ERIC Number: EJ1293462
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0425-0494
EISSN: N/A
Secondary Shakespeare in the UK: What Gets Taught and Why?
Elliott, Victoria; Olive, Sarah
English in Education, v55 n2 p102-115 2021
In this paper, we report data from the first national survey of secondary Shakespeare teaching in the UK, conducted online in 2017-18 with a sample of 211 teachers distributed through England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. We report on what is taught and why. Our survey shows that the most popular play in the UK is "Macbeth," which is one-fifth of all Shakespeare teaching instances in our sample. At age 11, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "The Tempest" dominate, while at A level A.C. Bradley's "big four" -- "Othello," "Hamlet," "King Lear" and "Macbeth" -- are the most popular. Reasons to teach certain texts related to clear plot, themes and good characters for analysis; aside from the play's characteristics, whether or not there were copies of the text in school was the major deciding factor in what to teach, along with the existence of supporting resources.
Descriptors: Secondary School Students, English Literature, National Surveys, English Instruction, Literary Devices, Teaching Methods, Drama, Foreign Countries, Teacher Surveys, Educational Resources, Teacher Attitudes, Instructional Materials
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (England); United Kingdom (Northern Ireland); United Kingdom (Scotland); United Kingdom (Wales)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A