An interesting take on how to help young people get the most out of Shakespeare, from a fellow blogger and teacher of English Literature:
A follower’s question about the teaching of Shakespeare has had me reflecting on my experiences in the classroom.
I was wary of teaching Shakespeare too early on in secondary school. I know there are people who think ‘the younger the better’, but the other side of that idea is dealing with the kind of questions students are likely to ask; I have never been one to censor anything in the classroom, and so waiting until students were – hopefully – of a suitable mature age to be given honest and truthful answers to their questions, felt more sensible to me. Inevitably questions about sex would arise: Shakespeare is full of allusions, references, and, more than anything, word-play. Explaining Romeo and Juliet even to Y9 students demanded a certain level of care… so my personal preference was to wait until Y9.
There is the idea of beginning earlier with something more…
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