Teachers 'need Shakespeare lessons'

The Globe Theatre runs courses for teachers

Pupils are being put off Shakespeare because the government is failing to invest in training teachers to teach it properly, it has been claimed.

Patrick Spottiswoode, director of education at the Globe Theatre in London, said teachers needed to teach Shakespeare's plays in a lively and imaginative way to prevent pupils from becoming bored.

He said the government should give money to schools to pay for training days for teachers, so they could learn how best to deliver Shakespeare in the classroom.

Training courses had been held at the Globe Theatre for three years, but attendance by UK English teachers was "disappointing".

Instead, places were filled by teachers from overseas - particularly the United States where they received incentives to attend courses.

'Teachers need support'

Studying Shakespeare is compulsory for secondary school pupils.

As part of the national curriculum, pupils must study at least two Shakespeare plays between the ages of 11 and 16. There is also a Shakespeare test for 14-year-olds.

The film Shakespeare in Love helped boost the playwright's popularity among young people

But those involved in education at the Globe Theatre are concerned at how Shakespeare is being taught.

Spokeswoman Fiona Banks said: "The last thing on earth we would want to do would be to berate teachers.

"But of the demands the curriculum makes on them, more time is spent teaching Shakespeare than any other single subject. Teachers need support to do that."

'Interaction'

The teaching of Shakespeare in schools had improved, and she had seen some "stunning" examples of classroom teaching.

But the government did need to make money available for teacher training in the subject, so teachers could meet curriculum targets, she said.

"It's not only the cost of courses, but the cost of covering a teacher for the day.

"Teaching Shakespeare well should involve treating it as a script for performance, and some form of interactive process.

"It's not about reading the play to yourself or out in class without any analysis or interaction with the text."

Ms Banks said teacher training institutions could not be blamed for any deficiencies in teachers' ability to teach Shakespeare, as the subject was just one of a "great many issues" which had to be covered in a short space of time.

"Teaching Shakespeare is just one thing that a PGCE English student needs to learn in one year, a lot of which is spent in school.

"For example, classroom management is another huge issue."

Direct cash grants

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: "We believe that pupils are well taught and that sufficient money is spent on ensuring that teachers have the skills to do that.

"Earlier this year, David Blunkett announced big direct cash grants to schools, for schools to spend on whatever they want.

"Schools are free to spend that money on training days for their teachers if they wish to do so."

The Royal Shakespeare Company is to offer year-round support to teachers to help them deliver Shakespeare in the classroom, it emerged on Monday.

Places for teachers on its Prince of Wales summer school in Stratford-upon-Avon have been doubled to 60, and it is seeking proposals on how a year-round support network could operate.