Research we conducted with the British Council suggests that 50 per cent of school children in the world study Shakespeare each year. For many young people, they will experience Shakespeare's plays as a book to be read, as opposed to a play that comes to life when explored through performance.
The barriers
Reading Shakespeare as a book can be off-putting for many young people and it isn't the way Shakespeare intended his plays to be shared. Experiencing the plays in – and through – performance can be a profound way to unlock the language and bring the plots, themes and characters to life for young people of all ages.
Exploring Shakespeare's plays using the kinds of approaches that actors and directors use in the rehearsal room underpins the work of the Royal Shakespeare Company's (RSC) Creative Learning team. Through workshops, online webinars, our Associate Schools Programme and Certificate in Teaching Shakespeare pathways, we offer teacher professional development opportunities and an approach to learning about Shakespeare that is firmly rooted in the way our actors work in rehearsals.
Entering the space
Rehearsal rooms, like classrooms, are collaborative spaces. On the first day of rehearsals at the RSC, some actors will arrive knowing a play inside out, some will come to it for the first time. But by the end of rehearsals, they will all have a far clearer understanding of the language, plots and character motivations. They will have created a world for the play and be able to articulate key drivers and motivations for characters and action.
So how do actors achieve that level of understanding in such a relatively short space of time? The answer lies in the way they approach the plays. In rehearsals, actors are actively engaged, exploring interpretive choices and embodying the language and action. They delve into the language, scenes and character motivation: put themselves in the shoes of the characters, see what they see, feel what they feel and speak their words out loud and ‘in character.’ In short, the learning doesn't just happen in their heads, it happens with their whole selves. The same is true of children in a classroom. When the desks are pushed aside and the lesson engages students physically, emotionally and intellectually, deeper learning takes place.
One route
The RSC Certificate in Teaching Shakespeare pathway is just one of the ways that we work with schools and teachers. We currently offer four levels of certificate training from our introductory one-day course to our three-day sandwich course modules at foundation, intermediate and advanced levels, each exploring different aspects of our rehearsal-room approaches to teaching Shakespeare. The courses take place in Stratford-upon-Avon and include a ticket to see a Shakespeare play, a resource pack of activities, as well as a ready-made network of fellow teachers and the opportunity to work with experienced RSC practitioners. The introductory one-day course is an affordable and accessible way to dip your toe into our world and find out what RSC rehearsal room approaches are all about. Teachers consistently come away from the course reinvigorated and eager to learn more – with the vast majority progressing to the next, if not all three, levels of our certification pathway.
A day in the life
Starting at 10.30am, by the end of the day teachers will have developed the confidence, knowledge and skills to be able to use our approaches to tackle complex texts in accessible ways. They learn how to introduce themes, plot and characters through our rehearsal-based approaches and how to adapt them to suit the specific needs of pupils in their own classrooms. Working with an experienced RSC practitioner and group of like-minded teachers, participants explore a number of practical exercises, looking at extracts from Shakespeare's plays and learning how to foster a secure learning environment where students feel confident to take risks and work physically and vocally – just like a company of actors.
Vanessa Adams, a performing arts teacher at The Skipton Academy, has completed all levels of the RSC Certificate in Teaching Shakespeare. Here, she talks about the life-changing impact the work has had on her students, including one student in particular who struggled with a lack of confidence and poor attendance:
‘Student C's Mum is ecstatic about the impact the involvement with RSC activities has had on her child's confidence and well-being… Student C's English teacher stated that Student C is now ‘incredibly enthusiastic about literature, reading and talking about texts.’
For more information about our Certificate in Teaching Shakespeare courses and other CPD opportunities for schools and teachers, http://rsc.org.uk/learn/schools-and-teachers