A teacher in our PLC has endured repeated attacks all year – her first year in the school – for doing CI in her Latin classes. I won’t mention the teacher’s name because it isn’t important. The story is important, because in my view it is unprecedented.
The attacks have come from parents who want Latin to be taught in the old way. Everybody has been happy in this elitist East Coast school for decades, and they don’t want things to change. The smart Ivy League bound kids took Latin beyond level 1 and that was it. The other kids dropped out. That’s the way it has always been in this school.
But, now that this teacher has survived and even thrived using CI and sticking to her guns, it is becoming increasingly apparent to the elitist families that their kids are not going to get what they have had for recent years. (Many families are legacy families in this Latin program where older siblings learned Latin in the old way). They have therefore recently begun to petition the school to track Latin into what it was in the past (as Latin has been taught for centuries) and then also a more general CI track as is currently being done by this teacher. Clearly, the parents do not understand or appreciate CI.
Amazingly, the vice principal in charge of languages refuses to consider the request of this small but vocal group of elitist parents in this very traditional bastion of old guard teaching, where the elite in the school community have called all the political shots until now.
(The reader can just imagine what this young teacher has been going through, taking over from a beloved traditional teacher (read “Battle-axe”) much like the French teacher that Paul is dealing with right now. But, unlike Paul’s current situation in Utah, this teacher has received nothing but support from the top.)
I am not sure if the principal totally gets CI but that doesn’t matter. What the principal clearly wants for this school is a democratic classroom where the few don’t get to dicate the needs of the many. This is democracy in action and is what CI does and what the old way of teaching grammar does not do. Apparently there will be no “school within a school” here.
Here are the details from the teacher:
Ben –
On the eve of back to school night, in continued support of my efforts with CI in my classroom and against all the attacks I have been under so far this year, my vice principal emailed to the parents who want tracking within the Latin program in order to “separate students who are deeply interested from those who are generally interested.” Here are his words:
“Establishing a two-track system for Latin would not be compatible with our school’s philosophy of inclusion and diversity. A public school, we take seriously our commitment to educate all students and I am excited that [name of teacher] is implementing strategies to bring this vision to life. As her supervisor, I have charged [name of teacher] with continuing to explore how best to support students of all achievement levels in the same classroom.”
Here is the response to that email from the leader of the Latin parents:
“Of course part of the promotion of Latin is the cohesive community it created for our daughters when they arrived at [name of school] and which has sustained them all four years, and also in a semester of study in Rome. It would be distressing if promoting an academic “community” on academic grounds were perceived as “not compatible with school philosophy.” The challenge as teachers (I write as one who has taught for nearly 30 years in law schools) is to draw in students of diverse backgrounds bonded by a desire for excellence in a unique discipline. Latin should offer that attraction.
“As I wrote the two-track system might or might not make sense, and hats off to [name of teacher] if she can bridge a full range of abilities and interests in a single classroom and serve all the kids.
“I am hoping that you and the teachers see the collective efforts of the parents on this email in that light, as we do not want to be discouraged from trying to ensure that our successors enjoy the same rich experience that Latin provided to our children.”
The teacher then reported on the evening:
“The evening went smoothly, and with my VP in the room during my difficult class period, it was clear who was calling the shots, but I was all smiles. Such a relief to get through this long day, dealing with the internal struggle of self-doubt. I am realizing, however, what an insular culture I am dealing with.”