Användandet av poesi i undervisningen : effekter på barns språkutveckling

Sammanfattning: The study focuses on the use of poetry in language teaching in the lower grades in the Swedish school. Poetry has a reputation of being an art form with such specific rules and structures that children and teachers think that it is something that they do not have the ability to work with.  The purpose of this study is to get an understanding of how poetry is used in educating children. My research is based on the following questions.  To which extent is poetry being used in schools and how is it being used? Can you as a teacher see any effects on childrens language development by using poetry? As a part of my study I have met with and interviewed four different people, who in one way or another is involved in teaching children. Two working teachers in the lower grades, one pedagogical resource and one artist that work with teachers in reaching different goals through the help of aesthetic processes. My goal with the interviews was to get a sense of the way poetry is portrayed in schools and to see if it is a genre that is incorporated in teaching the Swedish language. Poetry has not always been mentioned in the Swedish curriculum as something children has to know about. However in the most recent curriculum poetry is brought up as something every child should know and recognize by the end of the third schoolyear.