THE wit and wisdom of William Shakespeare will be retold at Grant High School this year by English teacher Gemma Rout.
Ms Rout was recently announced as one of 30 recipients to receive a fully-funded regional teacher mentorship with Sydney’s Bell Shakespeare theatre company for 2020.
The mentorship provides professional development for teachers that may not otherwise have such opportunities.
In her third year of teaching, Ms Rout said she applied for the mentorship as a way to help elevate her skills and further understand the craft of a writer who was considered one of the best in the world.
“Shakespeare is one part of teaching English which I understand the value of, but feel I need more skill to teach,” she said.
“I do not think students in particularly really understand how much they intake is based on Shakespeare at some level.
“Through this mentorship, I want to find as many avenues as possible for the students so they can look at Shakespeare’s work in different ways and make it more relevant to them.”
In March, the opportunity will see Ms Rout and the other 29 recipients travel to the theatre company’s headquarters for specialist training in teaching Shakespeare, to collaborate and network with teachers from other regions and to see the company’s production of Hamlet at Sydney Opera House.
On their return to school, teachers receive ongoing support from Bell Shakespeare artists and staff as well as access to in-school and in-theatre programs to support their continued learning.
Through the year, Ms Rout said she planned to continue to build on Grant High School’s successful arts and drama sector.
“I would like to try and establish a culture for real literature at the school because, even though it is already there is always opportunity to grow,” she said.
“Last year, we saw an uptake of children embracing literature and being involved with Writer’s Week and events.
“Having more people with more skills can only continue to elevate our arts faculty.”
Ms Rout said she personally did not like the playwright’s work when she was in high school.
“I thought it was drab and I did not understand the language because I did not allow myself to enjoy it,” she said.
“I now realise that although his work may seem quite old fashioned, it is still relatable,” she said.
“I just think he is very observant of the human conditions and how we act in certain ways.”
With hidden meaning on every page, Ms Rout said she enjoyed Shakespeare’s text as it had many layers.
“Each time you think you have broken every thing down, you find something new,” she said.
“Whether that be through looking at the plays or his sonnets, it is always so rich and there is so much.
“Even the words, insults and sayings he created are a great gateway to help those less-engaged kids become involved and interested.”
Over her studying years, Ms Rout said she had only researched the play Macbeth in detail, but recently began looking into Romeo and Juliet.
“I am not one for tragedy and Macbeth has a very tragic story line, but now I have taught it, I have realised it is a fantastic text and the kids really get into it,” she said.
“The kids reacted in a different way than expected when we learnt Romeo and Juliet, but they still reacted.
“We also watched the Baz Luhrmann film with it and they were up and arms and had a passionate reaction.”
Trained in also teaching history, Ms Rout said she thought she was drawn to the writer because of his evolutionary impact.
“Every text could be considered historical, but his text is obviously another level,” she said.
“There must be a reason we are still looking into those stories today after they were written many years ago.”
Ms Rout said she looked forward to the mentorship opportunity and she heard nothing but positive feedback from teachers previously involved.
