I've finished reading an interesting post from a high school Latin teacher: Marginalia
(Mark Keith—HS Latin) http://promagistris.blogspot.com/
He proudly reports that his daughter has decided to follow his footsteps in becoming a high school Latin teacher, to which most people respond with a loud: Why? Her father, whose comments are posted below, responded on his blog with the following fatherly words of wisdom.
"Colleges should not be seen as expensive vocational centers
training the work-force for the 21st century. What present (and future)
employers need are individuals who can think, plan, organize, be creative,
collaborate, and communicate. Anyone with these abilities can easily be trained
by employers to do what is required in any job and to be a contributing member
to society. The world cannot benefit from narrowly-educated, close-minded
individuals who are merely out to make money."
"We, as educators, need to support and encourage students to
pursue whatever field they wish after they leave our classrooms. If a students
wishes to go on to college and study math, economics, engineering, and the
like, so be it. Likewise, if a student wishes to major in art history, English
literature, classical music, or Latin, these are completely valid choices as
well. Student who go off to get a degree in the liberal arts should not have to
defend or explain themselves. One should never have to apologize for her
education."
What do you think? What's the likelihood of his daughter finding a job teaching Latin after she finishes her schooling?
I "mastered" Latin in grad school, Cambridge and Virginia, but was ill-prepared for what to expect when I entered the job market. After nearly 300 job applications, I finally landed a job - I taught upper school history and middle school Latin. To "seal the deal," the headmaster offered me $1500 extra to teach Latin. So, my own words of wisdom to those what want to spend a fortune on mastering Latin: Caveat Emptor!
I appreciate your question, How relevant are some of the subjects offered in today's high school and college curricula? It's a question that I hadn't thought about much before our Ed Reform class. Your post caused me to wonder about the viability of courses such as Latin or Great Books as budget cuts remove others such as gym and the arts from public high schools. It would seem that courses that would have the greatest impact/benefit on the student body as a whole should be given preference over the more selective courses that only a few would elect to take. How far and where should school budgets stretch? I'm glad that those complex decisions are not up to me, but I am realizing that I do have a role in advocating for what I think would best promote student learning... I don't know that I would push for the hire of a new Latin teacher though.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting and compelling topic for a post, Cory, and I'm glad that you're thinking about this. May I twist the question a bit? What kind of case would you make for the value of learning Latin, whether in intellectual, experiential or more "practical" terms. As I understand it, the instruction of Latin is undergoing a modest renaissance, and it would seem that--now more than ever--a language teacher (or even someone who values language instruction) must be prepared to make the case for the value of language teaching and learning.
ReplyDeleteI appreciated reading your post Cory. And, I have to admit that the disconnect between your knowledge in a "seemingly" valuable skill set and the compensation you were offered for it is deplorable. However, I do see merit in Jeff's post above about the value of the intellectual or maybe even "practical" application of knowing the latin language. I'd like to point out that just because society won't compensate you for knowing the language doesn't mean you shouldn't be commended on having achieved such a noble endeavor. Further, I have complex views on the topic mentioned in your blog post. Unless someone goes to school with an affluent financial backing to fall back on, I don't see the value in gaining a degree in say art history. While I certainly believe that a liberal arts education is valuable in its own right, I don't think that its worth accruing debt for it in a tough job market. While that is merely a personal opinion, I still maintain an open-mind in seeing immense value to a liberal arts understanding, but have trouble justifying its purpose due to the lack of employment options its associated with.
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