Opinion

 The theme of ‘Belonging’ was set this year for schools by the State poetry competition. The Dorothea Mackellar Prize subject was ‘In my Opinion’, an unusual change from previous years, when our imaginations were invited to think about for example ‘I Can Hear Music’ (2010), ‘Wheels and Wings and Marvellous Things’ (2012), or ‘Rich and Rare’ (2021), a phrase from the national anthem. ‘In my Opinion’ presented a quandary for the teacher, me. To begin with, do we make poetry expressly to express an opinion? More to the point, do children? I raised this question with colleagues at the school. It seemed to me that the objective of learning to write poetry is complete freedom with words, emotions, thoughts, experiences. Both intellect and feeling are at work together and for the child this freedom is not inhibited by expectations of the right thing to say or the right way of saying it. Saying what they want to say using all available vocabulary, that is place where they find themselves. Correct spelling is attended to later. This led to the question of whether children are aware that they have opinions and when that awareness awakens. It was put that children simply parrot the opinions of their parents and elders, which is proper for the moment. It was observed that debating, the formal practice of arguing different sides of an issue, begins around the age of ten or eleven, at a time when children learn for themselves how contradictory opinions can remain valid. Puberty arrives. Debates are rarely conducted in rhyming couplets. While children may have opinions about favourite food, popular destinations and 101 other sensations, these are not matters of dispute. Nothing hangs on it. On the face of it ‘In my Opinion’ is an interesting theme, with philosophical intent. But are opinions enough? Children are unlikely to want to be identified by their opinions; they must wait for adulthood and a general election to experience that sort of objectification. To learn poetry writing is to engage in play, not personal agendas. It is enough to find their way with language and what words do and say. After all, poetry is imitation of what they conceive to be poetry, which is more than enough content for one lesson. They could spend a lifetime at that sort of game and never lose interest. Is a poem written just to express an opinion? Adults might, while children want to express whatever’s going on right now, with little thought for making an impression, or a performance, or sending a message. Even adult poems, which may be premised on an opinion, are usually wishing to say more, as the opinion itself sets the argument or acts as a ghost in the machine. For these and other reasons, ‘In my Opinion’ was thought not to be a good starter for teaching the child’s word game called poetry.