Consideration of the opportunities afforded to learners by use of social software is still in its infancy (Doe, 2006; Richardson, 2006; Hauser, 2007. This paper reports on one aspect of a qualitative study designed to investigate the affordances (Laurillard et al 2000) and impact of the participation of beginning English teachers in an online wiki community which is focused specifically on building collaborative knowledge about poetry writing and the development of poetry pedagogy. In its entirety, the study considers to what extent the two groups of beginning teachers, working in contrasting settings in the UK and Canada, are able to develop their skills and confidence in teaching poetry during their pre-service year through use of this digital medium. The aims of the project have been for the teachers to engage with reading, performing, writing and teaching poetry, to reflect on the nature of the genre and the challenges it presents them with as beginning teachers. They have begun to explore ways of embedding the digital activities within their own emerging classroom practice. This paper focuses specifically on the processes of poetry writing (both collaborative and independent). It considers the poems that the teachers have created on the wiki and the digital dialogue which has evolved through their communications about this writing. The different drafts of their poems are analysed, together with consideration of how/whether they (and their tutors) have shared, responded to and edited the draft material. Our analysis of the teachers’ writing and discussion indicates some ways in which beginning teachers can develop their digital literacy through collaboration in a wiki. The findings lead to recommendations for further refinements in uses of this social software and conclusions about its potential value as a tool for building confidence in the teaching of poetry writing, an aspect of the English curriculum which, traditionally, has presented challenges for beginning teachers in many different international contexts. Teaching poetry has long been recognised as a problem which presents specific subject knowledge and creative challenges for educators who wish to engage young learners in the genre but may have had limited experience of how this could be achieved themselves (Mathieson 1980; Harrison and Gordon, 1983; Benton 1984; Andrews 1991). Initial teacher education marks a vital stage in developing a teacher’s confidence in handling the genre successfully in the classroom. Within the development of what Gudmundsdottir (1995) calls ‘Pedagogically seeking eyes’ to reconstruct texts for the purposes of teaching, opportunities should exist with English/Language Arts courses to reflect on prior learning about poetry, as well as personal responses to the genre (Dymoke 2000). Daly (2004) notes the pressure of the assessment agenda on beginning teachers’ approaches to poetry and some evidence suggests that poetry is the least well-taught part of the English curriculum (Ofsted, 2007) in the UK. Research by Dymoke (2007) concludes that if beginning teachers are to develop a critical awareness of poetry pedagogy which will sustain them throughout their teaching careers, they need to be given early training opportunities to experiment with creative approaches which will, in turn, develop their creative selves.

Beginning teachers’ perceptions and their draft poems were captured through a variety of qualitative methods: seminar discussion notes; digital artefacts created and edited by the teachers; comments and written reflections added to the wiki by other participants; post-course surveys. Data was first analysed using independent coding then shared and recoded by both researchers. The wiki participants were 55 postgraduates preparing to enter the teaching profession from two Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and two university tutors. Data has been anonymised to preserve confidentiality. Other readers could browse the wiki. However, only the participants could make postings or edit each other’s work.

Recommendations for further refinements and uses of the collaborative learning environment. Conclusions about its potential value as a tool for building beginning teachers’ confidence in the teaching of poetry writing.