Gaining understanding of different perspectives in Virgil's Aeneid through creative writing: an action research project with a sixth form Classical Civilisation class in a mixed comprehensive

Eleanor Lucas

doi:10.1017/s2058631021000040

Abstract

Creative writing is a teaching strategy employed increasingly less frequently as students progress through their secondary education. From my own school experience and observing other teachers, many such tasks are set in Year 7 but then later give way to the pressure of preparing students for exams. In the first Professional Placement of my postgraduate teacher training, I observed a Classical Civilisation teacher set her sixth form students to write a poem about Hector or Andromache from the Iliad Book 6. Although there was some initial reluctance, students largely engaged with the task and we were both impressed by the results. This prompted me to carry out my own research project to explore further the potential impact of creative writing, following the argument that one way into a text is to understand the characters within it.

Highlights

Creative writing is a teaching strategy employed increasingly less frequently as students progress through their secondary education
I conducted this research during my second school placement in a mixed comprehensive with a small sixth form
I believe creative writing tasks have a value for students studying literature beyond the KS3 level when these are most commonly used

Summary

Introduction

Creative writing is a teaching strategy employed increasingly less frequently as students progress through their secondary education. There was some initial reluctance, students largely engaged with the task and we were both impressed by the results This prompted me to carry out my own research project to explore further the potential impact of creative writing, following the argument that one way into a text is to understand the characters within it. The class was composed of five students, four male and one female, known for the purposes of this project as Victor, Paul, Mark, Andrew and Rosie They were of mixed prior attainment with A level target grades of Bs and Cs. Three of the male students had previously studied Latin at GCSE and so had some foundation knowledge of the ancient world, along with an already established positive relationship with the single Classics teacher at the school. The prior attainment range did not reflect itself in the group dynamic as Mark, one of the boys who had the least prior attainment, was usually the most dominant in discus-

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