Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
All Greek – and Latin – for Monifieth teacher
CLASSICS has long been seen as a traditional subject only at private schools.
But one Angus teacher has been bringing the subject back to state education – and his work has earned him recognition from a prestigious organisation.
George Connor, who teaches English at Monifieth High School, was awarded the prize for outstanding state sector initiative by the Classics Association.
The prize was given for Mr Connor’s work in introducing the subject to more than 250 pupils at the Angus school, as well as assisting more than a dozen other schools in Scotland to set up their own classics courses.
The subject is often used as an umbrella term that can refer to Latin, classical Greek, classical civilisation and ancient history.
The Monifieth teacher was nominated by colleagues and former pupils and was invited to a black tie dinner held in Swansea last month to receive it.
Mr Connor, who also runs his own website dedicated to the subject called Working Classicists, said: “(Receiving the award) really took me by surprise.”
“To an extent, the subject has been a play thing for the private schools and it doesn’t have great visibility outside of that. So it did make me feel like the work we are doing is being seen and it is progressing; it’s an encouragement to go on and do more.”
Figures show that although just 4% of pupils in Scotland are privately educated, more than 60% of those who study classics at university are from fee-paying schools.
But with the increasing visibility of ancient history in popular culture, George believes the subject could soon be on the rise in state schools.
“It feels to me like there is a growth of interest in the ancient world and you can see that in a lot of the books at the moment,” Mr Connor said.
“I think we’ve reached the point where more and more schools recognise it’s a big part of popular culture and they are reaching out and introducing it.
“It’s like the Elgin Marbles – the British Museum have kept them safe and looked after them brilliantly but they don’t belong there, they should go back to Greece.
“Equally, the private schools have kept classics alive but it’s now reached a point where it should be given to the general public and it should be part of general education.”