Timeline for Teacher Certification

Mod 1:

1.     Read the first 5 chapters of TO THE ACTOR by Michael Chekhov prior to attending Mod 1.

Mod 2:

1.     Read the first five chapters of ON THE TECHNIQUE OF ACTING prior to attending Mod 2.

2.     Reflection Paper on Mod 1 and the continued work in the Technique.  The paper is due by April 1 of the year prior to attending Mod 2. Your paper should include quotations from secondary sources by and about Chekhov; these references should connect to your discoveries in your own acting/directing/teaching practice. There is no set limit on the number of pages but the paper should be long enough to detail the student’s experience with the Technique.

3.     Lead a warm-up during the consortium.  The specific time will be assigned in the consortium schedule. The warm-up should be 25 minutes in length with 5 additional minutes for spyback. The warmup is to be full-bodied, preparing the participants for the classes to follow.  The leader is to teach a warmup that embodies the core concepts of the Technique but should refrain from making it a lesson on the tools of the Technique.  For instance, one might teach a Yoga-based warm-up, embodying Chekhov’s principles and being with your students, coaching them to incorporate the Four Brothers as they warm up. Use of the vocabulary is essential and we urge the leader to teach in their own voice, working always from the Actor’s Ideal Center

4.     Submit a lesson plan for the warm-up by April 1 to Lionel Walsh (walsha@uwindsor.ca).

5.     Prepare a monologue, no longer than 1 minute in length.  This should be submitted by April 1 to Melissa Owens (melissa.owens@converse.edu) for approval by the Board.

6. To be accepted into MOD 2 on the TEACHER track you must be at least in the fourth year of undergraduate training, or of a comparable age and submit a letter of recommendation for this program from a theatre practitioner (director, instructor, etc) for consideration.

Mod 3:

1.     Final reflection paper on the continued work in the Technique.  The paper is due by April 1 of the year prior to attending Mod 3.  The paper should reflect the student’s continued growth in the use of the Technique in their work as a theater artist and Chekhov practitioner. Your paper should include quotations from secondary sources by and about Chekhov; these references should connect to your discoveries in your own acting/directing/teaching practice.  Again, the number of pages is less important than what the student has experienced, but the paper should be long enough to detail that growth. 

2.     Teach a lesson on one of the tools of the Technique.  This tool will be assigned by the Board and given to you when you are registered..  A lesson plan for this teaching will need to be submitted by April 15 and sent to Lionel. The lesson should be 25 minutes long and you will be given 5 minutes spyback with your peers and then responses from the teaching faculty.

3.     You will be assigned a scene and partner no later than April 1 and this scene will be memorized prior to the start of the consortium.

4. Get a copy of LESSONS FOR TEACHERS and bring to the Consortium.

Please note: Teaching Certificate candidates must complete all three modules within seven years. Those who do not meet the timeline requirement may request a skills evaluation after which they will be placed in the appropriate Module.

Timeline for Actors

Mod 1:

1.     Read the first 5 chapters of TO THE ACTOR prior to attending Mod 1.

Mod 2:

1.     Read the first 5 chapters of ON THE TECHNIQUE OF ACTING prior to attending Mod 2.

2.     Prepare a monologue, no longer than 1 minute in length. This should be submitted by April 1 for approval by the Board.

Mod 3.

1.     You will be assigned a scene and partner no later than April 1 and this scene will be memorized prior to the start of the consortium.

Discover more about the Michael Chekhov Technique