Choice of Poems, Teacher Strategies, Attitudes and their Contributions to Performance in Poetry: A Survey of Selected Schools in Kakamega County, Kenya

Abstract

Poetry is a component of the Integrated English Syllabus and it is a compulsory genre in Kenyan Secondary Schools. There is evidence that general performance in this section of the course tends to fall below expectations. Teachers are thought to use very little time teaching poetry. Equally, learners are suspected to hold negative attitudes towards poetry. Nevertheless, what it is about poetry that is resented has partially been documented. Since poetry is unique in the arrangement of words, perhaps it is the structure and content of poetry that is not liked by both teachers and students. This researcher set out to investigate the effect of poetic language on the attitude of learners and teachers towards poetry. The purpose of the study was to find out the factors teachers consider in selecting poems for teaching, the strategies they use for teaching, and the effect of poetic language on the attitude of learners. Specifically, the study sought to; describe procedures teachers use in the selection of poems; to describe the relationship, if any, between the types of poem based on language and attitude; to describe methods of teaching used; and, to decipher the relationship, if any, between methods of teaching poetry, attitude and achievement by learners. The study was enmeshed in the mixed methods research paradigm: some objectives tended towards the quantitative while other objectives were clearly qualitative. The study adopted the exploratory and descriptive research designs. The researcher selected 10% of the population to attain a residue 500 students and 10 teachers of poetry. The study sample was selected using both stratified sampling and simple random sampling methods. Data was collected using questionnaires for teachers and students, interview guide for teachers, observation schedule for class activities, document analysis guide for records and a performance test for students. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were used to analyze the data generated. The data is presented in the form of tables and charts. On the basis of the findings from this study it appears teachers have no specific formula in selecting poems for teaching. The findings of the study reveal that students had higher scores in poems with simple language as opposed to poems with archaic language and difficult phrases. Performance in the written tests by students and answers to the questionnaire by teachers revealed that respondents had positive attitudes towards poems with simple language and negative attitude towards poems with old English. Overall teachers presented less than 30 poems to a class in a year. Teachers tend to teach poetry from the general to the specific, emphasizing form, stylistic devices rather than teaching students to appreciate poetry by themselves. Given the haphazard manner in which teachers select poems for study it is recommended that the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) should consider setting a specific anthology to be studied by all candidates in Kenya. Poetry anthologies of varying difficulty should be presented to the various levels of Form One, Two, Three and Four.