|
|
|
Classics teaching in the UK |
|
|
Author: Julian Morgan,
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
I The story of teaching Classics in the UK
Classics teaching in the UK has a long and distinguished past but faces
a rather more uncertain future. In our grammar schools, Latin and Greek
have been taught for many years, enjoying high status during the
nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries. Until the
1960s, Latin was a required subject of all applicants to Oxford and
Cambridge universities and the best students were all forced to study
the subject. Once that changed, however, schools became unable to
compel students to study Latin and a new emphasis came into the
profession, whereby students had to become better motivated.
A new type of Latin course came into being in the early 1970s,
pioneered by Cambridge School Classics Project. The new approach to
Latin allowed teachers to cut back to some extent on grammar teaching,
focusing instead on reading continuous passages of Latin. The Cambridge
Latin Course followed a Pompeian family through the events of AD 79,
and on to their various adventures in Roman Britain and Alexandria,
with an eventual return to Rome. The story-telling approach was highly
motivational, allowing students to identify with the characters
concerned. Some teachers, however, found inherent problems with the
approach, and the traditional grammarians found it to have an
insufficient focus on language learning. In particular, controversy
arose about the dropping of English to Latin translation, which many
teachers still wanted to pursue, though the CLC made this redundant.
Cambridge Latin was eventually complemented when two other new courses
appeared, Ecce Romani and Oxford Latin: both of these enjoy a similar
approach to the learning, bringing increased emphasis on
grammar-learning to the process.
II The modern secondary school system in the UK
Secondary schools in the UK generally fall into one of two types.
Independent schools are privately run, often without profit so they can
enjoy charitable status. State schools are mostly run by local
education authorities, though many schools have control over their own
specific curriculum and budgets. Many state schools are currently being
invited to tender for special status, which may complicate matters
further in the near future.
Secondary schools in the UK admit pupils at age 11 and then put them
through 3 distinct stages of education. Key Stage 3 takes students
through Years 7 to 9, followed by Key Stage 4, in Years 10 and 11. At
the end of key Stage 4, students sit a package of around 8 or 9
examinations, called GCSEs. Each examination is a separate unit, and
each is certificated separately, though students sitting multiple
examinations from one examining body will often get certificates
recording their progress in all examinations taken from that board.
After Key Stage 4, students progress into the so-called Sixth Form,
occasionally also known as Key Stage 5, where they study AS and A2
levels across a period of two years. A2 levels are often referred to as
A levels. Most students take 3 or 4 AS levels, which they may sit at
the end of the first year in the Sixth Form, and then 3 A2 levels,
which they sit at the end of their final year in school. Once their
results are announced, in August, they know whether or not they can go
to the university of their choice.
Secondary schools in Scotland follow a different pattern. Schools admit
pupils at the age of 12 and the first two years of secondary education
provide a general and broad education. Choices are then made about
which subjects to study in S3 and S4 leading to examinations at the end
of S4 (age 16). These examinations are usually Standard Grades,
although some schools offer Intermediate examinations. In S5, pupils
usually study for 5 Highers, which are important as university entrance
requirements. In S6, most schools offer a mixture of more Highers or
Advanced Highers. This is the system followed by the vast majority of
Scottish schools, although some private schools follow the English
system of examinations.
III Classical subjects within the secondary system of the UK
Today, most of the schools in the state sector of education have
dropped Latin from the curriculum. There are still some excellent
schools in this sector, doing excellent work, but for most, Latin
became an expensive luxury which they felt they could not afford, and
the ever-changing situation has forced it out of many schools. In the
private sector, Latin is still fairly common, with around half of all
schools following the Cambridge Latin Course. Nationally about 1000
candidates sit our A level examination each year in Latin. Greek is
rarely taught, with only about 200 candidates taking the A Level
examination nationally.
One subject which continues to enjoy good numbers is Classical
Civilisation. This subject is taught in a good many schools, with
students generally able to select from many different options,
including Homer in translation, Greek Tragedy, or Augustan Literature.
In some schools, Ancient History is taught instead of Classical
Civilisation, though numbers here are generally much lower.
For Latin and Greek GCSEs, two papers have to be sat, each of about 90
minutes. Some original language must be read (about 300 lines) and a
vocabulary list of between 300 and 500 words has to be learned, in
preparation for unseen translation and comprehension questions. For
Latin and Greek AS examinations, one or two original texts must be
studied (about 700 lines) and unseen translation and comprehension are
tested. Three examinations have to be taken, each of one hour. At A2
level, the course content is increased, and the vocabulary list
required runs to about 1000 words. Three further one hour examinations
have to be taken.
In Scotland, about 250 pupils sit Higher Latin. The examination
involves an unseen translation and 2 interpretation papers covering
Virgil (or Plautus) and Cicero. Greek is rarely taught. Classical
Studies attracts about 500 pupils at Higher level and covers Athens in
the 5th century BC and Rome in the 1st century BC and 1st century AD.
IV How to become a teacher of Classics in the UK
The process of becoming a teacher of Classics is fairly well-defined in
the UK. Students leaving school will embark on a degree course in
Classics at university, which will generally last 3 years. The
qualification gained will usually be a Bachelor of Arts degree (BA).
After this course of study, students enrol on a further year's study,
called a Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE). The two main
centres of PGCE training for would-be teachers of Classics are at
King's College London and Cambridge University. The University of
Strathclyde at Glasgow, amidst much controversy, stopped providing a
course for Classics teachers in 2005.
After this one year training course, students should be provisionally
awarded QTS (qualified teacher status), which entitles them to teach in
any UK school. They still face a period of one year, in which their QTS
is scrutinised before being ratified. In Scotland, teachers must be
registered with the General Teaching Council.
Some independent schools will appoint staff who have not completed
teacher training courses, though in general, this is not to be
recommended, as such teachers will never have the option to work in the
state sector of education.
V Further Information
There is further advice and information about this process on the JACT website, http://www.jact.org/teaching .
For further information, The Teaching of Classics, ed James Morwood,
Cambridge University Press, 2003, is an excellent guide to this subject.
|
|
With the support of the European Commission within the framework of the Socrates Comenius programme.