In this session, Phil Shaw and Scott Freer from the Department of English at the University of Leicester will talk about the work they have been doing with schools in Leicester to help GCSE English Literature pupils develop an appreciation of poetry. Our approach assumes that recognition and enjoyment of the sensory aspects of poetry is a vital component of learning that should be nurtured prior to engagement with the formal aspects of poetry. In the session Scott will give an account of the rationale behind the approach and will give a demonstration of how it can be used in the classroom to develop confidence and enthusiasm.
Phil Shaw is Professor of Romantic Studies at the University of Leicester with teaching and research interests in late 18th and early 19th century poetry.
Dr Scott Freer is Research Associate for the ‘Sensory Reading’ project at the University of Leicester. He maintains research interests in literary modernism and cinema.
For more information on how the EA is working to connect teachers in schools and universities, explore our project EA Hubs.
Sensory Reading: New Approaches to Teaching and Learning GCSE English Literature.
Led by Prof Phil Shaw and Dr Scott Freer, ‘Sensory Reading’ aims to develop outreach opportunities arising from Prof Shaw’s AHRC Leadership Fellow project, ‘Wordsworth 2020’. Building on that project’s innovative and highly successful work with local GCSE English Literature students, this 9-month long series of integrated workshops, supported by tailor-made teaching worksheets and learning resources, engages directly with teachers and pupils across 5 Leicester schools to show how an engagement with the visual, acoustic, and physical dimensions of poetry, whether embodied or imagined, can be used to enrich technical knowledge and understanding, thereby reigniting enthusiasm for the study of literature at GCSE level and beyond.
