Inspiring Students to Speak Out
By Bayo Olupohunda
(Culled from The Guardian on Sunday, December 6, 2009)
ROBERT Frost's comment that "poetry is a way of taking life by the throat" perhaps best reflects the intentions of Goethe Institut Nigeria and Culture Advocates Caucus (CAC), organisers of the maiden edition of WordSlam IV School Outreach Programme.
Under the tag Schools' Spoken Word-Poetry Workshop, a major focus for the fourth in the Wordslam series is to work with students and teenagers in Nigerian schools on performance poetry with the future plan being that "Spoken word" and "poetry slams" will become popular tools for "building up the creative expression and opening up the minds and heads of the youth towards mobilising them to become active citizens in the democratic process", according to the CAC.
Thus, when I was asked to coordinate the School Outreach Programme, which was facilitated by the Nigerian-German international performing artiste Ade Adekoya aka Bantu, I became instantly excited given my professional understanding -- as an educator -- of the immense benefit the programme holds for students' academic training and the boost the programme will give schools' curricula.
A week earlier, the first leg of the workshop for schools had been held in the Ajegunle part of the state with students from about five schools located in the Tolu Schools Complex, Olodi Apapa, where Ade Bantu and the Poet-activist, Dagga Tollar had held some rewarding spoken word-poetry writing sessions with participating students on various thematic concerns. The Lagos Island project with Ireti Grammar School Falomo students was the second leg, and was no less engaging.
My experience with schools has shown that most teachers are ill-equipped to teach spoken word-poetry. Literature teachers most times regurgitate the works of known poets in a boring and mechanical manner without teaching students how to express themselves poetically; this has contributed to the lull in poetry writing and performance among these age groups, a gap the organisers of the WordSlam School Outreach Programme hope to now bridge with the promised yearly programme in Nigerian schools.
...Why Students Need Spoken Word-Poetry
The entry point for today's youth has been hip-hop music. Using the rhythm of this musical style, youth have been encouraged to start writing and performing poetry. This is a relatively short jump for many teenagers, who have grown up on hip hop, but a huge leap from what they had always thought poetry was limited to. Through poetry and spoken word, participating students in the WordSlam sessions, were encouraged to view their daily lives as an inspiration and material for their work.
They were also made to realize that throughout history, poetry has been expressed in many ways, and not just the cold, boring ways that they had become familiar with the literary genre in school.
This new cultural phenomenon among teenagers, helped by the success of the WordSlam IV School Outreach Programme attempted to give a voice to young people who have found much of the literature and the poetry they encounter, especially in school, to be irrelevant to their lives, and sometimes an insult to their cultural and ethnic identity.
This type of poetry appeals to students because it allows them to express themselves in their own language, and gives them the chance to address issues that they find important. The workshop provided a good opportunity for self-expression.
Poetry necessitated scratching below the surface, plumbing emotions students are often afraid to share with their peers. The students revealed long-hidden troubles they'd been otherwise reluctant to divulge. I noticed a closer sense of community forming in a classroom, where students regularly share their own poetry.
Through the medium of poetry and given their social background, the students more easily understood and identified with their classmates' sadness, fear, loneliness, rage, excitement, awe and pleasure. Poetry also helped the students define who they are. Poetry is a much freer form than prose writing.
Even students with limited language skills can excel in poetry. The workshops promoted individuality and creativity; it allows students to expand their understanding of what they are writing. The environment established for the poetry workshop valued and appreciated students' different ideas and allowed them to express original thinking.
Some students as seen from Tolu school were allowed to write several poems, while others only wrote one as found among the Ireti Grammar school students. Throughout the poetry writing, a wide variety of art supplies were provided. The students were allowed to use these materials both during poetry writing and vignette creating. The materials afforded the class with the means to fully express their own feelings and ideas in the poetry.
At the workshop, students felt more comfortable undertaking a topic that might otherwise be intimidating. In addition, publishing the students' work validates their role as both a writer and an artist, roles with which many of them did not identify prior to the workshop. This new role helped the students to recognize that what they do in school is important and affects their lives.
The students were given the opportunity to share their writing at the end of the workshop and performed them at Goethe Institut during the Wordslam event on Saturday. Students who ordinarily pass on the chance to share their work read their poems. Each student was applauded for his or her writing and many offered compliments.
The responses of the audience as the students presented their poems allowed them to understand their work is important and they are capable of producing art that others appreciate.
This lesson was exciting and enjoyable for both students to experience and Ade Bantu to teach. I knew it would be an engaging lesson and the students could feel the enthusiasm and as it spread. He was able to watch the class generate good ideas, express those ideas on paper in various forms of poetry and compile them into a variety of unique experience.
The Wordslam School Outreach Programme will ultimately encourage students to write about and discuss issues relevant to their lives. It will give them writing prompts that seek to develop their own voice and urge them to confront modern-day social issues head-on. It will also help in harnessing the potentials of students-poets, which will form the bulk of generation next spoken word- poets. The revolution has begun.
Ade Bantu: Portrait of the Artist as a Teacher
Ade Bantu the Nigeria-Germany born international artiste, who facilitated the two workshops for students in both schools, had a firm grasp of the subject and the activities in the classroom. He took the students through the various stages of spoken word-poetry writing, yet letting them express their minds freely. The result was later seen at the Wordslam IV show at Goethe Institut on Saturday November, 28 where students made passionate spoken word-poetry presentations with various themes to the delight of the audience.
He demonstrated an understanding of the limitations of the students in grasping concept taught. His performance at the workshop showed an artiste, who is at home with the teaching of spoken word poetry to students incorporating various concepts of poetry writing in form, content, rhymes etc.
Under the tag Schools' Spoken Word-Poetry Workshop, a major focus for the fourth in the Wordslam series is to work with students and teenagers in Nigerian schools on performance poetry with the future plan being that "Spoken word" and "poetry slams" will become popular tools for "building up the creative expression and opening up the minds and heads of the youth towards mobilising them to become active citizens in the democratic process", according to the CAC.
Thus, when I was asked to coordinate the School Outreach Programme, which was facilitated by the Nigerian-German international performing artiste Ade Adekoya aka Bantu, I became instantly excited given my professional understanding -- as an educator -- of the immense benefit the programme holds for students' academic training and the boost the programme will give schools' curricula.
A week earlier, the first leg of the workshop for schools had been held in the Ajegunle part of the state with students from about five schools located in the Tolu Schools Complex, Olodi Apapa, where Ade Bantu and the Poet-activist, Dagga Tollar had held some rewarding spoken word-poetry writing sessions with participating students on various thematic concerns. The Lagos Island project with Ireti Grammar School Falomo students was the second leg, and was no less engaging.
My experience with schools has shown that most teachers are ill-equipped to teach spoken word-poetry. Literature teachers most times regurgitate the works of known poets in a boring and mechanical manner without teaching students how to express themselves poetically; this has contributed to the lull in poetry writing and performance among these age groups, a gap the organisers of the WordSlam School Outreach Programme hope to now bridge with the promised yearly programme in Nigerian schools.
...Why Students Need Spoken Word-Poetry
The entry point for today's youth has been hip-hop music. Using the rhythm of this musical style, youth have been encouraged to start writing and performing poetry. This is a relatively short jump for many teenagers, who have grown up on hip hop, but a huge leap from what they had always thought poetry was limited to. Through poetry and spoken word, participating students in the WordSlam sessions, were encouraged to view their daily lives as an inspiration and material for their work.
They were also made to realize that throughout history, poetry has been expressed in many ways, and not just the cold, boring ways that they had become familiar with the literary genre in school.
This new cultural phenomenon among teenagers, helped by the success of the WordSlam IV School Outreach Programme attempted to give a voice to young people who have found much of the literature and the poetry they encounter, especially in school, to be irrelevant to their lives, and sometimes an insult to their cultural and ethnic identity.
This type of poetry appeals to students because it allows them to express themselves in their own language, and gives them the chance to address issues that they find important. The workshop provided a good opportunity for self-expression.
Poetry necessitated scratching below the surface, plumbing emotions students are often afraid to share with their peers. The students revealed long-hidden troubles they'd been otherwise reluctant to divulge. I noticed a closer sense of community forming in a classroom, where students regularly share their own poetry.
Through the medium of poetry and given their social background, the students more easily understood and identified with their classmates' sadness, fear, loneliness, rage, excitement, awe and pleasure. Poetry also helped the students define who they are. Poetry is a much freer form than prose writing.
Even students with limited language skills can excel in poetry. The workshops promoted individuality and creativity; it allows students to expand their understanding of what they are writing. The environment established for the poetry workshop valued and appreciated students' different ideas and allowed them to express original thinking.
Some students as seen from Tolu school were allowed to write several poems, while others only wrote one as found among the Ireti Grammar school students. Throughout the poetry writing, a wide variety of art supplies were provided. The students were allowed to use these materials both during poetry writing and vignette creating. The materials afforded the class with the means to fully express their own feelings and ideas in the poetry.
At the workshop, students felt more comfortable undertaking a topic that might otherwise be intimidating. In addition, publishing the students' work validates their role as both a writer and an artist, roles with which many of them did not identify prior to the workshop. This new role helped the students to recognize that what they do in school is important and affects their lives.
The students were given the opportunity to share their writing at the end of the workshop and performed them at Goethe Institut during the Wordslam event on Saturday. Students who ordinarily pass on the chance to share their work read their poems. Each student was applauded for his or her writing and many offered compliments.
The responses of the audience as the students presented their poems allowed them to understand their work is important and they are capable of producing art that others appreciate.
This lesson was exciting and enjoyable for both students to experience and Ade Bantu to teach. I knew it would be an engaging lesson and the students could feel the enthusiasm and as it spread. He was able to watch the class generate good ideas, express those ideas on paper in various forms of poetry and compile them into a variety of unique experience.
The Wordslam School Outreach Programme will ultimately encourage students to write about and discuss issues relevant to their lives. It will give them writing prompts that seek to develop their own voice and urge them to confront modern-day social issues head-on. It will also help in harnessing the potentials of students-poets, which will form the bulk of generation next spoken word- poets. The revolution has begun.
Ade Bantu: Portrait of the Artist as a Teacher
Ade Bantu the Nigeria-Germany born international artiste, who facilitated the two workshops for students in both schools, had a firm grasp of the subject and the activities in the classroom. He took the students through the various stages of spoken word-poetry writing, yet letting them express their minds freely. The result was later seen at the Wordslam IV show at Goethe Institut on Saturday November, 28 where students made passionate spoken word-poetry presentations with various themes to the delight of the audience.
He demonstrated an understanding of the limitations of the students in grasping concept taught. His performance at the workshop showed an artiste, who is at home with the teaching of spoken word poetry to students incorporating various concepts of poetry writing in form, content, rhymes etc.
Olupohunda educator and writer, coordinated the Ikoyi leg of the Wordslam IV School Outreach Project.
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