Setting up your own Project
How Do I use These ToolS?
First of all it’s necessary to be clear about
The information you want to find out
How the poem is to be used
Who if anyone is to be the audience and why
Those participating should be aware of how it might be used. In most cases the poem will feature publicly as part of the exercise being undertaken.
Process
The process involved is quite simple
1. Choose a poem format from those shared in the Examples and Exercises section. The most useful generally is likely to be the first of these “X Is …” but others may be more relevant to particular concerns or for more detailed response.
2. Make clear the intentions, as above.
3. Explain that they are going to write a Communal Poem on the subject. Make clear that you want opinions, thoughts and feelings in the form of a single sentence/statement.
4. Explain the format chosen. You might usefully at this point choose to use one of the poems provided as examples in the Resources section. These not only explain the format but they are generally fun and can help break the ice.
5. Each person must contribute at least one statement/sentence in response and they can make up to three responses (or more) if wanted.
6. The responses can be called/read out by participants and written down by the facilitator. If felt necessary, say, to prevent one person dominating the responses, they can be written down and passed to the facilitator.
7. The facilitator either then or later orders the responses in a way that seems appropriate to the purpose. Nothing should be added to the participants' words. Although a line might be repeated for emphasis.
8. It should be read back to the group of participants to check.
It may at this point become the basis for discussion or more in depth analysis of the issues raised.
Formats
1. “X is …”
The simplest and commonest form to use is based on creating a series of statements about a given community concern (represented here by X) using the introductory words “X is …”. This becomes the title and would preface each line.
2. “What I like about X/What I don’t like about X”
In this form the process is in two parts, dealing separately with likes and then dislikes. Similarly to 1, a series of statements are given for each and then these are collated, prefaced by ”I like/don’t like” as appropriate.
3. “Ten things you would find in …”
This is more likely to be useful in focusing on a particular aspect of an issue as follow up. It would involve discussion and collaborative agreement. It could be used individually but the number should be reduced from ten to five or fewer in that case.
4. “In my box is …”
This form too can be used to collect a series of general statements as in 1 and 2. It can also be used to collect statements that are more focused, for example on one aspect of an issue.
5. Basically 1 and 2 can be varied in any number of ways to suit the nature of what is being researched. The title/lead-in phrases could be
Thinking of the future…
What needs to change about…
What needs to be retained…
and so on. In fact, whatever seems appropriate.
Examples of these as poems can be found in the Examples and Exercises section of this site.
Trialling these Resources
CLD Workers have already trialled these tools and found them to be very successful in a variety of contexts, including within several schools and with CLD workers themselves.
We’re still learning. Certain features have arisen from their use which are important to note.
1. Using the tool with a disaffected group of young people to explore the nature and causes of their disaffection can at first lead to a series of negative statements, perhaps quite pungently expressed. This might seem unproductively negative but…
2. In trialling, further work with the young people soon established that the initial use of the tool acted not so much as merely an icebreaker but as a catalyst...
3. Having expressed their feelings they felt able to engage much more deeply and purposefully in discussion about what was at the heart of their concerns because their voice was being heard...
4. Therefore, it is clear that when used as a first step the Communal Poetry Tool can result in engagement that leads to very meaningful discussion/analysis and more in depth response even when dealing with negative issues.
5. Some of that more detailed subsequent investigation can also be by use of this tool.
LESSONS LEARNED
It’s worth noting a couple of lessons learned from these trials.
1. There may be occasions when it might be inappropriate for results to be made public in the form of the initial poem. If it seems possible that what is said might reflect badly on those involved in its creation, it should be decided from the start that the first piece produced is not for publication.
2. In certain groups some participants may unduly influence the collective response by their loudness or their perceived status within the group. This can easily be offset by getting participants to write their responses.
3. Particularly when dealing with participants who are disaffected and likely to be very negative in their response, the initial poem should perhaps be seen as a first step towards a more in depth investigation. Once the negativity has been expressed and, importantly, listened to, participants are then much more likely to explore fully the reasons for their negativity.
