The Tale of Touching Shakespeare

The teaching of Shakespeare in secondary schools in England is often seen as challenging, difficult, ‘dry’ (Dymoke, 2009: 131). The language can be a ‘problem’ (Yandell & Franks, 2009: 245). However, it has been repeatedly shown that active approaches to Shakespeare foster greater enthusiasm for and understanding of his plays (e.g. Gibson, 1998; Thomas, 2010). As a former secondary English teacher and now lecturer and secondary English teacher educator, inspiring students - and now student teachers - to enjoy and feel confident engaging in Shakespeare’s work has been a challenge for the whole of my professional life.
My research interests tie into this question. I am currently exploring how creativity has been viewed and promoted in English teaching over the past century, as a way of contextualising an inquiry into the impact of the latest version of the English national curriculum (NC) (2014) in England. Running in tandem is my interest in the contribution that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) can make to an English classroom. This article describes a project that combines both aspects of my work: the product – an iPad app on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet designed for classroom use - encourages a fresh, active and ‘risky’ approach to teaching Shakespeare using current technology.