AIBU to think she needs to read the book

[Reallynoreading]

A friend of mine is a really hardworking teacher, also the parent of two high needs children. She works really hard but has surprised with with this comment I saw from them.

She are going to be teaching a book to their class soon is watching the film of the book, when asked why not read the book they posted this comment -

Sorry X, I don't really have time to read. I work till midnight doing school work Monday - Thursday and later on Saturday and Sunday. I suppose it could be my Friday night read 😊 Come to think of it, I tried when I was 15 and didn't get very far.

AIBU to think of you are teaching a book (even in primary school) you need to read it your self?

Mostly I feel it’s sad that as a teacher she doesn’t have the time built into her working week to do some basic prep for her lessons, and this is a reflection of how difficult teaching has become and shows why so many are leaving.

Given the amount of liberty that film-scripts take with book storylines, then she definitely needs to read the actual book/play rather than just work off the film!
It would be a different case if they were just studying the storyline, e.g. Hamlet or similar, but if they're meant to be getting the depth from the book/play then they (and she) need to read the actual book/play.

She might not have the time, or the inclination, but she's got to do it as its part of her job.

A Shakespeare play isn't a book. It's a play. It's meant to be watched not read.

That is totally and utterly different to watching a film adaptation of a book.

As long as she's watching the actual play in dvd not an adaption it's as good as just reading the script, though ideally to teach a play at GCSE you'd do both, and watch multiple performances in fact. In an ideal world...

and it is only primary.
watch the play of course.

I can't actually believe a teacher would say "I need to teach the book" when referring to a Shakespeare play

You are not teaching "the book" - "the book" is just the play script. You are teaching the play. Unless it's primary and you are teaching a story from Shakespeare in the form of a book - in which case "the book" is an adaption of the original. Most children's adaptions of Shakespeare's plays are in short story form, not novels though.

I don't even understand your post. Who made the comment? They teacher or the children? If the teacher then why the use of they/them? Is the class watching the film or just the teacher?

If it's a play then it's not a book. It won't take any longer to read than it wouldvto watch the play so she's not actually going to save time by watching it is she? Your friend is just being lazy.

It’s an odd response from her too. All she’d havd had to say is “it’s a play, this version has kept to the script as written by Shakespeare so it’s totally appropriate”.

Why post it in the first place? All this appears to be someone spoiling for a fight.

Watching a Shakespeare play on film is totally different to watching, say, the Keira Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice to teach P&P.

Assuming the DVD she watches is just the script playing out on screen, then I actually don’t think that’s a bad idea at all.

Although I managed to get through studying Pride and Prejudice in Year 8 English just from watching the BBC adaptation 🙈

I once took in a book from my mum's bookshelves when we were doing it for GCSE coursework. The teacher had provided us with handouts of selected chapters but I wanted to know what happened in between! She was very put out - "Where did you get THAT from?" - so maybe she hadnt actually read it all.

We also watched the Leo diCaprio version of Romeo and Juliet and then lots of kids wrote about the cars and guns in Shakespeare for their GCSE coursework. It wasn't a great school.

It’s a Shakespeare play.

Well, that's a massive drip-feed and a revelation that neither you or the person commenting on FB understand the difference between a play and a novel. Watching a complete, unabridged version of a play is an absolutely fine study tool, as it's for performance. Arguably 'ideal' is reading and watching at the same time. But also, if she's doing it with primary schoolchildren (is it midsummer night's dream?) then they're presumably only going to do a couple of scenes from the text together - and those, I would guess, she will read.

Is 'they' and 'she' the same person?

She has posted a picture on social media and is watching a big budget adaptation rather than a recording of a live performance which would make more sense.

Hopefully she will read the play to her class as she goes along. She is known for being a very open honest person but I am still surprised she’s openly admitted to not reading as her preparation for teaching and that she really feels she doesn’t have the time due the pressures of her job.

Which one is it?

My DH teaches Shakespeare at University and he rates some of the " big budget" productions by the likes of Kenneth Brannagh.
If they use the original language and bring it alive for her then I think it's fine at primary level. It's more important at this age that they don't think Shakespeare is "boring".

Actually I think the fact that it's a Shakespeare play means it's slightly less of an issue that she's watching not reading. That's how the plays are meant to be consumed. And the script is generally much more faithful than in an adaptation of a novel. I mean, I still think she should read it, but it's not quite as bad as it might be.

She needs to work smarter not harder

Nobody has ever been able to explain to me how to do this - it's an easy thing to say though.

As an aside, do people really live their lives on FB, inviting this type of scrutiny (judgement) of their everyday decisions?

Which play is it? I'm struggling to think of one that's suitable for primary aged children and which has a big budget adaptation. Again, though, she's clearly not going to read a whole Shakespeare play with a primary school class, so I think watching an adaptation to remind herself of the overall plot and then working through the couple of scenes they're actually doing in class is fine - maybe not absolutely ideal, but not worthy of scorn.

She sounds like a terrible teacher.

YANBU. A production of a Shakespeare play or film adaptation of a play is an interpretation of the script and stage directions as written.

The play may have been intended to be seen rather than read, but even as early as the quarto and first folio texts, people have been enjoying the text as readers, as well as theatre-goers. The study of Shakespeare in a modern setting requires close reading of the text as well as watching productions. The plays are relatively short - much shorter than a book. She could read an average-length play in the space of two hours. Surely it's worthwhile to do?

and she is your friend op?

is she a colleague?

One would normally expect a teacher of any subject to have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of their subject if they are going to be teaching it to others.