Professional Development

The Folger Shakespeare Library offers a range of programs for teachers—online, at the Folger, and in a classroom near you.

Teacher Membership and Unlimited Access to Forsooth!

Become a Teacher Member of the Folger Shakespeare Library and receive unprecedented support for the deeply important work you do. Have the very best of the Folger at your fingertips, all the time, on Forsooth! The Folger Teacher Community. As a Teacher Member, you’ll have access to all our live-streaming teacher workshops throughout the year as well as the archive of all past video professional development. Receive discounts for performances & the gift shop (in person or online), and invitations to exclusive events. Be a part of this institution and of our robust teacher community that stretches across the country and around the world. Let us work together to make teaching and learning exciting, rigorous, and inspiring for all.

Teaching Shakespeare Institute

Since 1984, the National Endowment for the Humanities has supported the Teaching Shakespeare Institute (TSI), an intense, month-long study of Shakespeare. The institute looks at Shakespeare's work from three essential perspectives: scholarship, performance, and curriculum. This rigorous but joyful program gathers secondary school teachers from all over the country for multifaceted studies of plays, poems, criticism, rare materials, live theater, and educational technologies. Learn about TSI 2020: Shakespeare and the Making of America.

Summer Academy 2020

The Summer Academy is a week of powerful professional development led by mentor teachers, scholars, and performance faculty. Teachers from all over the US take a deep dive into one Shakespeare play to extend their content knowledge and gain strategies for teaching the play to middle and high school students. The Folger Method in action right here at the Folger! Apply online by Sunday, April 12, 2020

Professional Learning Days

Led by master teachers in the Folger National Teacher Corps, these one-day workshops provide lively, hands-on practice with techniques that work with all kinds of students in all kinds of classrooms. Through a range of activities rooted in Shakespeare’s language and aligned to national standards, teachers learn how to get students on their feet and into complex texts in minutes. Professional Learning Days draw on the Folger’s unique blend of scholarship, performance, and education, and can be customized to incorporate texts from your school’s curriculum.

DC Public Schools

We love our city and its teachers. We have partnered with DCPS to lead the teaching and learning of Shakespeare in our city’s public schools. From developing a new high school Shakespeare curriculum and providing professional development for English teachers to hosting student matinees and public demonstrations of student learning, we are committed to supporting the work of DCPS teachers and students. This initiative is multi-faceted and growing, so please check back, or email Corinne Viglietta (cviglietta@folger.edu), for more information.