Today’s post is a guest post by Jacqui Carlon.
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Several threats to Latin programs in the schools have emerged or reemerged in the last few years, particularly the budget ax, a shortage of Latin teachers, and the seemingly endless supply of clueless administrators. The Latin program at a school often seems like the easy branch to lop off in hard times – small enough that its demise will not require much shifting of personnel or upset too many student schedules. Even thriving Latin programs can be threatened when administrators fail to see what great benefits the study of Latin brings to its students.
So what should you do if your Latin program is in peril?
First it’s important to get help from colleagues who have experience fighting for programs. For many years now, CANE has had a Classics in Curricula Committee, one of whose jobs is to help threatened programs. I write from experience as the chair of that committee and can report that we have had some success in saving programs. We communicate in writing and/or in person with administrators and school committees, explaining the value of Latin and offering references to supporting research (more of which would be incredibly useful!!).
Don’t reinvent the wheel! Lots of helpful resources are available from the CAMWS Committee for the Promotion of Latin: http://www.camws.org/cpl/educators/promote.htm and the National Committee for Latin and Greek: http://www.promotelatin.org. Make sure to get suggestions and support from hundreds of your colleagues who subscribe to LatinTeach: www.latinteach.com.
Next rally the troops – in a hurry! Sadly many administrators and school committees don’t believe or don’t care to consider all the reasons that the study of Latin is transformative for students, but its students and their parents do! It is critical to have as many voices from the community the school serves not just in favor of keeping the program but vocally advocating for its retention. Gather a crowd to attend a school committee meeting or to seek a hearing from the superintendent. Whoever has the power to preserve the program should be barraged by supporters of all kinds – students, parents, teachers, professors from local colleges, petitions, letters, posters … the more the better. Voters have particular power, so parents are your strongest weapon in the fight.
Finally, if the administration claims that it just can’t find Latin teachers, tell them to look harder and think creatively. It is true that there is still a dearth of highly qualified Latin teachers. For years, schools have had to recruit teachers from other disciplines who have some background in the language or to put unlicensed teachers in the Latin classroom under emergency waivers from state departments of education. But it is also true that a number of colleges and universities in Massachusetts are producing well-qualified and licensed teachers.
A new Masters in Latin and Classical Humanities with Teaching Licensure at UMass Boston will have its first graduate this spring, with at least four more on track to graduate in May 2014. These added to students graduating from UMass Amherst’s well-repected MAT program, Tufts University’s MA with License, and Boston College’s MAT will provide a steady stream of new highly qualified teachers.
Schools in reasonable physical proximity to any of these programs that have part-time needs for a Latin teacher should think about creative ways to staff those positions. The MA program at UMass Boston, with all of its courses offered in the evenings, summers or online, is uniquely suited to brainstorm with local schools to create opportunities for classroom experiences for our graduate students that also serve Latin programs in need.
Above all, get in touch with me! It’s my job, both with CANE as Chair of CIC and at UMass Boston as the Graduate Program Director, to support Latin teachers in New England (and beyond!). Call me at 617-287-6121; email me at jacqueline.carlon@umb.edu.
Jacqui Carlon