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This research investigated the use of poems for reflection. Participants (n = 16) were enrolled upon a Foundation Degree in Sports Coaching. Part modular assessment saw the students create an action plan that provided key indicators as to their ability within a range of study skills. The entire cohort failed to implement the plan. Whilst there exists a prevailing wind of poetic embrace within the social sciences, limitations are evident within the domain of sport and physical activity. The research questions whether poems may be implemented as a means to initial reflection and reorientation and as a consolidation of prior learning. Findings suggest poetry may aid initial reflection and reorientation and a consolidation of prior learning, that the writings were enjoyable, at times frustrating, developmental and that such creativity might be advocated elsewhere across the HE curriculum. Implications for the learner are discussed and I suggest a framework for practitioners (‘Reflective Facilitation’), which considers how we may assist our learners in a process of guided discovery in which their reflections may become critical and self-governed. The paper then considers the limitations of the research process and offers considerations for future practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper considers the impact of the NEAB GCSE anthology on the poetry teaching of a small sample group of practitioners in a range of 11-18 schools in one LEA over a two-year period. While some teachers in the sample embraced the opportunities they believe the anthology offered them, others appeared more resistant, perceiving the anthology as reductive and an imposition on their established poetry teaching practices. The process of adjustment, which occurred as teachers began to make the poetry element of the GCSE syllabus their own, is illustrated, with the implications of these findings for classroom practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]