The Mantle of Macbeth

Kidd, Debra (2011) The Mantle of Macbeth. English in education, 45 (1). pp. 72-85. ISSN 0425-0494

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Abstract

This article is an account of a ‘Mantle of the Expert’ enquiry in a school in the North of England. Combining GCSE Shakespeare coursework with Speaking and Listening assessments (25% of the total GCSE grade), the English department in the school improved achievement while remaining committed to developing a creative approach to teaching and learning. The article is most concerned, however, with the ‘incidental’ outcomes of the process: the insights offered into the ‘real life’ contexts of the participants, the place of role in research, and the presentation of data in playscript form. It seeks to explore how the researcher can sit within a dramatic process and present its outcomes as authentically as possible, while recognising that narrative accounts, however they are framed, are subjectively presented.