Teaching Shakespeare in Secondary Schools through Theo Witte's Levelled Approach

Abstract

This thesis discusses some of the advantages and disadvantages of using Theo Witte's research (Het Oog van de Meester) in foreign literary education. Due to the scope of the project, it focuses primarily on Shakespeare, and investigates what a reading list including Shakespeare might look like. First, the theoretical framework gives an overview of how literary education has progressed into reader-focused literary education. In this context, we look at Witte's method and reading list. Whereas in the state exam, Shakespeare is a requirement, Witte has not included Shakespeare in his list of suggested novels. In the final two chapters, a method for teaching Shakespeare according to Witte's method is proposed.