EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING: AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO TEACHING POETRY AT TERTIARY LEVEL

This article introduces Experiential Learning as an alternative approach to teaching poetry for pre-service and in-service teachers at a tertiary level. Poetry is considered a difficult genre and for some teachers it is considered the most problematic and difficult genre to teach. This paper will explore how Experiential Learning might provide an insight for teachers to teach poetry or to make poetry interesting for learners to learn. Experiential Learning will be described starting with the definition of Experiential Learning then followed by a model of Experiential Learning Cycle as to give a concrete idea of how Experiential learning works in designing the training materials. To illustrate how Experiential Learning is embedded in the activities, the principles involved are discussed with reference to each activity in the poetry lesson which are specifically designed at training the trainees of in-service and pre-service teachers. These activities have been carried out with a class of TESL (Teaching of English as a Second Language) undergraduates at the University Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia in their ‘Introduction to English Literature’ unit. It is hoped that through the advantages that Experiential Learning offers, those involved in teaching will gain some insights into how Experiential Learning can benefit learners in learning literature, in particular poetry, both at the school and at tertiary level.