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While complacency is to be avoided, in many ways this is a positive

time for Classics teaching with, for example, the continued creation and expansion of departments in some areas and a number of initiatives designed to support the future of Classics in schools and universities. My own teacher trainees have pointed out what they perceive as a slight mismatch between the air of pessimism they encounter in some of the writings on Classics teaching from five or ten years ago and their current encounters with the world of Classics education. One of the facets of a PGCE is the range of opportunities it offers for reflection, not only on one’s subject and related pedagogy, but on education in general. It was in this spirit that Steve Hunt and I organised a mini-conference, held at the start of term at King’s College London, for the two Classics PGCE groups (from the University Cambridge and from King’s College London), which was designed to provide them with a variety of stimuli for the continued development of their careers in Classics teaching: Inspiring Tales.

We invited a number of speakers, from a Newly Qualified Teacher, to more experienced teachers from both primary and secondary sectors, and a

university fellow / Classics tutor. The purpose of the day was to encourage the trainee teachers to think about a variety of aspects of the role of the Classics teacher, some of which are integral to their development as beginning teachers, and others of which they might consider a little further on in their teaching careers. In addition, the day provided an opportunity for the only two Classics PGCE groups in the country to meet each other for the first time (the second time occurred in Cambridge with a combined workshop of War with Troy with Bob Lister).

In his practical session, ‘Telling tales through artefacts’, Steve Hunt encouraged the PGCE groups to think about using sources to facilitate thinking and discussion in their classes. In this instance the sources were images taken from Pompeii (via the British Museum exhibition), with groups each being given four or five images and asked to consider how they might be used to prompt thinking in the Classics classroom. The questions asked ranged from what they might have in common, to how they might draw them all together to implicate the people or objects in a murder mystery story ‘à la Cluedo’. The session prompted students to think about the

power of simple objects in the classroom and the advantages of using physical representations of them (as well as about raiding museum shops for images of artefacts) rather than projecting images on the IWB. At least one student used the approach in a lesson a few days later, eliciting thoughtful questions and interesting discussion points from her Year 8 class.

The next session branched away from the individual teacher’s classroom, as Jane Maguire, a retired Modern Foreign Languages teacher, presented ‘The North Norfolk Story’, an outreach project involving primary and secondary schools in an area described as having ‘pockets of deprivation’. This involved, initially, a secondary school introducing Latin in conjunction with its feeder primary schools taking it up via the primary Latin textbook Minimus. This reminded us of the possibilities for Classical subjects even where they might not be evident at first sight and this initial cluster has now been replicated in other schools. It highlighted the importance of using the enthusiasm and expertise of other teachers, whether specialists or not, in collaborative activities across a number of schools. What Jane also brought

Inspiring Tales PGCE Conferenceby Aisha Khan-Evans

Inspiring Tales PGCE Conference

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out was the persistence required in such outreach work and the importance of thinking through ‘the big picture’ including a consideration of any plans from a Senior Management viewpoint, in order to pre-empt any concerns they might have. Another highlight was, of course, the satisfaction evident in the success of such projects. This session was particularly timely, with the growing interest in Classics in the primary school, not least the inclusion of Greek and Latin as named languages in the revised Key Stage 2 National Curriculum. As Jane pointed out, with growing numbers of primary school children having studied some Latin, there should be scope for persuading more secondary schools of its benefits. Two examples of feedback speak for themselves:

- From a head teacher: “The children love it. It broadens their horizons and their aspirations.” - From a pupil: “I think the Romans are more interesting now.”

We then moved even further afield to ‘Stories from abroad’, hearing advice from Anna Karsten, a secondary school teacher in Peterborough, on taking school groups abroad. Not only did Anna highlight the importance of providing such educational experiences to bring the classroom to life, she reminded us, through the use of visual materials, of the simple joys of a visit to the Acropolis, for example, and the benefits of using those visuals as source materials once back in school. Of course Anna also reminded us of the administrative and organisational requirements and her session was summed up by one group as the ‘trials, tribulations, highs and lows’ of organising and leading residential excursions to Classical sites. The moral of the tale for the PGCE students seemed to be that, even with the tightest planning and preparation, including site inspections, parents’ meetings, as well as the copious paperwork, things will, on occasion, go wrong, but it will be worth it in the end.

Olivia Sanchez presented a multicultural viewpoint – ‘An East End Story’ - based on her experiences as a

Newly Qualified Teacher appointed to introduce Latin and Classical Civilisation in an 11-18 mixed comprehensive school with a high proportion of students from families of Bangladeshi origin. Many of us will be familiar with the challenges of raising the profile of Classical subjects in schools where the subjects are new or not perceived as mainstream, regardless of the school setting. Olivia reminded us that we all have our own cultures and prejudices, what might be called ‘cultural baggage’ and that it can be easy to forget this as we concentrate on the curriculum, the Schemes of Work and the examination results. While PGCE students are accustomed to spending time on self-evaluation and reflecting on how effectively they have engaged their classes, Olivia’s account of her experiences reminded us of the importance of maintaining these habits once in post.

Eileen Emmett, a Classics teacher and mentor of long-standing with the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, presented the possibilities of highly creative and artistic collaborations via the Comenius Programme, funded by the EU (‘Telling Tales Through Comenius’). The Programme is aimed at schools and colleges across Europe, with students from a range of countries working together on projects. Teachers meet initially to prepare the projects; then preparation in school is followed up with a week of activities for all involved in a host school. While in the host country, each workshop group includes students from across the countries working together, in spite of their different languages (although the lingua franca for the project is English). This particular project involved Latin students and non-Latinists preparing, for example, dramas based on the story of Boudicca (in Latin and in English) and on Nero’s potential culpability, or otherwise, for the fire at Rome. Not only does such a cross-curricular project broaden the students’ horizons, it assists in the development of skills for life, such as communication, decision-making and problem-solving - all through the lens of the Classical world. Again this perfectly illustrated the multi-faceted nature of the study of Classics.

Anna Bell’s account of introducing Classics in a London secondary school - ‘Beginning a New Department’ - was an encouraging and inspiring story, illustrating the very real possibility of creating a stable department in a relatively short space of time. Anna has developed Classics teaching at the school from minimal classes to a department of two teachers who regularly host PGCE students from King’s, with Latin or Classics now offered at each Key Stage. While creating an entirely new department is an exciting challenge, it clearly requires energy, enthusiasm and determination, all of which Anna displayed in abundance. Her story was also a helpful reminder of the potential obstacles involved in such an enterprise and the importance of marketing and raising the profile of Classical subjects in school, not only with students and their parents but with colleagues.

While we are at great pains to remind our students of the oral nature of, for example, Homer’s epics, and while we might try to convey to them the sense of the rhythm in the meter, we and they may find it difficult to imagine how ancient Greek poetry would have sounded when sung and accompanied by music. Armand D’Angour’s current research project, on the sound of Greek music, will change all that and we were delighted that he was able to close our conference with a short presentation on the project. Armand, a musician and Classics lecturer at Jesus College, likened the project to reconstructing the music of The Beatles using solely their lyrics; such was the importance of music in the ancient world that the best known of the musicians would also have been subject to the ancient equivalent of ‘Beatlemania’ or the fervour of the ‘Beliebers’. While this was something of which most of us knew relatively little, Armand demonstrated how easily and enjoyably aspects of such a project could be incorporated in the classroom. We wait with interest the interpretation of the song of the Sirens. This final session, to quote one of the King’s students, was “a great way to finish. Armand’s winged words were mellifluous”.

Aisha Khan-Evans leads the PGCE in Classics at King’s College London

Inspiring Tales PGCE Conference