Teachers’ Resources

This page is intended to summarise critical information required by teachers each term and provide links to other resources they might find helpful. It is not a replacement for any Letter of Agreement which states the contractual obligations to Only The Human for a given term.

Out-of-Class Duties

Lead teachers are remunerated for two hours of administrative duties (at their standard hourly rate) each term. This includes:

  • Providing individualised recommendations for student progression (via. Don).

  • Reading and replying to occasional emails and texts from OTH staff, including coaching feedback and class instructions.

  • Being aware of information to be disseminated in class. OTH staff will text a reminder in advance of any class where information is to be disseminated to students.

Note that course preparation is included in the per-class fee, not the administrative fee. For new courses or workshops, we may occasionally offer an additional amount for curriculum design.

Teachers are not expected to befriend students or engage them outside of classes as part of their role. We encourage boundaries be set that allow the separatation of the role of teacher from that of a community member.

Applied Improvisation

In 2025, we began a shift to an Applied Improv approach. Put simply, this means three things:

  • Remembering that most of our students come to us seeking changes in their lives outside the theatre and designing our courses and classes to help them make those changes.

  • Clearly framing the purpose of each day and, where relevant, each exercise.

  • Providing an opportunity for debriefs after exercises that connect the exercise to that purpose.

This is particularly important for the Rediscover Play and Make a Scene courses. More on why we made these changes is available here.

Support Teaching and Teacher Training

In 2025 we shifted towards having an additional teacher contracted as a ‘Support Teachers’ and remunerated at our full rate in our Rediscover Play and Make a Scene courses. The Support Teacher role was created primarily to create a more supportive environment for students and to create an environment for teachers to learn from each other.

Generally speaking, a Support Teacher should follow the lead of the main teacher, and may be asked to run exercises or cover modules from time-to-time—for example, to run the back-half of a class or introduce new warm-ups (the broad theme and design should be run by the Lead Teacher). The Support Teacher is not expected to engage in any significant out-of-class duties.

Support Teachers are considered of equal standing to the main teacher, and we highly encourage courses with two teachers to cross-pollinate and share ideas within the class as well as to learn through modelling.

Challenging Students and Pastoral Care

Teachers are not mental health professionals and aren’t expected to provide individualised support for students. We ask that you text a student in the event they miss a class without notifying you of their absence; but, there is no expectation to provide any additional support beyond that.

If you feel a student is experiencing difficulties that significantly impact their participation, result in their not upholding our core behaviours (Be Playful, Support Growth, Respect Boundaries), or violate our Anti-Discrimination and Harassment Policy, please involve Aden as early as possible.

Recommendations and the Student Showcase

At the end of each term, we will ask you to provide individualised recommendations for student progression (via. Don). We provide recommendations for future courses rather than evaluations (or graduation status) because we are not experts in the students’ experience. We establish that students need to use discernment in judging whether or not they are ready to proceed.

It’s important that teachers normalise repetition of courses and establishing fundamental skills before moving on. Teachers should normalise this as early as Week 2. We want students to feel there is value in repetition and mastery rather than just pursuing more advanced courses, and we want to manage expectations around linear progression.

To support teachers making recommendations we have criteria as to what teachers should look for here (for Rediscover Play) and here (for Make a Scene).

Students should only be prevented from taking a more advanced course if their participation is likely to put their needs for safety, belonging, and dignity at risk or be significantly disruptive to the teacher and other students.

All students of a course may participate in the showcase performance at the discretion of the course teacher. Students should generally have attended at least six of eight classes in order to perform in the showcase, but teachers are free to make exceptions to this at their discretion.

Course Design and Curriculum

The Rediscover Play and Make a Scene curricula are intended to support teachers in designing individual classes. More experienced teachers can design their own class plans based on the desired outcomes, focus words, and class-based outcomes (there is even a little flexibility here provided the course-based outcomes remain in focus). Less experienced teachers are encouraged to make use of the sample lesson plans provided.

Teachers of advanced courses have more liberty with their course & class design. Any advanced courses/classes you design remain your Intellectual Property. If you are happy to share these with OTH, however, we can create a Google Drive for you.

Helpful Documents