Abstract: | Keith Park, advisory teacher for Sense in the London Boroughs of Greenwich and Lewisham, has written a series of articles focused on the relationship between communication and access to literature for pupils with learning difficulties. In this article, he turns his attention to poetry. He explores the notion that all of us, to some extent, respond to great works of literature affectively. He describes his use of works by T. S. Eliot, James Joyce and Shakespeare in interactive and experiential sessions with pupils with severe and profound and multiple learning difficulties. In closing this article, Keith Park provides a case study in assessment by evaluating the responses of one student and showing how the Shakespeare workshop enabled her to become an active learner. |