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.