Poetry, Reflection, the Human Experience: Creating Spaces for Listening and Becoming

Abstract

This work is a collaborative, reflective exploration of our lived experiences interacting with students who are directly or indirectly affected by conflict. We inquired into these experiences using poetry and wrote three poems. We present these as visuals to enrich the poetic expression. Through poetry, previously unidentified themes regarding our beliefs about teachers’ roles and identities emerged. This process demonstrated that collaborative reflective practice among educators is immensely valuable for creating inclusive and evolving teaching and learning spaces. Dialogue and open-mindedness in such spaces will foster student growth, enabling them to become confident members of society.