Shakespeare’s place in the curriculum
As education becomes more focused on the developing world of technology and equipping students with the skills that they need to survive in the modern working world, there is the growing question of what is actually important to teach in the classroom, and what is better left for extracurricular study. With limited resources, as well as time, a common concern is what types of books and novels are being taught in school, and whether there is room in the curriculum for works from the past. One author that is almost universally taught is William Shakespeare.
We’ve all encountered the works of Shakespeare in some way during our education, but is there room for the bard in the modern day classroom? Some of the most influential works—not only in English literature, but in the world—are the works of William Shakespeare. As a theatre kid at an Integrated Arts high school, the Bard of Stratford was a foundational aspect of not only my English curriculum, but my education in general. To find out whether old Bill still had a place in classrooms, I decided to return back to my roots and talk to some of my former educators on their thoughts on teaching Shakespeare.
Ms. Karen Brown was my seventh grade teacher, and the first in my memory to bring Shakespeare to my attention. Before intermediate school, I had gone to a few different Shakespeare productions, Twelfth Night being the one that sticks out most in my mind, but I had never encountered him in an academic setting.
“I think that there is still a place for teaching William Shakespeare in classrooms,” Brown said during a recent email correspondence. “Looking at his plays, you appreciate them not only for their dramatic influence, and their influence on the English language and how we perform theatre, but you can also use them as historical documents of the period.”
The popularity of Shakespeare has led many scholars to look at the period of his life with more of a keen eye than they give many of his contemporaries. The majority of my knowledge of the fourteenth century comes from my interaction with Shakespeare, and his works have a part to play in my interest in history in general. William Shakespeare’s works are not limited to the page, they have the ability to leak off the page and influence other disciplines. A former drama teacher of mine, Mrs. Dianne Russell, mentioned the “universal truths” of Shakespeare.
“He is just one of those writers that was able to connect with a wide range of people, and spoke to issues that are still relevant to this day. Whether it was through his plays or his sonnets, his ability to connect is what makes his work still relevant and important to education.”
As a soon to be English graduate at the University of Guelph, Shakespeare has somehow managed to find his way into my education every step of the way. I have my favourites, and there are also a few that I roll my eyes when I see them on my reading list—I’m looking at you, Measure for Measure. The staying power of Shakespeare may very well come from the universality of his messages. We’ve all been indecisive like Hamlet or in love like Juliet, but hopefully with a less grisly end. As educators try their best to prepare their students for the future, I don’t think there is anything wrong with leaving some room for the past