A Historical Examination of the Transformation of Poetry Teaching in the English Classroom from 1912-2016

Abstract

Poetry has been a consistent in the English classroom for well over 100 years. In the course of that time the poets, poems, methods of teaching, the teacher, and the students have all changed. The English Journal has been there throughout those times and changes to document them. By analyzing the articles mentioned in the journal, I was able to organize the periods into five eras: Era 1- 1912-1933, Era 2 – 1934-1955, Era 3 – 1956- 1977, Era 4 1978-1999, Era 5 – 2000-2016. Every article on poetry that appeared in the journal during these time periods is deconstructed in this paper to poems, poets, suggested instructional strategies, and a theme is selected for each era. Through the 100 plus years of the teaching of poetry, the main factors include the role of the teacher as guide and the one constant is the goal of leading students to an appreciation for poetry that can be carried beyond the walls of a classroom.