Poetry in Education

What is poetry? Poetry comes from Latin poesis. It is a manifestation of beauty or aesthetic feeling through words, whether verse or prose. Poetry is a fun way of teaching sensitivity and aesthetic taste, while helping students to understand the world we live in. Through poetry we foster communicative, linguistic, cultural and social skills, which are all very important in children development.

However, the problem is that we cannot teach children to like poetry, they must learn to do so themselves. In order to foster students to appreciate poetry, the teacher must provide the appropriate atmosphere: he must be able to teach students that poetry is not boring; he must be able to open up a new world to them… the magical world of words, and help them discover the world around them through their senses. In order to do so, it is essential that the teacher loves poetry himself, so that he can show that to his students. It is also very important that he plans activities in advance and provides students with the appropriate material.

But… How can we make our students be interested in poetry? First of all, the teacher should read poetry to students to stimulate poetic sensibility. Then, students must read poetry themselves, since this will allow them to feel more comfortable when dealing with poetry, they will enjoy it and they will read into it their own way. Next, they must memorize poetry, for this will give them an important cultural stock. By memorizing poetry I mean reciting it, because that will favour their self esteem. Finally, students must write down poetry themselves, which will allow them to show their personality, feelings, fears and personal experiences.