Capitalising on observation in researching the poetry classroom

Abstract

In some of my classroom research I have used observation as a means of evaluating the approaches to poetry adopted by teachers, poets and students. This most often entailed observing teachers guiding students to read poems as part of A-level English lessons, but it also involved watching poets engaging young people with poetry writing and performance at school. The reason for which I used observation as part of my research methodology was that it helped to provide me with insights into what happened in the black box of the poetry classroom. While observation offers a range of advantages to researchers interested in lesson dynamics, there are also certain limitations and challenges to be aware of.