Professional Development

Folger Education offers in-person and virtual options for professional development. We have a range of options to fit your schedule, whether you’re teaching in the Washington, DC, area or elsewhere in the United States.

By participating in our professional development trainings, you’ll learn the best ways to use the Folger Method in your classroom. The Folger Method is a way of teaching complex texts that enables all students to own—and enjoy—the process of reading closely, interrogating texts, discovering language with peers, and contributing to the ongoing human conversation about words and ideas.

Virtual events

Each month, join us online for a one-hour professional development session, usually held on a Wednesday evening. It’s free!

Here are some of the topics we’ve recently discussed:

• Launching students into complex texts using 20-minute plays
• Teaching from the Shakespeare First Folio on the first day of school
• Using Folger Essential Practices like Tossed Lines and Choral Reading
• Practical ways to collect meaningful data while making Shakespeare accessible to all learners

Weekend workshops

In the spring and fall, Folger Education usually hosts weekend intensive workshops in Washington, DC. At these workshops, teachers learn essential teaching practices, explore rare materials in the Folger Shakespeare Library collection, and see a play on the Folger stage.

Summer Academies

Summer Academies are professional development programs that take place during the summer. We bring teachers to the Folger to spend a week diving into rare books, cutting-edge research, and powerful performance practices – all while working with incredible Folger Mentor Teachers, scholars, and theater professionals.

Transform the way you teach Shakespeare with the Folger Method — a language- and performance-based way of learning by doing.

Summer Academies are a one-week version of the Teaching Shakespeare Institutes (TSI) that Folger Education has held in past years with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Our 2025 Summer Academy, The Magic of Macbeth, focused on resources and skills for teaching Shakespeare’s Macbeth.