Back to Plan your Day 2022 – Dr Arlene Holmes-Henderson – Adding Classics to your curriculum: what difference does it make? Teaching and Learning Leeds Conference 2023 Session Choice #5 Workshop facilitator Dr Arlene Holmes-Henderson Name of Workshop Adding Classics to your curriculum: what difference does it make? Who is it for KS2-5 Literacy, History, English and Drama teachers (also applicable to Art, RS, Modern Languages, Philosophy, Citizenship) Brief synopsis of workshop: Public enthusiasm for Classics and Ancient History is currently high thanks to a number of high-profile Classicists on TV and radio: Mary Beard, Edith Hall, Natalie Haynes, Tom Holland and Bettany Hughes, among others. Meanwhile, books such as Madeline Miller’s Circe and Song of Achilles, Pat Barker’s Silence of the Girls and Stephen Fry’s Mythos and Troy have won critics’ and readers’ awards, and set social media ablaze with praise. It hopefully comes as no surprise, then, that there is renewed interest in the study of Classical subjects in state-maintained primary and secondary schools. This workshop will outline the opportunities available to teachers to include the teaching of Classical literature and culture via Greek and Roman mythology, etymology, drama, philosophy, rhetoric and poetry (in translation). Not only will your teaching of Shakespeare be improved because you’ll have a better understanding of the Classical literature which inspired Shakespeare’s work, but you’ll also be better equipped to teach persuasive writing because you’ll be familiar with the ancient handbook of rhetorical devices in which the secrets of linguistic persuasion are laid bare. With full funding available for training and resources, there has never been a better time discover what difference the ancients can make to you and your learners. What you will get out of it: The opportunity to travel 2500 years in 1 hour! With some word nerdery along the way. And an insight into an Oxford University research study which investigates the impact of learning Latin on English literacy. What difference will teaching Classics make to my learners? Come along to find out. Profile of facilitator: Dr Arlene Holmes-Henderson is Senior Research Fellow in Classics Education at the University of Oxford where she leads the Classics in Communities project (@classicsincomm). She is a Policy Leader and Knowledge Exchange Fellow, with responsibility for engaging new audiences with academic research. She is currently exploring the intersection of rhetoric, oracy and critical skills and has two books coming out in 2022 about the role of Classical subjects in the school curriculum. She is an award-winning teacher of Latin, Classical Greek, Classical Civilisation and Ancient History in the secondary sector and now advises a number of international governments on curriculum design and assessment reform in the areas of languages and humanities education. She trains teachers in the UK and abroad and is the co-editor of ‘Forward with Classics: Classical languages in schools and communities’ (Bloomsbury 2018). She is the Chair of the Classics Development Group, the Outreach Officer of the Classical Association and a steering group member of the British Curriculum Forum. Twitter @drarlenehh @classcivanchist @classicsincomm Websites www.drarlenehh.com www.aceclassics.org.uk https://www.classicsincommunities.org/
