It’s Boring, Very Boring
A few days ago on one of my posts the following comment was added:
i’m studying shakespeare at school it’s very very boring but then all school is
I hope the comment’s author doesn’t mind me using it. But that sentence got me thinking back to my high school days where the previous statement was all too true. I got to thinking, how one teach or learn about Shakespeare in a setting with very little motivation to do so?
It’s far from a simple answer, but I had an idea. The first solution I thought of is to reply: “Don’t study Shakespeare in school.” Beep, beep, back the truck up. You may think I’m crazy but bear with my oddly structured flow of ideas. I consider myself a scholarly person, and an eternal student (I’m sure I’ll always be going back to school in some form every now and then throughout my life) but a motto I’ve had since high school is “Don’t let school get in the way of your education.”
I know, I’m only sounding crazier as I go. There is some merit to this statement; it’s not an excuse of a motto to justify ditching class and going to the beach. The fact of the matter is that many students don’t find that they are motivated to learn in school and in the classroom setting. They’re not all lazy or bad kids. They just don’t find the environment very inviting and engaging. Aha, I’m starting to make some sense now to you I hope…
Students: School might not be you’re best friend, but I’m sure there’s plenty that you want to learn about. When you get home from a grueling day, do your homework, grab some snacks. Then, get online or find a book in a library about something that interests you and learn! There’s some great info online about everything. So if Shakespeare is boring you in class try to find a different source of information online, in a book, or on video before you give up on it or shun it entirely. There are plenty of things out there that will help you learn if the classroom isn’t you’re cup of tea.
Teachers: Accept that the classroom isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Change up the learning environment to allow for various types of activities and see what students go for. Long lectures on Shakespeare usually aren’t a good starting point. For homework, instead of worksheets how about some research? But something the student chooses (within guidelines you set) and is interested in. You can’t cover everything students should know in a classroom so why try? Instead of telling them what they should know, how about motivating them to learn! Shakespeare (and everything else) isn’t as boring when a student looks it up on their own accord. They’ll remember it better too.
So some say that “school is all boring,” but it doesn’t have to be. Remember not to let “school get in the way of education” and suddenly learning isn’t so bad. School should not be neglected of course, it needs to get done, but it is not the alpha and the omega. There’s a wealth of information to be learned out there and it’s up to you to make the most of it.
Tom Humes Mar 4
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Tom Humes
thelif Mar 7
Hello there.
I come from the Shakespeare performance world and am Director of Education for Richmond Shakespeare in Richmond, VA.
I just got back from doing one of our typical workshops in a middle school. At the outset, I go for the elephant in the room, asking “what is most people’s attitude when they go to a class knowing that they are going to study Shakespeare?” And , of course, the answer is mostly that it’s going to be boring, impossible to understand, old, etc, etc.
My response- of course, it is – when it’s READ from a book. Shakespeare is not “the book” or words on the page; it’s meant to be action on a stage. (Hence the huge numbers of people that flocked to his plays during his lifetime, and many of those were illiterate.) Even Shakespeare didn’t care about “the book”, he didn’t set about printing them. Some got copied individually, but probably at the instigation of the shareholders who wanted to make a few more pennies. The big book of all his plays (Complete Works) didn’t even get published until after he died!
I’ll be honest- I’ve been doing this for more than 10 years and there are still plays I haven’t read; it’s just very hard. My answer for students is to get up on their feet and read it out loud; be the characters, and many times the words will kind of work themselves out in context.
But the best alternatice is to GO SEE IT!
Gedaly Mar 7
Quite right! There is no substitute for seeing the plays done well. The best way to learn the words is for students to get up and do it, like you said.
It’s unfortunate that most teachers in schools don’t teach it this way. Most schools require Shakespeare in their English classes where they study literature that is meant to be read to yourself silently. Obviously Shakespeare doesn’t entirely fit into that category of material.
I also checked out the Richmond website link, sounds like you’re doing some great things! Keep it up!
thelif Mar 7
Working – or rather “playing” -on it.
We’re particularly fortunate in where we perform our summer festival. Agecroft Hall stood in England during Shakespeare’s time, and was brought over to Richmond in the 1920’s. It is now an ELizabethan museum on the interior, and perform out in the outer courtyard surrounded by gigantic magnolias.
We know that Shakespeare’s group did tour when the plague or the censors shut down the London theatres, and travelled to manor homes. SO, we like to think maybe they visited this very house.
A great place to spend your summer.
JJ Ross, Ed.D. Mar 10
So glad to find folks thinking and talking this way about learning Shakespeare.
Public education was my passion and profession but since retiring, I’ve learned more out of school about learning than I ever did in school. Mainly, I’ve learned that School and Education aren’t synonyms, much less equivalents. Whether called school, education or by any other name, I’ve learned that entertainment, engagement, play and power of story, are such stuff as dreams are made on.
My radically-unschooled daughter is now in our local community college honors program, choosing only teachers and courses that inspire and excite her, thereby creating her own ideal academic experience. Last week she was so excited to hear that a new honors Shakespeare seminar will be offered this fall, that she stayed poised online to register at the stroke of midnight as fall classes opened, to guarantee she’d get cast, I mean get a spot.
Now that’s entertainment! — um, education. Art?