First Impressions: Teaching Shakespeare with a Purpose by Ayanna Thompson and Laura Turchi

27th September 2016

This post is part of a series of brief, ‘first impression’ reviews of books on Shakespeare in Education. Look out for others posted to the BSA’s Education Network Blog.

15-minute reviewer: Paul Young

In a nutshell, this book is about:

Moving the teaching of Shakespeare away from the traditional teacher-expert led method, which often includes attempts to use the plays as a vehicle to teach a huge range of social/historical/political issues at shallow face value. Instead, it suggests a collaborative student led approach, allowing students to discover their interpretations and every day relevance in Shakespeare for themselves.

Who would like it?

Anybody looking for engaging ways to teach Shakespeare at pretty much every academic level.

Who wouldn’t like it?

People looking for a quick and easy classroom resource guide.

Best feature?

The book contains advice for every part of the teaching process, from idea inception right through to meaningful assessment, meaning it is a very comprehensive guide for how you can rethink planning.

What’s missing?

It is very much a guide aimed at those who are looking to reinvent the way they teach Shakespeare. There’s not that much for people inexperienced in teaching Shakespeare, and it lacks information on the plays if you’re not confident on content.