In a ‘classical’ education, Latin was included to teach discipline, Ancient Greek to teach you how to think. But how useful, or relevant, is Ancient Greek today to pupils in state schools in underprivileged parts of Oxford and London. Natasha Giannousi-Varney visited to find out why the educational charity The Iris Project has worked to introduce Ancient Greek language into their curriculum.
Meet Jordan, Chloe, Rickie, “cool Jurray” and Chiara. It’s a regular school day for these lively nine-year-old children from the Barton neighborhood in east Oxford, as they are gathered inside a school hall of Bayards Hills state primary school with the rest of their year six class. In the middle of all the hustle and bustle, they are taking a closer look at copies of Greek artifacts; there are plates,statues, vases, coins, manuscripts, even a bronze copy of that famous Trojan horse.
Their teachers have already explained to them the concept of ancient artifacts, as well as how scientists, historians, and archaeologists glean precious information from them. By the end of today’s class, they will be called to fill in questionnaires about these mysterious objects–where they came from, what they were used for, what the writing on them says, what they are made of and when they were made. Most of these kids, who come from underprivileged multiethnic backgrounds, have never seen anything like these items before, let alone touched them. So, there is a sense of excitement in the air about the new world they are about to discover. Earlier today, in the classroom, it was about finding out Ancient Greek words that the children could transliterate to English (think mythos, barbaros, polis), guessing their meaning and discussing how they connect with the modern language.
This is the second lesson of the Ancient Greek language and civilization course currently offered to year six pupils at three East Oxford primary schools; eleven more will be given Ancient Greek taster sessions later in the year, still others are being offered Latin classes under the same program. There are seven sessions in this part of the Greek course, which was introduced for the first time in 2010. Each session is designed to last approximately one hour, and is aimed at large, mixed ability classes.
The goal, as described by its mastermind, Dr Lorna Robinson, is “to bring out the connections between Greek and English, to introduce the children to an exciting new alphabet, and to demonstrate the many rich and fundamental connections between ancient Greece and the modern world.” But why ancient Greek?
Over the iris
Robinson is the director and founder of the Iris Project, an educational charity campaigning for the teaching of classics to inner city state schools and communities, and is devoting all her time and energy to ensure success for a cause so close to her heart. So far, her work has aroused a great deal of interest in the U.K., including a 2008 public praise coming from the House of Parliament, tabled by Tom Brake MP and signed by thirty-
one others.
Robinson teaches some of the classes herself, and also gets precious help from Classics PhD students from the University of Oxford, the Open University, University College London, and King’s College London–which are just some of the supporters of her educational charity. To begin with, she approaches headmasters and teachers in less privileged state schools and proposes the introduction of Ancient Greek or Latin lessons as part of the Literacy class. Many are eager to participate in the project, so then Robinson and her colleagues start visiting participating schools once a week, and with the constant support of year six teachers, embark on this exciting journey.
“Some people can be daunted by the idea of learning a language that has a different alphabet as it may feel like an additional challenge. Actually, though, we’ve found out that while it does add an extra dimension to the learning it’s one that pupils take to quite quickly and really enjoy once they get going. Ancient Greek is just a wonderful language, full of beautiful words and fascinating concepts”.
Although the Iris Project started by introducing Latin to London and Oxford grammar schools back in 2006, Dr Robinson was eager to add Ancient Greek to the curriculum. “I wanted to pilot Ancient Greek because people tend to find it more fascinating and intriguing. It seems to have a certain awe and fascination for its myths and philosophy.” The Oxford Greek Project is now well into its second academic year, with more schools in the Cowley, Blackbird Leys, Headington and Summertown neighborhoods currently showing an interest for Greek taster sessions.
The 160 pupils at Bayards Hill seem to be relishing the experience. As one teacher in the Barton primary, where children speak twenty-six different languages, pointed out: “They love these lessons, getting exposed to the world of the Greeks and doing something different than anything else they have done in class before. They look forward to them, they talk about them afterwards and they find them extremely valuable in terms of improving their English grammar. They get acquainted with some of the great works of literature and they start to think in a logical way when it comes to language. It’s not vocational but a child can get a lot out of it.”
And what do the children themselves say have to say?
“It was interesting. I learnt how the Greeks lived and about Aristophanes’ plays.”
“I learnt about Greek democracy, their gods and about everyday life. Also how their lives were similar and different to how we live today.”
“They had a lot of wars. The Athenians fought the Spartans. They invented democracy but women were not allowed to vote!”
“A lot of English words come from Greek words.”
Clearly, plenty of food for thought for them there.
High thoughts, high language
What Robinson and her colleagues at the Iris Project have achieved is no small feat. There is currently no room for the mother tongues of Pericles or Cicero in the U.K. schools’ official curriculum. The number of children taking Latin or Greek at A-levels has been in constant decline, while Latin GCSE entries fell from 16,000 in 1988 to 9,900 in 2004. These pupils mainly come from the private school system anyway, while state schools very rarely offer this opportunity to children.
“I am not saying it should be compulsory” says Robinson. “But it should be on offer.”
And she has devised a way to make this happen. These Ancient Greek and Latin lessons are not officially timetabled as such, but as Literacy. They actually form part of the Literacy curriculum, designed to help pupils improve their English language skills. The tried and tested language exercises are designed to improve pupils’ grasp of word composition and sentence structure in a fun and creative way, that also improves their knowledge and understanding of other important concepts, such as democracy, poetry, philosophy, ancient theatre, and archaeology.
Robinson, a soft spoken but determined woman, is herself a product of the privileged school system who became disenchanted with it and wanted more. An Oxford University graduate, with a PhD in Classics under her belt, she had just started teaching at Reading’s exclusive Wellington College, which charges fees of more than 20,000 pounds a year, back in 2006 and could have been settled for life.
“It was a lovely school, I had a class full of A-level Ancient Greek students, which I recognized I was very lucky to have, but I found myself feeling dissatisfied. I was getting disenchanted with the growing belief that access to Latin and Greek lessons interests only and should be reserved ‘for the privileged’.”
The charity was a gradual evolution of her disenchantment. “I felt that I was teaching pupils that would have access to the Ancient Greek language and civilization anyway and that was great for them. But if I stayed on I would not really be making a difference. These were children that had privileged lives and would probably go on to have privileged lives anyway, because this is the way that our society works. I was preaching to the converted, in a way. After many weeks of thinking what to do, I initially decided to edit a Classics magazine that we could give for free to state schools”.
Today the Iris magazine, which still comes out three times a year (one issue per school term), is sold to private schools and universities and given out for free to state schools. After the magazine was published, Robinson, still unsatisfied, continued to consider other ideas, “perhaps a bit more proactive: I approached some schools in Hackney with the idea of teaching ancient Latin and Greek as part of the Literacy curriculum, thinking that this is something that could help pupils learn English better.”
Robinson quit her job and devoted herself to the Iris Project.
Dramatic turns
Back to our inquisitive east Oxford pupils, it is good to know that all will not be over for them after a few more Ancient Greek lessons. Soon, it will be time to discover the magical world of the Ancient Greek theater, as the two-term Greek Drama Project comes into play.
For this educational element, Robinson collaborates closely with Durham- and UCLeducated theatre director Graham Kirby, who says he wanted to connect his love of Greek drama with a desire to bring Classics to a wider audience.
“We piloted the project with two Hackney (London) schools in 2007/8, then five from across London in 2008/9, then one in east Oxford last year. Nearly four hundred students have been actively involved so far, but this does not count the literally thousands of young people who have been to see the performances over the years,” says Graham.
How does it work? The Drama project starts by giving the year five or year six pupils a grounding in Greek mythology, culture, history and society, whether by playing something like Myth Maker (where they learn about actual myths before trying to devise their own) or the Democracy Game (where children play the part of the Athenian Assembly during the Peloponnesian War).
The second term is devoted to auditions and rehearsals, in which Graham and Lorna have a hands-on role, but they also try to recruit as many volunteers as possible, especially for the making of costumes, sets. By then, Graham has already selected, translated, abridged and adapted the Ancient Greek play so that it suits a younger mind. Finally, after months and months of preparations,everyone is ready to give it their best on opening night!
“What I try to do in my adaptations is bring out that social or satirical message and aim it towards a modern audience so how we choose the plays depends on how a message would work in modern day. To give an example, after the banking crisis, in the middle of the recession and with the MPs expenses’ scandal, we knew we had to do Aristophanes’ Birds! Frogs and Peace were staged in 2008, Clouds and Birds in 2009, Birds and
Frogs in 2011… I am currently translating Acharnians and Wasps for 2012, and perhaps after that I will do a translation of Greek tragedy for children.”
Especially in Aristophanes’ plays, Graham notes, there are some great choruses which are lively, colorful, and fun to perform. This is ideal because “we want all the children involved to be proud of their part and to enjoy their role, whether they are the main role, a cameo, or the chorus.” He says that at first children are rather bemused by the plays; there are long names, strange things happening, and modern references. However, once the see action in the flesh (not on the written page), things begin to make sense for them. “As well as being incredibly funny, Aristophanes is so thought-provoking that parents too cannot fail to be impressed. There is certainly a lot of laughter during the performances and a sea of smiling afterwards”.
Hooked on classics
Apart from the Iris magazine and the Ancient Greek and Latin lessons, the Iris Project also publishes the newly-minted Iota, a Classics magazine with younger children in mind. Iota aims to introduce Classics and Latin in a fun, informative, and engaging way, and its content is designed and written to fit in with the course material on the ancient Greeks and Romans. Every edition is themed around a story from the ancient world and contains five sections: on gods, monsters, objects, people, and words.
Poetry competitions and free outdoor sessions on Classical subjects in parks across Oxford and London (where people can bring their lunch and learn some Latin and Ancient Greek language and culture) also form part of the Iris Project’s agenda, with activities designed not only for children but for adults as well. All these initiatives are made possible through the generous support of universities, public and private grants, individual donors and anonymous sponsors and plenty of volunteers. Boris Johnson, the mayor of London and a huge Classics enthusiast himself, is patron of the charity (having also taught a one-hour Latin class himself!), and will be one of the keynote speakers in the many Greek Civilization taster sessions currently being organized by the Iris Project for London state schools, as part of the buildup towards the 2012 Olympic Games.
And since open source and open access is the name of the game, the Iris Project makes all course outlines and play adaptations freely available through its website (www.irismagazine.org). They are there for everyone to peruse and for teachers to implement them in their class, at their own initiative–always with the help of the Iris Project.
And there is a huge response. Even from as far as the Barbados, where a school recently staged an Aristophanes play based on Graham’s adaptation–and then wrote in to say how much they enjoyed the experience.
“To the people who would say that this is not relevant today, I would say that having an understanding of history and how it relates to our world today can only be a good thing”, Robinson points out.
“It is a very arrogant society that thinks it can learn nothing from the past,” adds Kirby. “We cannot live in a cultural vacuum that is only concerned with the present. Human nature doesn’t really change that much even though the values of society do. When people sneer at ‘soft’ learning like drama I remind them that an engagement with unreality–mythology, fantasy, drama–is essential for developing creative thought, which breeds ideas and originality. It should never be an exclusive choice between ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ learning; the two have to go together.”
State school pupils in east Oxford and London certainly seem to be agree. “In the first year,” Graham remembers, “we got enough funding to take two of the classes to a production of Cloudcuckoo Land, an adaptation of the Birds. Afterwards, Lorna and I led a class discussion about the themes of the play: was it an optimistic or pessimistic play, what was Aristophanes trying to say? etc. Although the class concluded that it was a pessimistic play, one of the pupils stood up, raised his clenched fist in the air like Che Guevara and shouted: ‘But you’ve gotta have hope!’ And that is exactly why we do this project.”