HUNTSVILLE — Students in Port Sydney are excited about Shakespeare.
As unlikely as it sounds in this age of techno-culture, V.K. Greer teacher Kirsten Conner has kids turning off their ipods and turned on to the bard.
Conner teaches a Grade 6/7 split class and is the primary resource teacher for the school. The theatre has been a passion for the teacher since childhood.
“It’s tons of fun; it’s great to play dress up,” she said.
While her students are having a great time for the three months it takes to put on a production, they are learning in a richly textured manner.
Last week they put on a highly entertaining version of Macbeth.
Conner, an Oxford-trained teacher, believes the arts hold an important place in education. Theatre is a part of her lesson plans and she says she focuses on Shakespeare because children perceive it as something really hard to do.
But once the class breaks it down and works together, students realize how simple it really is and that they are capable of mastering literature’s great master.
“It’s a good lesson in life – if something seems really hard and you break it down it can become manageable,” she said.
Conner sees many benefits in introducing the students to language that is in many ways more complex than modern vernacular.
“It’s language that’s hard to understand,” she said. “But when they get into the play they realize it’s a story that is valid to their own lives. Even with Macbeth. It’s the story of someone who is a great friend to start out and he accomplishes great things and then gets ideas of grandeur into his head and sees his friends as expendable. In the end he can’t get any piece of mind because he’s worried that things are going to come crashing down and he has no friends.”
Examining this kind of literature teaches empathy, according to Conner.
“They have to stand in somebody else’s shoes and figure out why they would behave that way. It’s not really about them; it’s about another person – it’s a cool social skills sort of thing,” she said.
Drama is part of the art curriculum, but Conner says it goes beyond that to hard-core literacy. By studying Shakespeare the students have to go outside of their comfort zone and experiment with language.
“You’re pushing their vocabulary,” she said. “It pushes them to be more creative in their writing and their reading. Also they think about poetry and think about the way it’s done — which is not typical for Grade 6/7.”
Most important to Conner is the opportunity the students have to work together.
“It’s a fantastic bonding experience,” she said.
“They all have to work together for a common goal; if one person doesn’t it falls apart. It really is one of those web activities that brings out everybody’s strength.
“It’s not your typical pencil and paper based activity, which as we know is not everybody’s strength.”
The school plays are also an opportunity for parents to be involved in their child’s education.
From the parents and grandparents who come out to cheer on the young actors to the volunteers who pull together the costumes, it’s an activity in engagement.
“To do these productions I rely very heavily on parent volunteers,” said Conner. “Without their support it wouldn’t come off as well as it does.”
The costumes the volunteers bring to the activity help the fledgling actors to develop their characters.
“When you’re standing in your own clothing, you only come to a certain level,” said Conner.
“When they have the hair and the makeup they really start to feel more like the character – it all becomes more real to them.”