Shakespeare & Social Justice
TFANA is partnering in a 5-year project led by the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles (SCLA) to create and disseminate Shakespeare & Social Justice, a curriculum to foster social justice values and actions through the teaching of Shakespeare in English Language Arts classrooms. Wherever you’re located, we invite you to join us in this work!
FOR NYC TEACHERS:
Shakespeare & Social Justice Essentials
During this 3-hour professional development workshop, you will:
- Explore the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Social Justice Standards and learn how to guide your students to create essential questions about identity, diversity, justice, and action in a text
- Work with our “theatre artist toolkit” for building safe & brave spaces for social justice conversations the way that professional artists do in a rehearsal room
- Discover theatre-inspired skills to deepen your students’ critical thinking about power, agency, and social change in the complex texts you study
Teachers local to New York City are invited to join us at TFANA in spring 2024 for our “Shakespeare & Social Justice Essentials” workshop.
While we’ll use Shakespeare’s text in our workshop, the takeaways can apply to any complex text that invites critical interpretation. Middle and high school teachers of any grade or subject are welcome.
Details and sign-up coming soon! If you’d like to be the first to know when registration opens, reach out to TFANA Education Director Lindsay Tanner at [email protected] or call 212.229.2819 x18.
FOR TEACHERS ANYWHERE:
Info & Opportunities from SCLA
Development of S&SJ
Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles (SCLA) began a journey to craft an innovative educational initiative that became the Shakespeare and Social Justice Arts and Education program (S&SJ) in the Fall of 2021. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) and receives support from several prominent theatre arts organizations, individuals, and universities. These partnerships contribute to the development of curriculum and can be integrated into English Language Arts and Social Science curriculum in a variety of states meeting state standards and practices.
The engaging and useful new in-classroom curriculum materials are built on Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles’s (SCLA) nationally renowned and well-established after-school Will Power to Youth (WPY) program, a workforce development project which uses arts-based teaching strategies to raise social awareness, advance anti-racist values and actions, and support pro-social youth development. The center of this initiative is the utilization of youth voices in discovering themes of identity, diversity, justice, and action found in Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets. This summer marked a significant milestone as the WPY program celebrated its 30th anniversary. It stands as a testament to the positive change youth arts employment can bring to youth ages 14-22.
The Value of National Partnerships
Reaching a broad audience with new curriculum could not be accomplished alone. The partners have contributed to S&SJ’s vitality and the dissemination of teaching materials within their own communities. Over the course of two years, S&SJ has partnered with Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble, Arizona State University Medieval and Renaissance studies, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Learning for Justice: a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Shakespeare Theatre Company in DC, Theatre for A New Audience, and The Old Globe in San Diego, to expand learning opportunities for teachers and youth to explore Shakespeare’s text. These partners not only support the dissemination of materials to participants no matter their gender, race, national origin, color, disability, or age, but foster a deep appreciation for what the arts can do beyond the classroom to build potential leaders in their community.
Become Part of S&SJ’s Inquiry Group in 2023-2024
Our goal is to write useful and innovative curriculum for high school teaching that combines:
- Activities created by theater artists based on their work with youth programs at SCLA over the last almost thirty years, and insights that have come from those experiences with young people outside of school.
- Shakespeare pedagogy developed for 21st Century learners in English Language Arts classes.
- The Learning for Justice Standards from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The DOE allows us to pay you a stipend for your participation.
You can see what we’ve developed so far on our Resources page and Online Modules.
Ready to join our Shakespeare & Social Justice Teacher Inquiry Groups? Contact Laura Turchi.
What’s Next?
In November 2023, S&SJ will present at the NCTE Conference on how Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet becomes relevant and can matter to 21st Century students when adults listen to youth about their lives, and perspectives, and then engage them in meaning-making through combining close textual analysis, drama-based pedagogy, and expressive and creative re-storying opportunities.
Teachers outside NYC who are interested in further opportunities with S&SJ: To receive information about S&SJ or on-line and in person Professional Development opportunities in development for 2023-2024, contact [email protected] or call (213) 481-2273
Keep in touch!
