Aye, there's the snub: Bard barred from
a high school classroom
By Sacramento Bee, adapted by Newsela staff on 06.25.15
Word Count 742
Cast members perform a scene from the play "The Duchess of Malfi" at Shakespeare's Globe, a theater in London,
England, Jan. 14, 2014. The theater is a reproduction of a Jacobean playhouse and it seats 340 people with two tiers of
gallery seating and an historically accurate pit seating area. Photo: AP/Sang Tan
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Most high school English teachers adore William Shakespeare,
nicknamed the Bard, but not Dana Dusbiber.
In an essay published this month on a Washington Post education blog, the California
teacher explained she does not want to teach Shakespeare’s works despite his esteemed
place in American education. His perspective does not speak well to her ethnically diverse
students.
Dusbiber’s opinion caught fire online and on the airwaves as traditionalists decried her
view as academic heresy.
“High school teachers are supposed to love Shakespeare, and I don’t, so I said I didn’t,”
said Dusbiber, who teachers at Luther Burbank High School. “I think the reliance on
Shakespeare is something I find odd.”
Teaches Authors Who Reflect Students
After 25 years teaching in Sacramento, she said she has replaced Shakespeare's plays in
her classroom with works by nonwhite authors. Dusbiber, who is white, said many of her
students come from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds than her own.
In the 2013-14 academic year, 96 percent of Burbank students were nonwhites. Also, 81
percent qualified for free or reduced-price lunches based on household income,
according to state data.
Dusbiber adjusted her teaching style to show nonwhite students successful authors with
skin colors similar to theirs. Instead of Shakespeare, Dusbiber assigns texts by authors
such as Isabel Allende, who was born in Peru, Sharon Draper, an African-American
children's writer, and Mexican-American Francisco Jimenez.
In her essay, Dusbiber spoke out against teaching Shakespeare because of his outdated
view of the world and his perspective as a white man.
Dusbiber wrote that it is bad to cling “to ONE (white) MAN’S view of life as he lived it so
long ago." By doing so, "we (perhaps unwittingly) promote the notion that other cultural
perspectives are less important,” she stated.
Another Modernizes Shakespeare
A few miles away at Sacramento New Technology High School, Christine Baker, who
teaches 11th- and 12th-grade English, modernizes Shakespeare's works and creates
interactive lessons for her students. Four out of 5 students at the school are nonwhites.
Baker admitted the old style of writing can be tedious when read as a book instead of a
play. But she doesn’t believe it should be removed from the high school curriculum.
“I think that’s completely preposterous,” Baker said of Dusbiber’s view about teaching
Shakespeare.
Baker studied ways to modernize Shakespeare at the University of California, Davis, in
2013. She asked her students to act out the prologue to his famous play “Romeo and
Juliet” before digging into the text on their own.
“They get the feeling of fighting families, of young love,” she said. “They might make fun of
it at first, but then I’ll remind them that they’re doing the same things in the hallways and
they’re like, ‘Oh yeah.’”
Burbank Principal Ted Appel said he asked Dusbiber to clarify that her views were
personal, not representative of the school as a whole.
If Dusbiber taught 12th grade or International Baccalaureate (IB) English classes at
Burbank, she would be required to assign Shakespeare’s works. California requires
Shakespeare for 12th graders and for students who are in the special program for the
international degree, Appel said.
“I think she stated her opinion, and I think it doesn’t reflect the thinking of the whole school
or our teachers, or the curriculum we teach within the school,” he said.
Bard's Words "To Be Spoken Or Heard"
Dusbiber is not the first educator to suggest moving away from Shakespeare in the
classroom. Mark Powell, the assistant director at Salisbury Playhouse in England, wrote a
similar opinion piece in The Guardian, a British newspaper. Shakespeare’s "words were
chosen to be spoken or heard, not to be read and deadened behind a desk," Powell wrote.
"They wither when performance is removed.”
Sacramento City Unified School District trustees last week voted to require students in
district high schools to complete an ethnic studies course before graduation. The new
requirement starts in 2020.
Dusbiber’s view attracted negative reactions from many people across the country. Most of
the opposition came from conservative thinkers, though the left-wing magazine New
Republic also did not agree with her argument, but for different reasons.
Appel said Dusbiber’s main goal was making sure teenagers received a full worldview
during their time in high school.
“Her real concern is that students have an opportunity to be exposed to a broad array of
texts and assignments,” Appel said. “The ultimate goal is to help students (think) about
important questions and ideas.”
Quiz
1
2
3
What is the CENTRAL idea of the section “Teaches Authors Who Reflect Students”?
(A)
A large percentage of Luther Burbank High School’s students are nonwhite.
(B)
Dusbiber tries to show her students that nonwhite authors, such as Isabel
Allende and Francisco Jimenez, can also be good writers.
(C)
Dana Dusbiber teaches her ethnically diverse students the work of
successful nonwhite authors to give them a more holistic view of literature.
(D)
According to Dana Dusbiber, Shakespearean views are irrelevant in the
modern context as American high schools have students from different
socio-economic backgrounds.
Which sentence or paragraph from the section “Another Modernizes Shakespeare” does NOT
support its central idea?
(A)
“I think that’s completely preposterous,” Baker said of Dusbiber’s view about
teaching Shakespeare.
(B)
She asked her students to act out the prologue to his famous play “Romeo
and Juliet” before digging into the text on their own.
(C)
Burbank principal Ted Appel said he asked Dusbiber to clarify that her views
were personal, not representative of the school as a whole.
(D)
California requires Shakespeare for 12th graders and for students who are in
the special program for the international degree, Appel said.
Read the second paragraph from the article.
In an essay published this month on a Washington Post education
blog, the California teacher explained she does not want to teach
Shakespeare’s works despite his esteemed place in American
education. His perspective does not speak well to her ethnically
diverse students.
What is the meaning of the phrase "esteemed place" as used above?
(A)
humble position
(B)
responsible position
(C)
respectable position
(D)
reliable position
4
Below are some phrases taken from the section “Bard's Words To Be Spoken Or Heard."
1.
2.
3.
4.
similar opinion
conservative thinkers
full worldview
broad array
Which of the above phrases is MOST relevant to Dusbiber’s critics?
(A)
2
(B)
4
(C)
1 and 3
(D)
1 and 4
Answer Key
1
2
3
What is the CENTRAL idea of the section “Teaches Authors Who Reflect Students”?
(A)
A large percentage of Luther Burbank High School’s students are nonwhite.
(B)
Dusbiber tries to show her students that nonwhite authors, such as Isabel
Allende and Francisco Jimenez, can also be good writers.
(C)
Dana Dusbiber teaches her ethnically diverse students the work of
successful nonwhite authors to give them a more holistic view of
literature.
(D)
According to Dana Dusbiber, Shakespearean views are irrelevant in the
modern context as American high schools have students from different
socio-economic backgrounds.
Which sentence or paragraph from the section “Another Modernizes Shakespeare” does NOT
support its central idea?
(A)
“I think that’s completely preposterous,” Baker said of Dusbiber’s view about
teaching Shakespeare.
(B)
She asked her students to act out the prologue to his famous play “Romeo
and Juliet” before digging into the text on their own.
(C)
Burbank principal Ted Appel said he asked Dusbiber to clarify that her
views were personal, not representative of the school as a whole.
(D)
California requires Shakespeare for 12th graders and for students who are in
the special program for the international degree, Appel said.
Read the second paragraph from the article.
In an essay published this month on a Washington Post education
blog, the California teacher explained she does not want to teach
Shakespeare’s works despite his esteemed place in American
education. His perspective does not speak well to her ethnically
diverse students.
What is the meaning of the phrase "esteemed place" as used above?
(A)
humble position
(B)
responsible position
(C)
respectable position
(D)
reliable position
4
Below are some phrases taken from the section “Bard's Words To Be Spoken Or Heard."
1.
2.
3.
4.
similar opinion
conservative thinkers
full worldview
broad array
Which of the above phrases is MOST relevant to Dusbiber’s critics?
(A)
2
(B)
4
(C)
1 and 3
(D)
1 and 4