Science and poetry: passion v. prescription in school science?

Abstract

This article falls into the category of a 'general' paper which deals with innovations and developments rather than research and investigation into science education. It attempts answers to the questions: can school science be both a scientific and a literary experience, or-in particular-an aesthetic, poetic experience? In what ways can such experiences be developed in school science, commonly in tight and overcrowded (and broadly unsympathetic) curricula? The response is to discuss the conventional divides between the arts and science, and comment on the need to move beyond the customary curricular constraints within schools. The paper highlights the power of poetry to stimulate observation, imagination and emotion in school science. Examples of poems from published sources, teachers and pupils in turn are used to illustrate ways in which verse can be used within laboratory and classroom settings, to enliven traditional science content and to demonstrate its capacity to provide both a formal and playful vehicle by which to examine the language of science.