English Career Resources
The Poetry of Work
Introduction
Part 1: What do you call work?
Part 2: What people feel about their work
Part 3: People and their
work – poetry writing
Part 1: What do you call work?
Part 2: What people feel about their work
Part 3: People and their
work – poetry writing
The Poetry of Work
Key Stage 3: The Poetry of Work
(Career Education Guidance Objective 6)English Career Guidance Objective 6 proposes that students should 'Recognise that work is more than paid employment and that there is considerable variation in the value individuals and society attach to different kinds of work.'
Overview
In this unit, students will work collaboratively to define the term 'work' through dictionary research, mind mapping and class discussion. They will then explore Tom Sawyer's definitions of work and play by reading an extract from the novel. Two texts by Philip Larkin are used to explore attitudes to work through poetry.
The unit then guides students to investigate attitudes towards different kinds of work using a selection of poems that can be accessed online. Teachers' guidance notes to these poems, together with activities to support their students' investigations are provided. Finally, students are given an opportunity to explore different career paths through writing poems of their own.
The work is progressive and the teachers will need to make available samples of student work from Part 1 when they begin Part 2.