Poetry in Teaching & Learning Qualitative Research

Abstract

This article stems from a workshop presented at the 15th TQR conference on poetry in teaching and learning qualitative research. Over the last few decades, scholars have argued for the use of poetry and other arts-based techniques in qualitative research. Most of the research, however, focuses on using poetry for data analysis and representation. In this article, we shift the conversation to the use of poetry for teaching and learning qualitative research. Starting with a poem in three voices of educator, student, and researcher, we provide an overview of poetry use in qualitative inquiry. We then offer brief overviews of poetic forms such as found poetry, identity poems, haikus, and free verse poetry. Subsequently, we share examples of how we have used these poetic forms in our own teaching and learning of qualitative research. In sharing the reasoning, guidelines, and examples of poetry use in the qualitative research classroom, we invite others wanting to implement poetry in their work to try one or more of the practices.