Challenges of Studying and Teaching Poetry in a Middle Secondary School: A Qualitative Study from Bhutan

Abstract

The study explored the challenges of studying poetry and elicited students’ experiences of studying and understanding poems. It furthered explored what teaching practices best engaged students in understanding poetry. A qualitative method was guided by social constructivism world view. The data were gathered from semi structured interview and class observations. Participants included teachers and students from a middle secondary school in Tsirang district, Bhutan. The sampling for students was from classes’ four to ten with ten students. Three English teachers were also interviewed. The data were analyzed inductively by adopting Creswell (2012) six-stage model. The findings of the study revealed having multiple interpretations, lack of resources adding restrictions to understanding poems and difficulty in understanding figurative languages and literary device as challenges of understanding poetry. The findings of the study may help relevant stakeholders to understand the importance of studying poetry as a genre and providing with relevant resources and current pedagogies to learn poetry.