Poetry is something we are all familiar with from literature classes.
However, many people do not read poetry at all because their view on this form of art is affected by the bad experiences of learning poems, which are usually no longer relevant, by heart or memorizing what is generally accepted as its meaning.
Who could blame them?
Poetry is something that is not meant to be learned but to understand. Poems usually do not have a standard meaning, since everyone’s understanding of poems is affected by their own life experiences.
Why do we keep learning poetry this way?
People all around the globe can see that most education systems should be reformed, and in that category belongs poetry reading.
Poetry reading in class should be an open discussion with arguments presented. Of course, this requires a former knowledge about the time the poem was written (making the subject overlap with history class) and in some cases the author’s life but these can be easily learnt or even googled in the time of the discussion (making 21st-century technologies a useful tool).
The emphasis should be on critical thinking, creativity, and the ability to use tools (such as the internet), forming a new way of education, in which, students should be tested on these skill sets.
Aside from a whole new grading system, poetry reading should start with 21st-century poetry discussed in class, making it more relatable for the students. This would allow the student to understand the basic concept of poetry and the reason these are written, possibly creating a better understanding of poems from the former centuries.
Petra Georgina Borbély
