Teaching poetry in a ‘banking system’: problems and solutions in London, England

Abstract

In my previous school, Key Stage 3 (KS3) pupils (ages 11–14) became increasingly tentative in their readings of poetry. They often regurgitated their teacher’s interpretations until their work became thoughtless. To solve this problem, I tested a fundamentally Freirean approach, from September to December 2015. I sought to avoid the ‘banking-system’ culture that had seeped into our department. I found, however, that in fact, certain elements of this culture nurtured the formulation of analytical and imaginative ideas, partly because on some level, the students associated poetry with bilingualism. They noticed that poetry is composed of literal and figurative phrases, and likened the figurative words to a foreign language. Eventually, highly experimental interpretations were proffered not when the students were either lectured at length or given much time to analyse the figurative language at their own pace, but when they were lectured briefly on the literal features and then worked unaided on the figurative components.