Rowland Hall Upper School teacher Kate Taylor turns her sophomore English students into Shakespearean character actors. As Kate’s students read Othello, they choose a character to analyze, research, write about, and ultimately portray in front of their classmates.

For students, this outside-the-box assignment results in a revolutionized way of approaching research.

“I have always looked at research as something I use when I need a summary of something,” one student wrote in a reflection assignment about the project. “Now I see it as an analytical tool that I can use to help me form a new perspective on something.”

In November 2015, the award-winning English Journal published Dr. Taylor’s article "Putting Research Center Stage: Performance-Driven Student Inquiry." In the following Q&A with Fine Print, Kate discusses what inspired her to write the article and the process of getting published. She joins 10 other published authors from Rowland Hall’s current faculty: Homa Firouz, Cindy Hall, Fiona Deans Halloran, Laura Johnson, Nate Kogan, Joel Long, Mike Roberts, Kate Samson, Wendell Thomas, and Robert Wilson.

This Q&A has been lightly edited for context.

What's the gist of your article?

Here's the official abstract: This article examines how to use performance-­related resources to teach research skills. In particular, it focuses on Shakespeare's Othello and argues that linking research and performance helps students put their ideas in conversation with published sources. This helps students articulate research­-based arguments about a text.

An even further simplified summary: True research involves making arguments in response to other people's claims and interpretations of a text or historical event. Some students feel more confident responding to visual interpretations than a specialized literary analysis of a text. So basing their research in performances rather than only scholarly articles allows them to practice the research skill of putting different voices in conversation with their own. They’re not limited to reading specialized literary criticism that may be too difficult for high school sophomores.

Where did the idea for this article come from? What role, if any, did Rowland Hall play in inspiring you to write the article?

The article evolved directly from my teaching at Rowland Hall. From my conversations with Upper School English teachers Kody Partridge and Carolyn Hickman, I knew students needed more practice with research skills, particularly the synthesis aspect of research. I knew my sophomores needed experience summarizing and responding to other people's arguments so they could be more successful with later research projects. So I decided to take advantage of the many accessible interpretations offered by theatrical performances of Shakespeare's plays by basing their research in performances rather than scholarship.

Describe the process of researching, writing, editing, and finally publishing the article. How long did it all take? How did it feel when it was finally done and you could flip through a copy and see your article in print?

I knew that I had created an unusual and challenging research assignment for my students, so I thought about writing an article on this assignment for several years. But when I saw a call for papers (CFP) from the English Journal on new modes of research, I recognized an opportunity. After seeing the CFP on a Monday, I thought about the idea for several days and then went home on a Friday and basically sat on the couch with my computer researching and writing my first draft for most of that night and the rest of the weekend. I felt possessed by the writing, to the point that my wife, Molly Richardson, became a little frustrated with me because I wouldn't talk to her about anything except the article. She finally just left me to write until I felt like I had finished a draft. Completing the draft felt great. It had been many years since, in graduate school, I'd worked on a longer writing project of my own. Though this was a different kind of essay than those I had written as a graduate student, it still felt great to put to the test the drafting and revision process that I teach my students every year. My first draft of the article was truly a rough draft, like the ones I teach my students to create—ideas on paper with some sense of structure but not a lot of polish. Molly, my mother, a friend from graduate school who specializes in Shakespeare, and Carolyn Hickman were some the first people I asked for feedback. They, and others, helped me focus and polish the draft over the course of the next three months. After many revisions, I submitted it, and it was accepted. When it finally came out in print, I felt a bit conflicted. Seeing the article in print excited me, but I felt sad that Molly couldn't see it with me since she had been there to see me struggle through the drafting of it. I knew she would have been so proud. [Editor’s note: Molly passed away in May 2015. Her memorial page is available here.]

Do you hope to publish again sometime soon? If so, any idea what your topic may be?

I'd love to publish again. Writing feels very rewarding, especially with a compelling topic that I feel passionate about. Upper School history teacher Nate Kogan and I have talked about writing an article on our interdisciplinary Symposium research project for sophomores. Who knows? Now that he's done with his dissertation, we may have time to collaborate on an article about that assignment.

What do you like best about teaching at Rowland Hall?

My favorite thing about teaching at Rowland Hall is the sense of community. But just after that is the freedom to develop my own curriculum and projects in response to my students' and colleagues' needs. Having the professional independence and respect to experiment with new teaching methods and strategies makes this job fun. And knowing my colleagues and students well enough to be responsible for making these experiments worthwhile makes the whole process challenging and rewarding.

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