Professional Development

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

Teaching Shakespeare Institute 2018

Since 1984, the National Endowment for the Humanities has supported the Teaching Shakespeare institute, 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. Stay tuned for more information about future institutes!

TSI: 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. 

Teacher Membership

Become an inaugural Teacher Member of the Folger Shakespeare Library and receive unprecedented support for the deeply important work you do. Be a part of this institution and of our robust teacher community that stretches across the country and around the world. Have the very best of the Folger at your fingertips, all of the time. Let us work together to make teaching and learning exciting, rigorous, and inspiring for all.

Folger Shakespeare Summer Institute

In collaboration with the Fairfield University and Connecticut Writing Project, Folger Shakespeare Library will offer a one-week, three-credit summer institute for high school teachers from July 30 - August 3, 2018. Taking place at Fairfield University, this institute is modeled on our successful Teaching Shakespeare Institutes, to provide teachers with a unique professional development opportunity. During this intensive institute, participants will explore Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest, as well as work with scenes from several of Shakespeare’s commonly taught plays. Each day will begin with a scholarly lecture and seminar, and will continue with curriculum, writing, and performance workshops. 

The summer institute will be taught by Fairfield University English Professor Shannon Kelley and visiting experts Michael LoMonico; Sid Ray, professor of English and Women’s and Gender Studies at Pace University; and Emily Davis, teacher of Shakespeare in the Educational Theatre graduate program at City College of New York.

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.

TSI: Summer Academy 2017

In July 2017, our Summer Academy was a week of powerful professional development led by master teachers, scholars, and performance faculty. Thirty teachers from all over the US took a deep dive into Macbeth to extend their content knowledge and gain strategies for teaching the play to middle and high school students.