Silence, poetic inquiry and meaning making: the possibilities for literacy learning and education

In this article we explore the relationship between silence and literacy, employing autoethnography and poetry as inquiry, highlighting how silence enhances meaning making in literacy practices. Silence is positioned not merely as an absence of sound or words but as a dynamic element integral to textual engagement and interpretation. Through an analysis of personal poetic texts, using Heidegger’s concept of dwelling thinking and Barthes's idea of Work and Text, we demonstrate how silence operates on multiple levels, coexisting with words and resonating in the learner’s contemplative spaces. In poetry, silence compels readers to navigate the spaces between words, fostering deeper comprehension and appreciation of the language. We argue that recognising these silences is crucial for literacy learning and has an important part as a teaching and learning approach in education. The study further discusses the pedagogical implications of teaching with silence, offering ideas for where it might be employed.