Workshop: Standards for Latin Teacher Preparation

Abstract

APA 2011 San AntonioProposal for Workshop on Standards for Latin Teacher PreparationAs early as the 1980s, as Latin enrollments in secondary schools began to rise after plummeting in the late 1960s and 1970s, it became apparent that the next crisis in Classics would be a shortage of qualified teachers ready to meet the growing demand for Latin (Phinney 1981, Wilhelm 1985). Latin programs continue to be jeopardized by difficulty in finding replacements when a Latin teacher moves on or retires. Preparing the next generation of Latin teachers must be a strategic priority for the APA and all who care about the future of Classics.In February, 2010, the APA and ACL published Standards for Preparing Latin Teachers (available at http://www.aclclassics.org/pdf/LatTeachPrep2010Stand.pdf). This document outlines what a beginning Latin teacher should know and be able to do. The Standards are intended to inform college and university teaching as well as practice in schools. Because many APA members are engaged in preparing Latin teachers, it is important for them to be aware of the Standards and have an opportunity to react to them. It is also important for APA members teaching at the college level to know something about pedagogical issues and controversies that figure in pre-collegiate practice but as yet have had little impact on college teaching.The APA/ACL Joint Task Force on Teacher Training and Standards, which created the Standards, proposes to hold a workshop at the 2011 annual meeting for APA members who prepare prospective Latin teachers—that is, for everyone who teaches undergraduates or graduate students. The workshop will focus on the impact of the Standards on undergraduate and graduate instruction and curricula.No formal papers will be presented. Five members of the Joint Task Force will each offer a brief (between three and five minutes), provocative presentation of a question that arises from the Standards. Each provocation will be followed by 15 minutes of discussion.Facilitator #1, a past president of the American Classical League and National Board Certified Latin teacher, will offer scenarios from current practice in schools. He will challenge workshop participants to think of ways in which their preparation as teachers may or may not have been adequate and to relate these areas to sections of the Standards.Facilitator #2, professor of Classics at an urban university with a large teacher training program, will address why a college professor should learn about and care about the Standards. They incorporate good pedagogy for use at any level, including the college classroom and they will shape incoming Latin students because they will affect secondary school teaching. Do college and university teachers have a responsibility to model good teaching for the next generation of Latin teachers?Facilitator #3, professor of Classics at a leading Midwestern liberal arts college and author of a well-regarded book on Latin pedagogy, will consider the impact of Standard One (Content Knowledge) on college curricula. He will invite the audience to think about whether college curricula as they currently exist can prepare prospective teachers to meet Standard One.Facilitator #4, a professor of Classics and administrator at a state university with a large teacher training program, will open a conversation about Standard Two (Pedagogy) and teacher training programs. She will begin discussion on the roles of Classics departments and schools of education in preparing future Latin teachers.Facilitator #5, a past vice-president of the APA and author of a recent book on classical education, will explore a possible developing gap between the purposes and methods of Latin instruction in schools and Classics programs in colleges. Is “Latin” in danger of becoming two different subjects, one humanistic and focused on Latin texts of all periods, the other philological and concentrating on Roman antiquity?REFERENCES:R. Wilhelm, “The Shortage of Latin Teachers: Fact or Fiction?” CO 62(1985), 105.E. Phinney, “The Critical Shortage of Qualfied Latin Teachers,” ADFL Bulletin 13.1(September 1981), 31-32 = http://web2.adfl.org/adfl/bulletin/V13N1/131031.htm, accessed March 4, 2010.