O for a Muse of Fire

"O for a Muse of Fire" the opening line of Shakespeare's King Henry V. I understand how he feels, I am waiting for this ping of creativity too.

Find the gaps. Fill in the gaps. Then bang, the inquiry topic will form. So how do I get this lightbulb moment?

Two weeks now and I am still not there. I have been mulling things, mind mapping, discussing, but still to no avail. I know roughly what area I am headed, which is great. I have realised what I want to explore and what I am most passionate about developing within my practice. Something along the lines of Shakespeare and education but I am struggling to merge the two.

How we teach Shakespeare to children? How we can successfully teach children Shakespeare? Engaging children with the works of Shakespeare? I

But does it need to be more complicated than that? More specific? I am feeling a little lost, does anyone have any further suggestions on how to drive this forward? Where do I go from here....


Comments

  1. Charlie Steggles21 February 2019 at 14:45

    I felt the same last week, I didn't get a lightbulb moment, I just changed direction. My latest Blog has all the details.

    But I remember in a previous Skype call being advised to think outside your practice. How is Shakespeare being used in other areas? Is it being used to bring together communities? Enrich the lives of pensioners? Is it reforming prisioners?

    Who is talking about it now? Is it online news articles? Adesola said we have to be asking the ethical questions in order to find out what the scholars are saying. What are the ethical considerations? Is Shakespeare still relevant to childrens education? x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jess Lev24 February 2019 at 08:18

    Hi Charlie, thank you for your reply. Thank god also the lightbulb moment happened. But actually the last question I find really interesting too.

    What are you focusing your inquiry topic on?

    I have decided to go with "An exploration of how a creative approach to Shakespeare can enhance learning."

    We shall see, hopefully I am on the right lines!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Power of Collaboration

Image
The Power of Collaboration Thank you to Adesola for sharing the YouTube video of Dr. Shelle VanEtten de Sánchez’s talk on the Power of Collaboration:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmQVNE-MbKI “What each of us can accomplish on our own will fit in the palm of our hand, but that is insignificant compared to what we can accomplish together.” Some incredibly wise words from Dr Shelle VanEtten de Sánchez and something I have actually been thinking about a lot recently as I have been working on a new creative project.  For the past 6 months I have had an idea. Essentially to write a collection of short plays for children to teach them about Shakespeare and his stories, indirectly and without boring them to death. Over the summer I researched, I wrote, I brainstormed. Come Autumn I presented the idea to the group and it fell flat. It did not work.  Ego bruised and feeling disheartened I knew I was approaching the work completely wrong. So, I to...
Read more

Making Links

Image
Ten years ago, in a movement class at the Drama Centre London we were exploring circles, specifically circles of movement. What circles can we create with our bodies? With parts of our bodies, our minds and so forth. The signification came when we realised that life, plays, characters, history, thoughts, are their own circles. Everything in connected and interconnect, they overlap and create wonderful patters that contribute to the creativity and validity of our own circle of life. Circles are constant, donate a sense of movement and express that our life is a constant state of fluidity; as is our thinking. Wednesday's Skype call (which included students from all modules) was a reminder to me that I must keep remembering to link back what I am doing throughout module 3. One student mentioned "Reflection on action" and "Reflection in action" which we learnt about in module 1. This lightbulb moment reminded me of the importance of linking back and bei...
Read more

Inspiration Station

Image
Module 3 is nearly over. The artefact, feedback and professional inquiry have been submitted. I am now turning my attention towards my presentation.  Dr Adesola Akinleye has asked us to blog about what has been inspiring us over the festive break. I came across this video entitled: "Why the School System is Outdated" by Gary Vaynerchuk.  I hope that you are able to view this video on the link below: https://www.facebook.com/gary/videos/613787749153202/UzpfSTUwNTE2MTMzMzoxMDE1NjgwMDE0ODYwNjMzNA/ In the video, Gary Vaynerchuk states that " information is a commodity ", so easily available at the palm of our hands, that the global school system is now outdated. We no longer need to memorise information for tests, as we can access it via the internet within seconds. He points out that the fundamental flaw in education actually comes down to parenting, not teaching. He argues that we need an education system focused on promoting happiness for our chi...
Read more