1984 Ontario Classics Teachers Seminar

204 1984 ONTARIO CLASSICS TEACHERS SEMINAR SUMfvlER SEMINAR FOR ONTARI9 CLASSICS TEACHERS, 1984 Another successful Summer Seminar has been held for Ontario teachers of Classics in the secondary schools. July 3 to 6, 1984, saw almost 60 secondary school teachers converge on the grounds of Victoria College" University of Toronto, from almost all regions of this vast province. They were glad that, seven years after the last such occasion, they could spend some time again with missed colleagues and friends, and meet new faces. On this occasion the Ministry of Education shared sponsorship with the Ontario Classical Association (OCA). The time selected took advantage of the availability of Professor David Morton, Director of the Cambridge School Classics Project. Program director was Paul Whalen, OCA Treasurer and head of Classics at Brebeuf College School in Metropolitan Toronto. He carried out his energetic planning with Dr. Donald Maudsley of the Ministry. Professor Morton offered suggestions on the problem of compressing the current four-year Ontario secondary school Latin program into three years; approaches to reading using the Cambridge Latin Course (CLC); teaching grammar in CLC units 3 and 4; and methods of evaluating student achievement in Latin courses. He was also invited to close the seminar with a summary and evaluation of the week's experience. The problem of compressing the Ontario program from four years to three has arisen because of radical structural changes in the Ontario system that are beginning to take effect this autumn and will hit Grade 10 (first-year) Latin classes by next year. (They are hitting our few Grade 9 courses this year.) It is feared that many schools will find themselves obliged to use compression to cut back on programs owing to a recent reduction in the number of credits required for the Ontario university entrance certificate (the Ontario Secondary School Diploma, OSSD). Whether Latin in Ontario high schools will survive as we know it is moot; observers outside the Ministry of Education feel certain, however, that some alteration in program design such as compression will be necessary to keep Latin alive. Further details on this recently-begun revolution in Ontario are provided in a subsequent appendix. Possibilities for compressing a school program using Ecce Romani (Longmcm) were discussed by Judy Stone of the Bishop Strachan 10f the 58 members registered for this seminar, 15 secondary-level teachers (26%) hailed from public, private and separate (usually Roman Catholic) schools within the six cities and boroughs making up Metropolitan Toronto (containing about 2.4 million people), 2 from schools in the U.S.A. (Washington and Pennsylvania), 2 from a university in Toronto, 1 from aU. K. university, and 38 teachers (65%) from schools in Ontario outside ~\etropolitan Toronto. 1984 ONTARIO CLASSICS TEACHERS SEMINAR 205 School, Toronto. Kay Hoey, of Riverdale Collegiate, did the same for the "traditional" Latin course. Small group discussion led to reports and general discussion of the problems in a concluding plenary session. Morton's, Stone's and Hoey's present