Poetics of Curriculum, Poetics of Life: An Exploration of Poetry in the Context of Selves, Schools, and Society

This dissertation explores through the lens of curriculum studies how poetry is situated in the pedagogical world. My research aims to illuminate how poetry is studied in schools and how these practices of studying poetry give poetry its cultural identity. My framework is guided by John Dewey’s Art as Experience, and this leads me to explore opportunities for students to have profound experiences with poetry and art in schools. My purpose is not to write a prescription for teachers to use in their classrooms. I do not outline how someone should include poetry in a lesson plan. Rather, I explore why poetry is important in our lives and how poetry can contribute to opening avenues for new possibilities through imagination and transformation based on phenomenological experience and scholarship. I explore poetry through an aesthetic lens across different aspects of how poetry has meaning in a contemporary context. This dissertation advances the field of curriculum studies by exploring the influences that poetry has on the curriculum of our lives, and the influence that our lived curriculum has on the future of poetry