Exploring the effect of rehearsal-room approaches and Shakespeare text on 16–19-year-old ESOL learners
The next meeting for the ESOL Research Community will be held on 12th June 2025 from 4 - 5.30pm via Teams. As always, this is free to attend and everyone is welcome.
Presenters: Esther Wilkey (Bradford College) and Matthew Collins (Royal Shakespeare Company)
In 2022, the Royal Shakespeare Company appointed a group of Teacher Researchers to lead action research into the impact that its rehearsal-room teaching approaches has on learners. This presentation will discuss the impacts seen in an ESOL context. It will detail how researchers used observation and performance to examine how the pedagogy builds resilience, confidence, collaboration and positive behaviour, accelerates language learning, and promotes inclusion. Drawing on teacher reflection, the research also asks how this approach supports teaching practice, counters the preconceptions about 'messing around' in class when teenagers learn through play, and captures students’ creative responses to this pedagogy.
To register for the event, please complete this form: https://forms.office.com/e/wPj2WjrPsa
Please note, the form will close 24 hours before the start of the event. If you have registered and don’t receive the link, pls re-register as it could mean there is a typo in the email address and it has bounced back.
As always, our event is completely free to attend, and we’re committed to keeping it that way. However, after four years of running these sessions, we’ve decided to introduce a pay-as-you-feel option. If you’ve found value in these events and would like to support a good cause, we invite you to make a donation to the Ruth Hayman Trust - The Ruth Hayman Trust for the Advancement of the Education of Adults Resident in the United Kingdom Whose First Language is not English - Donate now
The Trust supports ESOL learners with small grants to support education and training. There’s absolutely no obligation to donate, but if you’re in a position to contribute, it would be gratefully received.
For more information on the community and past events, please see our Padlet: https://padlet.com/kathrynsidaway/your-esol-research-community-ft9b25fqqf15m1xt
