Character Education Through Poetry

This presentation is based on the findings from a research project I conducted. The object of this project was to develop a pedagogical strategy for teachers and parents to encourage virtuous living through poetry. Through my experience as a teacher, I have come to the conclusion and the conviction that education is the matter of not only the teacher and the pupil, but that of the school, staff, parents, and of society as a whole. Nevertheless, there are horses for courses, as the proverb says, and there are certain things that teachers and parents can do without involving the whole educational system in radical curricular change. This presentation is about one such possible intervention which does not require a radical restructuring of curricular content and pedagogical focus, but simply doing things slightly differently.

The aim of this project is to investigate how character education can be advanced through poetry. The central question is that of how poetry can help to create a practical and fruitful environment for a community of inquiry, such as a class in a secondary school, to tackle moral questions and subjects, and moreover to stimulate moral discussion in a group.