Teacher becomes the student: Cairns teacher completes program on how to better teach Shakespeare

Teacher Ken Nixon undertook a four-day program in Sydney that taught him some unique techniques for teaching Shakespeare to his high school students.

Mr Nixon said he learnt how to make teaching Shakespeare “truly kinetic and relevant.” Picture: Supplied.

Cairns teacher Ken Nixon has learnt how make Shakespeare more “fun” for his students.

Mr Nixon, who teaches at Cairns State High School, was one of was one of 30 teachers from across Australia who took part in theatre company Bell Shakespeare’s 2025 National Teacher Mentorship program in Sydney.

The four-day intensive provides teachers unique techniques to make teaching Shakespeare more accessible and engaging for students.

Participants learn how to “break down” Shakespeare’s challenging texts and are taught “immersive, performance-based techniques (to) bring them to life in the classroom”.

Mr Nixon said that there were “significant hurdles” when teaching Shakespeare, but what he learnt in the program will ease these difficulties moving forward.

“The language (of Shakespeare) alone can be intimidating, and our traditional classroom setups often stifle engagement,” Mr Nixon said.

“From a personal perspective, I felt I’d reached the limits of traditional methods and needed something more to extend my teaching.

“I know that if I’m having fun and enjoying the teaching, my students will be far more engaged and equally get a deeper understanding of what has been traditionally a tough subject matter to digest.”

The program runs annually at Bell Shakespeare’s headquarters in Sydney. Picture: Supplied.

Mr Nixon said he’s not only “excited” to share the techniques he’s learnt with other colleagues, but use them in other classes too.

“The strategies I’ve learned aren’t confined to English; they’re transferable to subjects like history, math, and even PE.”

Joanna Erskine, who is Head of Education at Bell Shakespeare and has led the program since 2012, said that “Shakespeare has become bogged down in desk-bound study.

“We wanted to empower teachers to achieve improved academic outcomes through dynamic and enjoyable teaching strategies.

“We enable them to be students again—with powerful and profound results.”

Originally published as Teacher becomes the student: Cairns teacher completes program on how to better teach Shakespeare