The purpose of this study was to consider the issue of "authentic engagement" with texts in the context of KS3 and KS4 classroom English teaching. This article describes an exemplar session on the poem "A Fine Romance" by Roger McGough designed to elicit authentic engagement and provoke personal responses, and reports on the perceptions of the five pedagogic approaches used by 12 PGCE English trainees. These perceptions were gathered through both guided personal reflection and group discussion, and encouraged the trainees to consider the pedagogies as both learners and teachers. The article discusses the implication of the trainees' perceptions and the potential impact of these perceptions on their future classroom practice.