Creative Partnerships Coventry Innovation Centre The TechnoCentre Puma Way Coventry CV1 2TT Phone +44 (0)24 7623 6160 Fax +44 (0)24 7623 6074 Email [email protected] www.creative-partnerships.com Please contact the Creative Partnerships Coventry office if you would like this publication in electronic format or if you would like to receive more copies The rough guide to... © Arts Council England, June 2007 Poetry from different Written by Sally Bradley Design by Born Communication Photography by Nicola Richardson and Sally Bradley cultures and traditions Accompanying DVD by Jay Audio Media y ntr ove s C hip ers artn tre e P Cen own tiv ry no ech ur e Crea ve is es. ss ay d lan is ltur The T of o hat a W enc pre Eng y t cu vity rt eri ex Pum Welcome The ‘Poetry project’ was conceived in the Spring Term of 2006 by Ernesford Grange School and Community College and Creative Partnerships Coventry to explore and develop ways in which more innovative and creative environments can stimulate the teaching and learning of poetry at GCSE, in particular the ‘poetry from different cultures and traditions’ in the AQA Anthology (Specification A). 'Two roads diverged in a This is your ‘rough guide’ through our journey in applying more creative wood, and I took the one less approaches to the teaching and learning travelled And that has made of ‘poetry from different cultures and traditions’. You may find that our journey all the difference.' Robert Frost takes a road less travelled than usual, but we believe our divergent approach has made all the difference to both our own confidence in taking risks and students’ engagement in their learning. 'One's destination is never a place, but a new This publication explains the reasons why way of looking at things.' we undertook our journey; how we planned Henry Miller and implemented various stages of the project; and how teachers, artists and students responded to the project. We hope that by the end of the publication, we will have inspired you to begin your own creative journey … wherever your destination may be. 'It's good to have an end to journey toward; but it is We have included a souvenir for you from our journey in the shape of a DVD. The the journey that matters, DVD contains exciting snapshots from our in the end.' experiences and lots Ursula K. Le Guin of practical ideas, including detailed lesson plans and useful resources to help you on your own journey. A selection of must see highlights from the DVD are included in ‘What not to miss’ on pages 21-22. Sally Bradley Ernesford Grange School & Community College (Specialist Science Status) Route finder We have divided our journey into various stages to help guide you through the project: Page 5 Climate change A climate for change in teaching approaches Page 6 Mapping The project’s purposes Page 7 Dates for travel The timing of the project’s delivery Page 8 The itinerary Teachers and artists talk creative lessons Page 10 All aboard Engaging the whole staff Page 11 Travellers’ tales Teachers’ and students’ voices Page 15 Domestic flights Developing English staff as creative teachers Page 16 International flights Cross curricular connections Page 17 Connecting flights Links to other schools Page 18 Revisiting Teachers, artists and students revisit the project in year 11 Page 19 Regular travellers Teachers’ commitment to continuing creative practice Page 20 What not to miss DVD Highlights Page 22 Thank you Teachers and practitioners involved in the project Climate change Mapping A climate for change in teaching approaches The project's purposes Our journey took flight from an increasing This was especially true for ‘poetry from To help us to clarify and map our journey’s purposes, we worked with our creative awareness that there was a climate for different cultures and traditions.’ Teachers advisor, Georgina Egan, and practitioners funded by Creative Partnerships. Our change needed in the experiences we regularly found that students were unaware lead practitioner and project manager was Jane Hytch of Imagineer, who came to offered our students, in particular with of and resistant to learning about cultures our department meeting to discuss our ‘wants and needs’. respect to the teaching and learning of and traditions other than their own. The poetry at GCSE. The students did not need to open students’ minds to the seem engaged with their poetry studies in richness of cultural diversity also seemed Through the meeting, we developed a shared understanding of the purposes of our class and it was an area where they felt especially important given recent world journey. We wanted to: least confident and were least successful events and the many new students in examinations. Teachers knew the poems entering our school from a range of ethnic • build on the successes of the • incorporate the project into a whole really well and students could show an backgrounds. Rootz Project, where GCSE drama school experience, with departments understanding of poetic techniques, but an students developed their personal other than English using the ‘poetry from interest and personal engagement in What we needed was to break down the understanding of issues of difference, different cultures and traditions’ to poetry study just didn’t seem to be there. It barriers and resistance to learning about culture and immigration; deliver their curriculum content; seemed that for a significant proportion of different cultures and traditions; to our students, poetry study was a foreign generate interest and enthusiasm; and • challenge students’ resistant • produce permanent and tangible land that they simply did not want to travel then to sustain and develop the interest assumptions about different cultures reminders of the more creative and to. It was distanced, uncomfortable and and enjoyment we generated. And so, our and traditions; innovative experiences generated that with little relevance or significance to their journey for more creative and innovative can be used as valuable revision tools; own experiences both in content and approaches to the teaching and learning of • fascinate, interest and enthuse language. ‘Poetry from different cultures and students about poetry; • evaluate the impact of the more creative traditions’ began … and innovative environments on • develop students’ capacity to link the teachers’ experiences and students’ poems from the anthology to help with learning by listening to their voices; comparison requirements in examination questions; •share our experiences with other schools; ‘Creativity is very • access the poems using a wider range • sustain, further develop and refine our much a part of our own of media that appealed to different more creative practices. cultural experiences. learning styles and interests; We inevitably express ourselves in a way that is • engage creative partners and teachers in deeply rooted in the culture co-learning to raise teachers’ confidence from which we come... in risk taking and to develop more In a multicultural society, creative and innovative environments cultures will inevitably mix for learning; Cre and intermingle ati ve Par (not always successfully). tne rships Creativity offers a way of Cov ent The ry finding positive links and Te chno C connections between the entre different cultures that exist Pum a Wa side by side in our society.’ y Cov Sue Cowley, Author entr y, Engl and Dates for travel The itinerary The timing of the project's delivery Teachers and artists talk creative lessons The timing of our journey was planned deliberately so that we could embed Jane Hytch and Georgina Egan organised Teachers and artists were given time to talk the important messages about cultures and traditions from our divergent an exciting and invaluable CPD session for freely about the collection of ‘poetry from approach to poetry study into a whole school perspective. the English department, who were given a different cultures and traditions’ before day off timetable to meet with various moving into groups to discuss in detail a artists from a range of disciplines. The day chosen set of paired poems. Poems had The starting point was ‘The Rootz project’, increasing personal understanding of the was built on the premise that teachers and been paired by the English department an existing Creative Partnership’s project, issues of difference, culture and tradition. artists would combine their expertise to prior to the day. All groups included at which brought together GCSE drama The day provided purposeful outcomes for work as equal partners, sharing creative least one artist. students and practitioners from the students as it linked the learning from ideas that would create a journey tailor Belgrade Theatre to explore the poetry to real life situations. made to the project’s purposes. The In the first discussion, groups explored the experiences of people from different identified aims of the day were… content, the different cultures and traditions cultures and traditions. presented, the meanings and ideas It engendered many successes in terms suggested, the particular uses of language of raising students’ understanding of and the similarities and differences difference and naturally served as a solid between the two poems. They then moved foundation to build from. To inspire teachers to on to explore different approaches that could be used to engage and enthuse approach the poems in a students in their learning of the poems. The final destination of the project was diverse and challenging Human Rights Day.