3 Ways to Celebrate Women's History in Your Classroom

If you're looking for ideas to engage your students with women's history this month, here are three compelling resources to inspire your students and enrich your lessons.

1. 15 Heroines: Reimagining Women in Myth

15 Heroines is a striking collection of 15 monologues adapted from Ovid’s Heroides, reinterpreted by leading female and non-binary playwrights. This powerful series gives voice to women from classical mythology, retelling their stories with contemporary resonance.

How to use 15 Heroines in your classroom:

• Explore themes of power, agency, and autonomy by comparing the original myths with these modern adaptations.

• Assign different monologues to students and discuss how the character’s voice and perspective are transformed.

• Encourage performance-based learning by having students embody these roles and reflect on their relevance today.

2. The Paper Birds: Theatre with a Purpose

The Paper Birds is an award-winning devising theatre company that uses verbatim theatre to tell real women’s stories. Their work explores pressing social issues such as gender equality, education, and identity, making them a fantastic resource for thought-provoking classroom discussions.

How to use The Paper Birds resources in your classroom:

• Watch excerpts of their productions and analyze how they use movement, multimedia, and real testimonies to create impact.

• Encourage students to conduct their own interviews and create short devised pieces based on the stories of women in their lives.

• Use The Paper Birds’ methods to explore issues such as gender bias, women’s experiences in education, or body image.

Get started with this free International Women's Day e-learning video from The Paper Birds!

3. The Donmar Warehouse Trilogy: Shakespeare’s Women Today

The Donmar Warehouse’s acclaimed all-female Shakespeare trilogy (Julius Caesar, Henry IV, The Tempest) redefines gender representation in classical theatre. In this interview with Harriet Walter and Carol Rutter, Walter reflects on the challenges and triumphs of women in Shakespearean roles.

How to use the Donmar Warehouse Trilogy in your classroom:

• Analyze how gender influences power dynamics in Shakespeare’s plays and discuss why these all-female productions are so groundbreaking.

• Compare Harriet Walter’s insights with traditional Shakespearean performances and encourage students to reimagine famous scenes with diverse casting.

• Have students debate the importance of reinterpreting Shakespeare through a modern feminist lens.

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