Varia

OISE Bachelor of Education in Classical Studies: Latin at Risk

Help save the Bachelor of Education in Classical Studies: Latin at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.

The decision was recently made to cancel the Bachelor of Education in Classical Studies: Latin at OISE since only three candidates were admitted to the programme. It was hoped that by putting the degree into a two-year rotation, there would be more candidates generated. Sadly, this has not been the case and the future of the programme is in jeopardy.

With the publication of the new Ontario Curriculum in 1999 and 2000, Classical languages was launched into a spotlight that it had not enjoyed for some two decades. As a result of this, Dr. Ann Millar of OISE, agreed that perhaps it was time to "test the waters" and see if there were interested and qualified candidates who wanted to enrol in the B.Ed. in Classical languages. Under the auspices of OISE, the Ontario Classical Association increased its blitz of information to university Departments of Classics in the hopes of raising the profile of the degree and teaching generally.

In 2000, then Assistant Dean, Dr. Cecilia Reynolds, now Dean of Education at Saskatchewan, decided to resurrect the degree one year ahead of the test target date of 2001 since there were seven Classicists admitted to OISE that year. Since then, we have trained some thirty-three Latin teachers, nineteen of whom have taken jobs in Latin. Another eleven are reporting teaching in their second field.

If you support the teaching of Latin and ancient Greek at the secondary level as an outlet for your Classics majors, if you support the recognition of Classics as a valuable commodity for students to study at all levels of their education, if you support providing a continuity for students as they enter Classics programmes at the university level, HELP US SAVE THIS DEGREE.

Please contact Dr. Carol Rolheiser, Associate Dean- Teacher Education and Dr. Jane Gaskell, Dean of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1V6.