Boys, Poetry and the Individual Talent

This article provides an explicit critique of existing poetry teaching practices which illustrates how adolescents, particularly boys, develop antipathy to this genre. Having established the need for alternative pedagogy, the theory and practice of ‘responsive teaching’ is described. The term ‘responsive teaching’ has been coined because it denotes teaching founded upon readers’ responses which is informed by elements of reader-response criticism. Selected findings are reported from a three-year action research investigation examining how keen readers of pre-twentieth-century poetry can be fostered. Examples are given of dramatic improvements in certain boys’ attitudes and attainment. It is suggested that such transformation can occur when the personal reading styles of pupils are allowed to flourish. The implications for teaching are considered.