How to Teach High School Theatre
Thespian and drama troupes all across the nation enjoy acting out plays and musicals in front of their high school peers. It takes a true teacher, someone who is skilled in education and theatre, to teach young people how to enter stage left and exit stage right with the magnitude and dignity of historical thespians like William Shakespeare.
- Complete your high school education. Participate in theatre and drama activities if at all possible. Take theatre, speech and drama classes as a part of your general education.
- Major in theatre at college. You will need to take general education courses as well as many courses in drama, theatre, writing and speech to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre.
- Take education courses required by your state. You will need to have some basic education courses as well as a semester student teaching. Try to get a student teaching position with a high school theatre teacher. This experience will help you learn more through hands-on learning than most of your book learning in school.
- Graduate from college with a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Education.
- Take the state mandated test to teach students in your state. You will want to take the secondary education test. You will want to take an additional test that certifies your ability to teach theatre. You can also get endorsements to teach English, drama, speech and other courses, depending on the college credits you earned.
- Watch for high school theatre teaching positions to open up in districts in your area. Because most high schools only have one, maybe two theatre teachers, getting this position is going to be challenging.
- Consider volunteering at local high schools to help the theatre teachers. Your volunteer work will not only give you more hands-on experience, but also allow you to get to know the administration to try to get a job in the district.
- Get a job teaching in a high school. You may have to take a job teaching English, Social Studies or Speech for a while, but you can also help the theatre teacher or begin to gather more information about obtaining a job as a theatre teacher at that high school or another high school in the area. People who work in the schools know about positions that will be open in the near future.