). - A majority of middle and high school teachers
believe teaching poetry writing is important, but
report 94 separate worries with regard to
teaching poetry (Benton, 1984). - Human and material resources organized in a
collaborative intervention between
university/expert and urban youth can create an
extended idea of material resources and pedagogy
(Jocson, 2005).
16Poetry in America Report (Schwartz, Goble,
English Bailey, 2006)
- The survey focused more on reading or listening
to poetry, less on writing poetry. - Parents and teachers are influential in early
poetry experiences. - Users were more likely to have studied the
reading and writing of poetry in every grade
level than were nonusers. - Users were more likely to experience a range of
poetry activities (reading, reciting, memorizing,
writing) in school than nonusers. - Poetry users reported more positive experiences
in school than nonusers. - When teachers were mentioned as early influences,
high school teachers were mentioned more than
teachers at other levels.
17Conclusions and Discussion
- There were many qualitative studies of poetry
writing. Qualitative researchers should make the
data collection and analysis procedures more
public and include strategies to monitor internal
validity and researcher subjectivity. - It is arguably challenging to engage in research
about poetry because of the intrinsic
characteristics of poetry. - No general set or sets of structural
descriptions have been written for poetry that
are comparable to the kinds of text grammars
created for stories and informational texts.
(Kamberelis, 1998, p. 21) - The dearth of poetry in the curriculum may
explain the lack of poetry writing research and
instruction.
18Conclusions and Discussion
- There are negative experiences and limited
perceptions of poetry across the ages. - Research suggests that enjoyment, engagement,
interest, genre knowledge, and a sense of voice
identity may increase with more experiences in
poetry writing and exposure to poetry. - There is accumulating, suggestive evidence about
what constitutes good poetry writing instruction,
but the results should be considered with
caution. - Variables studied in the literature are mostly
affective less research is focused on how to
improve the quality of students poetry writing.
19The Poetry Writing Research We Need
- We need further research on how to develop
teachers who have the knowledge, skills and
dispositions to become excellent poetry writing
teachers. - We need research that connects teachers poetic
genre knowledge with their ability to support
student development in this area. - We need research that examines the impact of
professional development on teachers instruction
and ability to scaffold, and to provide
appropriate experiences for children. We need
research that captures rich descriptions of
teachers approaches to writing instruction in
poetry, but also measures that report childrens
growth (Donovan Smolkin, 2006). - We need an update a new content analysis of
basals and texts prompting poetry writing.
20 The Poetry Writing Research We Need
- We need to pursue research lines that capture
and/or measure environments and contexts that
motivate students to write poetry. - We need research that captures what students can
do with poetry writing across the grades. - We need research that documents and describes how
students engage with all the recursive facets of
the writing process, including revising their
poetry (independently, through peer writing
groups (face-to-face and online), and through
student-teacher conferencing). - We need research that documents what kinds of
feedback and assessment are necessary to support
and evaluate poetry writers. - We need research on how to support all childrens
poetry writing, including students with special
needs, different learning styles and different
cultural and linguistic backgrounds. - We need research integrating textual and
contextual analyses, social and cultural
experiences with poetry writing grounded in life
histories.
21A Reading
22-
- THANK YOU!
- . . . and Id like a world, wouldnt you, in
which people actually took the time to think
about what they were saying? It would be, Im
sure, a more peaceful, more reasonable place. I
dont think there could ever be too many poets.
- -Ted Kooser
23Works Cited
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