_{Image: Group 1 National Teacher Mentorship participants with teaching artists Emily Edward (left) and Huw Mckinnon (right). Photo credit: Clare Hawley (2024 NTM Bell Shakespeare)}

Last year, I was scrolling through an English Teachers Association of Queensland newsletter and the words ‘Bell Shakespeare Teacher Mentorship’ caught my eye. 

For anyone who isn’t familiar with Bell Shakespeare, it is considered an Australian cultural icon. Established in 1990 by renowned actor and director John Bell, they are Australia’s national theatre company specialising in the works of Shakespeare.

Designed to “strengthen your Shakespeare teaching arsenal,” the four-day National Teacher Mentorship trains 30 teachers from across Australia in innovative Shakespeare strategies and active learning principles and includes year-long professional support and mentoring. 

I was thrilled to have the support of my school leadership team to apply.  At the end of 2023, I found out that I was successful and would be part of Group 1 (15 people) in February 2024, joining teachers from locations including Darwin, Geelong, Mortlake, Newcastle, Mullumbimby, and Townsville.

On our first morning of the program, Education Programs Manager Shelley Casey met us at YHA and escorted us on a stunning walk from Circular Quay to the Bell Shakespeare HQ, which is in a heritage listed wharf in the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct. Here, we met Head of Education Joanna Erskine, as well as Resident Artist in Education Emily Edward and teaching artist Huw Mckinnon, who would work with us over the four-day program.

In a week where I was privileged to be able to disconnect (kind of) from work emails and switch off from ‘teacher’ mode, I was free to be a student myself and to explore and play with Shakespeare’s texts in a way that has undoubtedly transformed my teaching.

John Bell says that from a young age, he was “struck by Shakespeare’s humanity…his deep understandings of the workings of the human mind and heart.”  As we explored different interpretations of Shakespeare’s work and parallels with contemporary culture, I, too, was struck by the humanity, heart, and universality of his work.

Highlights from the week included:

• A talk from Sarah Morley at the State Library of NSW, where we got to see Shakespeare’s First Folio on display
• Watching a company run version of Bell’s latest production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Collaborating and networking with teachers and artists from across Australia
• Finally understanding iambic pentameter (I was too scared to admit previously that I found it tricky!)
• Arvo swims in the newly netted off swimming spot Marrinawi Cove
• A fantastic lunch courtesy of the Teachers Mutual Bank on the final day, where participants each shared reflections about their experiences throughout the week

Each of us were gifted a tote bag featuring a quote from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, “Are you sure we are awake?”  Though in hindsight my week in Sydney all feels a bit dreamlike, the training certainly awoke in me a passion for the ways we can help students to engage with Shakespearean texts and think beyond ATAR scores or exam prep.  To recognize that, as John Bell explains, “we can find reassurance in great works of art.  Works that demonstrate our capacity for wonderment, celebration, and understanding of the human condition.”

I am really looking forward to my ongoing mentorship this year with Bell Shakespeare and encourage other teachers to apply next year.