Malta Classics Association holds in-service course for teachers

The Malta Classics Association organised a successful in-service course for teachers on 7, 10 and 11th July in the beautiful gardens of Villa Bologna, Attard.

Attendees, all primary or secondary school educators were addressed each morning by Classicists and Classics enthusiasts, among whom were Kristina Chetcuti, Karm Serracino, Victor Bonnici, Joseph Anthony Debono, Juergen Gatt and Jennifer Mitchell. The talks focussed on the language and culture of the Ancient Greeks and Romans and how these could be made accessible to children in the classroom.

During the subsequent workshops, teachers and classicists discussed how Classics touches our life – in film, in science, in the home, etc. Discussion also ranged over what a large percentage of the words we use are actually Latin-derived – this is true of both English and Maltese. It was shown how, even just on the level of language, some knowledge and experience of a classical language makes a world of difference to a child’s reading, writing and speaking skills.

All this apart from the fact that classical culture contains the seeds of our own culture, is every child’s right to enjoy and explore, and allows children to appreciate a large part of our own history where we were effectively part of the Roman world for a few hundred years.

The Classics Association’s new and exciting project to bring Latin to primary classrooms was unveiled during this event. The event was opened by Minster of Education and Employment, Evarist Bartolo who spoke of the crucial role of the Humanities in the modern world, and introduced by Ms. Bernie Mizzi, Director of St. Martin’s College, who sponsored the event. The catalyst for this project was, in fact, Ms Mizzi commissioning Miss Jennifer Mitchell to conduct a research project “Weaving Classics into the Curriculum” for the Euroclassica conference organized by the MCA in Valletta in August 2015.

The course ended on Tuesday with a gift to all the participants of the illustrated Latin phrase-book Vox Depicta newly published by the Malta Classics Association and edited by Lara Zammit.