Schools as “Poetry-Friendly Places”: Michael Rosen on Poetry in the Curriculum

Abstract

This article explores the views of children's poet Michael Rosen in relation to poetry in education. It is based on an interview in which Rosen not only discusses the significance of encouraging young people to engage with poetry at school but also analyzes a number of threats to poetry's place in the English curriculum. This article identifies parallels between Rosen's views and current education research and shows how in both cases there is a clear awareness of how certain educational policies risk undermining the value of poetry's contribution to young people's learning experience.

Keywords:

• assessment
• creativity
• curriculum
• educational policy
• poetry in education
• poetry teaching

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank Michael Rosen for agreeing to be interviewed and for helping with this article. More information about Rosen's work can be found at http://www.michaelrosen.co.uk/. He blogs at: http://michaelrosenblog.blogspot.com/.