In our article, we argue that poetry is a site of history education and exploration. We do this by looking at two types of poetry use in history education: firstly, we look at using published poems. We take two examples and look at how they can be used to convey a historical argument, a historical perspective, and a historical moment. We also think about the poems beyond a ‘historical thinking’ framework: we think that poems can help foster historical connection, as well as be used as historical sources. They can let people learning history connect to historical moments and perspectives emotively, opening up a different way of learning history. This is important because historical connection can get people to be interested in history, and think about it in different ways: it is also a way of connecting past and present. This connection of past and present is contentious! It is often presented as dangerous as it can be seen as “presentism” or anachronism. We understand that these are important concerns. We argue that the past-present connection is an inevitability, and poetry presents one way of making sense of this. Poems can also be used to explore marginalised voices: poetry has been used to resist oppression (as well as to oppress) and carefully selected poetry can bring voices into history education that would otherwise be silenced.

The other kind of poetry that we explore is poetry written by students of history. This is a way for students to explore history and make their own understandings and arguments around it. This means that the history students are using poetry to explore historical argument and historical evidence through a creative form. Creativity is important – and contested. Why bring imagination and creativity into history? It can allow students to explore and connect to history on their own terms: the point of our piece is not the historical facts presented in any of the poems, but the historical arguments explored, and the ways in which they present moments of historical connection and historical learning. In this way, history students become producers of historical (contested) knowledge in a way that feels meaningful and connected for them, and this deepens history learning.

Read our full article to read the four poems we explore in the piece, which presents the poems as spaces for historical education and exploration.

Poetry as a site of history education and exploration: learning history from and with poetry by Sarah Godsell (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa) and Zanele Mathebula (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa) is part of the HERJ Series History Education Beyond the Classroom and published in History Education Research Journal, volume 21

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