1. First Steps in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education
Week 4 Designing
Rachel Egloff
Teaching Poetry

2. Teaching Poetry Background
First year PhD in English Literature at Brookes
No experience in teaching in higher education
Used to teach English as a foreign language in Switzerland

3. Teaching Poetry
From teaching poetry to students of English as a foreign language to teaching poetry to undergraduate English Literature students.

4. Teaching Poetry
From teaching poetry to students of English as a foreign language to teaching poetry to undergraduate English Literature students.
Applying Bloom’s revised Taxonomy to teaching poetry.

5. Teaching Poetry
From teaching poetry to students of English as a foreign language to teaching poetry to undergraduate English Literature students.
Applying Bloom’s revised Taxonomy to teaching poetry.
Reflecting on experiences and applying to higher education setting.

6. Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy*
Remembering -> recall or retrieve previous learned information
Understanding -> comprehending the meaning
Applying -> use concept or apply what was learned in a new situation
Evaluating -> separates material or concepts into component parts to better understand
Creating -> make judgments about the value of ideas or materials
*A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives
Anderson, Krathwohl, Airasian, Cruikshank, Mayer, Pintrich, Raths, and Wittrock (Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2000)

7. Example: The Sick Rose (William Blake 1794)
O Rose thou art sick. The invisible worm, That flies in the night, In the howling storm, Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy: And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy.

8. 1. Remembering -> learn poem off by heart
O Rose thou art sick. The invisible worm, That flies in the night, In the howling storm, Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy: And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy.

9. 2. Understanding -> translate into own words
O Rose thou art sick.
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm,
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.
O Rose du bist krank.
Der unsichtbare Wurm,
Welcher in der Nacht fliegt,
Im heulenden Sturm,
Hat dein Bett der purpurnen Freude ausfindig gemacht:
Und seine dunkle, geheime Liebe
Zerstört dein Leben.

10. 3. Applying -> analyze structure and components of meaning (step 1 structure)
O Rose thou art sick.
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm,
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.
Rhyme
Structure
Meter
Vocabulary …

11. 3. Applying -> analyze structure and components of meaning (step 2 meaning)
O Rose thou art sick.
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm,
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.
Perspective 1
Rose is woman having love affair
Perspective 2
Rose is beauty of nature
Perspective 3
Rose is England

12. 4. Evaluating -> evaluate different ideas
O Rose thou art sick.
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm,
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.
Historical contexts
Poet’s biography and views
Comparison to other texts
Personal experience and conviction

13. 5. Creating -> write essay integrating all the gathered information and coming to a new conclusion
O Rose thou art sick.
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm,
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.

14. Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy Applied to Poetry in Higher Education
Remembering -> learn poem off by heart
Understanding -> write into own prose words
Applying -> analyze structure and components of meaning
Evaluating -> evaluate different ideas
Creating -> write essay integrating all the gathered information and coming to a new conclusion

15. First Steps in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education
Week 4 Designing
Rachel Egloff
Teaching Poetry