"Being a poet is to be human, to express your own truth,
Being a poet is just to be you."
From To Be a Poet by Sharena Lee Satti
Many teachers tell us that they love poetry but worry it’s tricky to teach or that students might see it as outdated or irrelevant. However, poetry is anything but. It’s playful, flexible and one of the most inclusive literary forms we can explore in the classroom. It speaks directly to young people’s lives and experiences, offering space for creativity, connection and self-expression.
Yet persistent myths can make poetry seem distant or dull. One of the most common is the idea that poetry is old-fashioned, a misconception often shaped by how it’s been traditionally taught.
In this blog, we’ll share five practical ways to challenge these myths and show how poetry can be a vibrant part of every classroom.
We also invite you to join our poetry movement through the free Young Poet Laureate programme, where you will be supported to make poetry come alive in your classroom.
Five of the most common poetry myths
...and how to bust them wide open.
Myth 1: Only confident writers can enjoy poetry
Poetry doesn’t have to mean tackling long, complex texts or understanding classical language. In fact, it can be one of the most accessible and inclusive forms of expression in the classroom. Free verse, rap and song lyrics are all poetry, and their rhythm and energy often come alive when read or performed aloud. This opens up space for students of all abilities to engage with the sound and flow of language without the pressure of ‘getting it right’.
Classroom idea: Explore students’ favourite rap and song lyrics in class together.
It’s vital to recognise that poetry takes many forms and for many students, especially those who may not usually connect with traditional verse, it could be rap, spoken word or song lyrics that open the door. These forms not only share poetic techniques like rhythm, metaphor and internal rhyme, but can also connect to students’ lived experiences and cultural references, and may ignite excitement and boost confidence.
Myth 2: Poetry is not written by people like me or for me
This is one of the most common myths that keeps students feeling disconnected from poetry, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. Contemporary poetry is diverse, vibrant and rooted in real, everyday experiences. Poets like Karl Nova, Nikita Gill and Caleb Femi write from their own lives, drawing on themes like identity, family, mental health and growing up in cities.
We Are Derby by Jamie Thrasivoulou, is inspired by his shared love of Derby County Football Club. While Zohab Zee Khan blends English, Urdu and Punjabi in his performances, showing how poetry can cross languages and cultures while staying deeply personal.
Poetry lives within your community, not just in dusty anthologies. Some of the most powerful poems are being written by young people about their own lives: about friendship, football, the bus ride to school, or the languages they speak at home. These poems, often shared on TikTok, Instagram and other social media channels, reflect voices and experiences that feel familiar, showing students that poetry can sound like them, look like them and speak directly to what they care about. Whether it’s funny, sad, cheeky or inspiring, poetry isn’t something far away, it’s in the here-and-now, written by people just like them.
Classroom idea: Celebrate first languages and cultural identity
Encourage students to write in their first or home language, or to blend languages as they wish. This validates all linguistic backgrounds and makes poetry more inclusive and personal. Prompts that draw on memory, place, food or family can offer rich ground for students to explore their identity, culture and heritage through poetry.
For inspiration, watch Zohab Zee Khan perform Home.
Myth 3: My students don’t enjoy poetry
It’s easy to assume students won’t enjoy poetry, but the truth is they’re already engaging with it every day, often without even realising it. Song lyrics, rap, football chants and playground rhymes all use the same poetic devices found in the classroom. When we frame poetry through the existing passions of students, tapping into interests and themes they already know and love, it becomes instantly more relatable and exciting.
Poetry lives in all of us. Poetry can be loud, joyful, reflective or raw. It doesn’t ask students to be experts, rather, it invites them to notice, feel and express. The poet isn’t someone else in a book, the poet is already in them!
Classroom idea: Have a go at this freewriting activity with your students
Freewriting is a technique poets use to warm up their ‘writing muscles’. Set a timer for three minutes. Give students a writing prompt such as one of the following:
Home is…
It doesn’t matter how much…
Start the timer. Write quickly and, most importantly, continuously for three minutes without worrying about style, spelling or grammar. Tell students that they can write anything that comes into their heads on their topic. They don’t have to share with anyone. If they get stuck, they can write the same word repeatedly until something else comes up. There is only one rule: never stop writing!
Myth 4: Poetry is only for exams and analysis
Too often, students see poetry as something to be picked apart for marks, full of tricky techniques and hidden meanings to decode. However, when we introduce poetry through creativity rather than analysis, we help students connect with it on a deeper, more personal level.
Encouraging students to write their own poems and experiment with language helps shift the focus from pressure to play. They begin to see poetry as a way to express what really matters to them, whether that’s identity, friendship, frustration or joy. As they grow more confident exploring and shaping language, their understanding of how poetry works naturally deepens. Poetry starts as play, and that’s where its power lies.
Classroom idea: Create a ‘found poem’ with students
Give them each a page from a magazine or an article and ask them to cut out words and phrases, rearranging them into a poem. Ensure they know that the focus is on playing with words and form, not ‘correctness’.
Myth 5: Poetry doesn’t matter in real life
It’s easy to think of poetry as something separate from the ‘real world’ and just a school subject with little relevance beyond the classroom. But in truth, poetry helps develop important and transferable life skills. By reading, writing and performing poetry, students build empathy by stepping into other people’s shoes; they learn to communicate clearly and expressively, and they grow in confidence as they find their voice.
Most importantly, poetry gives students a powerful outlet for self-expression, whether they’re exploring joy, sadness, identity or causes for celebration. Poetry teaches us how to listen, how to reflect and how to speak from the heart. Far from being irrelevant, it offers students tools they can carry with them long after they leave the classroom.
Classroom idea: Show the power of poetry to amplify voices and inspire change
Introduce students to the idea that poetry is a powerful tool for inspiring change and amplifying voices. Here are two powerful examples to read and reflect on:
- You Are A Miracle by Nikita Gill
This poem encourages self-acceptance and speaks to themes of mental health, identity and inner strength, all deeply relevant to the real-world experiences young people face today.
- The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman
Performed at the 2021 U.S. presidential inauguration, this poem demonstrates how poetry can respond to current events, promote unity and spark meaningful national conversations.
Bonus tip: Use journals as places to play, free-write and store fragments of poems they like and personal thoughts and feelings. This helps normalise the ‘messy middle’ process of writing and make it clear that half-formed ideas are valuable. By encouraging students to reflect on their experiences and express emotions in their own words, poetry journals can support confidence, emotional literacy and communication
How can teachers be part of busting myths in the classroom?
Poetry is not about ‘getting it right’ and just for a certain elite sector of society: it’s an art form for all, powerfully enabling creativity, self-expression and connection. By breaking down these myths in your classroom, you can open the door for every student to discover their own poetic voice.
Get involved with the Young Poet Laureate programme
You can start your poetry movement with the Young Poet Laureate programme, a free national project empowering schools with classroom resources, live events, and mentoring from professional poets to spark poetic creativity and confidence in students, while nurturing the next generation of poets to champion poetry in schools and communities across England.
By registering, schools will receive:
- Free classroom resources with practical, ready-to-use activities.
- A teacher briefing on 30 September to guide you through the offer.
- Access to Young Poets Week (24–28 November): inspiring online masterclasses with poets including Laura Mucha, Zohab Zee Khan, Karl Nova and Nikita Gill.
- A chance to receive one of 120 free in-person visits from a local poet for an interactive poetry assembly.
- Opportunities for pupils to apply to become Young Poet Laureates and represent their region nationally.
Register today and to secure your place and join a movement of schools and poets working together to inspire the next generation of poets.