Although there is plenty of scholarship regarding the concerns of addressing controversial and sensitive subject manner in the Classics classroom, and I have considered these to quite an extent, my own interest in these practices emerged where they matter the most: my own experiences within the classroom. For me, it came to a head with one pupil who demonstrated an active enthusiasm for Latin study and the classical world at large, but was slowly becoming disheartened after several classes, despite not displaying any overt academic challenges to any of the presented material. When I brought this issue up privately with her, she said: ‘Sir, it sucks that this culture and language which I adore, wouldn't value me as much I value it.’ She also expressed regret at choosing Latin, as she felt ‘it seems to be a subject where only boys can succeed.’ It also became apparent that this consensus was common, and shared with several of her friends and peers. This paper describes some of the actions I undertook to address their sensitivities in the Classics classroom.

This article discusses the opportunities and challenges of teaching Classics as an ‘applied’ subject. It outlines the development of a new module at the University of St Andrews which asks student teams to research and design a project that draws on ancient sources, practices or ideas to address a challenge in the 21st century, such as ‘fake news’, racism, or climate change. It distinguishes Applied Classics from Public Classics and Reception Studies, defining the former as ‘the purposeful application of carefully-chosen aspects of antiquity as a useful intervention in a contemporary challenge.’ It also underlines its value as a form of ‘Citizen Scholarship’, a branch of academia that builds bridges to activism and has tangible impacts, creating change (not just disseminating knowledge) in the wider world. The article considers the ethics of Applied Classics; the mentoring that students require, to work in novel ways and on topics well outside their comfort zones; and the assessment challenges that come with project-based learning. It reflects on the skills that students acquire from this kind of module (in leadership, collaboration, creative thinking, critical self-reflection and outcomes-focused thinking), on their sense of empowerment as they identify ways to translate their studies into socially impactful work, and on the contributions they can make to wider debates about the future of Classics as a discipline.

The aim of this contribution is to present an innovative approach to the use of Open Access AI in teaching the Classical era at high school and university level. The paper first explains the growing interest in AI technology and its main applications in the subjects of philology, history and other related areas. The following sections show the different steps of the proposal, which uses the Midjourney program, as well as its pros and cons.

In this article, we showcase the pilot scenario of The Trojan War, an educational self-directed game that combines text inspired by ancient Greek (as well as Roman) literature with graphics based on the ‘Geometric style’, an authentic Greek style of painting contemporary with the composition of the Homeric epics. Our game uses interactive scenarios to support active learning strategies of students interested in Classical Studies in both tertiary and secondary education. Players can take on the role of key characters, making choices that can prevent, start, or stop the Trojan War, as well as determine their own personal outcomes. The learners are thus presented with the opportunity to explore alternative pathways to rewrite the history of the War. In the process, they can apply their subject knowledge and develop their intellectual and critical skills. They also become familiar with a distinctive and expressive early Greek artistic style, the so-called Geometric. Rather than focusing on winning, the game aims to give students the opportunity to engage with important ideas and values of ancient Greek culture by exploring multiple perspectives on the topic. It also provides a valuable lesson on the potentially wide-ranging consequences of individual choices, which is a core element of responsible citizenship.

The idea for this special issue of Journal of Classics Teaching arose from the conference ‘Monsters in the classroom: Latin and Greek at primary school’ which Steve Hunt (Cambridge), Lidewij Van Gils (Amsterdam), and myself (Ghent) co-organised in January of 2022.1 This conference gathered teaching expertise from eight countries and attracted more than 120 participants from 20 countries to discuss both the successes and challenges related to current international practice in the teaching of Classical languages at primary school. It became a constructive and fruitful event, where participants from different countries shared good practice in order to learn from each other and formulate steps forward.

In the Marseille region in France, ancient Greek has been taught in pre-school and primary school for more than 20 years. The ‘Nausicaa’ Association was created in 1996 with an express purpose in mind. As Nausicaa was Odysseus' guide and helped him regain his dignity as a man and a king, so our association supports children in becoming more complete and richer humans, or so we hope. Nausicaa has grown enormously in the past 20 years, and currently operates in various schools in the South of France, in particular in Marseille and Aix-en-Provence. Around ten volunteers (teachers working in middle school, high school or retired) teach ancient Greek to pupils from pre-school to the end of primary school. All activities are done at school during class teaching time and in the school setting. This paper presents an outline of the activities of the Nausicaa Association and how it benefits pupils of all abilities in learning about the ancient Greeks and their language.

This paper presents a public outreach program developed by the Department of Classics at the University of Florida to introduce school-age children to Classics. The main goal is to emphasise the value of Classics and the practical skills it teaches by engaging students with hands-on exercises and materialising connections between the past and the present. The paper focuses on the importance of Classics and the humanities in the development of engaged citizens, the types of programs and their content, and ways to ensure the sustainability of such initiatives through the involvement of graduate students, faculty, and administrators.

The purpose of this article is to offer an overview of an educational project that brought Classical Civilisation to pupils in the Pisa area between 2004 and 2009, through a cooperation between the Department of Classical Philology at our University and the Provincial Administration of Pisa.1 The project was aimed at pupils of primary and lower secondary schools, in response to a thorough reform of the Italian school system that excluded some pupils from studying Greek and Roman civilisations in as much depth as other parts of history. This article will first provide an overview of the Italian education system and its recent reforms, after which the project Educare all'Antico will be discussed.

How accessible is the field of Latin and ancient Ancient Greek languages in the Dutch education system? In recent years this discussion has resurfaced in the light of societal developments which focus on equality of opportunities.1 Moreover, our field faces the challenge to explain in both international and national discussions what makes its study so relevant in the current times, both in secondary and tertiary education.2 This article provides a short overview of the current situation of Latin and ancient Ancient Greek education within the Dutch secondary education system before looking in more detail at its impact on Dutch students. It ends with directions for improving the accessibility of the field of Classics education. In order to illustrate the functioning and consequences of the current situation, in June 2021 a large-scale survey among 1,700 Dutch students of the gymnasium (secondary education with Latin and ancient Greek) provides us with interesting experiences, biases and thoughts about the accessibility of classical education. If we believe that knowledge of the ancient languages and literatures is a valuable resource for the younger generations of our modern society and in addition we see that our field, as any field, would profit from a more diverse group of researchers and teachers, the direction for future improvements is clear; but concrete steps in that direction should be taken at various levels. With this article, I hope to contribute to such improvements to the educational system and contemporaneously to our field.

This article presents the method used in Elliniki Agogi, a private small school that teaches the Ancient Greek language as an extra-curricular activity. Over the 29 years of experimenting with educational material, methods, books and exercises, teaching Ancient Greek as a living language seems like the only method that really works for the students. It is immersive, experiential, educational and fun, but most important, it makes students love what they learn; by loving, they keep wanting to come back. By coming back, they repeat. By repeating; they learn. And by learning Greek as a living language, they never forget it. This is our school's aim: to make our students love the language. Experiential learning is highly valued and applied through visits to archaeological sites, and reviving important historical events. But this is only the beginning; playing, drawing, acting, foreign exchanges, educational trips, digital programs, collaborations with foreign institutions and educational organisations come alive in Elliniki Agogi, a small school that was founded 29 years ago in Greece and has joined worldwide efforts in changing the way Greek is taught in order to promote its true, timeless, precious wisdom. In Elliniki Agogi a combination of teaching Greek as a living language and activities that include play and fun, a method as old as time, shows exactly the reason way the words ‘play’ (παιδιά) and ‘education’ (παιδεία) derive from the exact same root word: παῖς (child). Educational material is also provided in order to further enhance and deepen children's knowledge.

This article describes some of the main features of classical languages and history learning at the primary school level in England at the current time. It briefly examines the context and education policy background and government and teachers' beliefs in the value and status of classical subjects, especially the Latin language as an aid to learning other languages and as a support for developing and improving students' English literacy. There is some overlap with the literature review co-authored by Holmes-Henderson and Kelly for the British government (Holmes-Henderson and Kelly, 2022) and a recent piece by myself about provision of teaching and resources in the Bulletin of the Council of University Classics Departments (Hunt, 2022a). I hope to develop further some of these ideas and draw out some discussions about resources, pedagogy and learning aims for possible future directions of classical languages learning at the primary level.

This article is by way of a request to experts who wish to make their expertise accessible to the non-expert. Non omnia possumus omnes, as Virgil said. In this case the deficiency is the lack of familiarity with papyrology and its conventions, in particular the papyri discovered in the library of the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. The article shows how expertise can hinder rather than help the understanding of information needed for the processing of crucial data by the non-expert.

This article examines the website Vocabulous, an innovative resource that combines Classics and English literacy. The aim of Vocabulous is to improve students' English vocabulary knowledge and skills using Latin and Greek root patterns. For example, the root ‘scrip’ meaning ‘write’ can help students understand that ‘inscription’, ‘manuscript’ and ‘transcription’ are all related to writing. Students use these roots to work out the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary, so that by the end of the programme, they have the skills they need to decipher new words on their own. As Alex Quigley notes, ‘over 90% of the vocabulary of academic texts in school has Latin and Greek origins and therefore teaching etymology has positive implications for learning and cracking the academic code of school’ (Quigley, 2018: 71). This article discusses the pedagogy behind the site, the selection of Latin and Greek roots, the design of the questions (based on vocabulary acquisition research) and the use of animated videos to engage students. The article concludes by outlining the current Vocabulous trial with 10–13-year-olds in 50 schools across the UK, combining teacher testimonies with ideas for practical application in the classroom1. Vocabulous is funded by The SHINE Trust and is part of a research trial led by Professor Arlene Holmes-Henderson and Christ Church, Oxford. It will be available for school subscriptions from September 2023.

This is a review of the activities and successes of the 43rd residential JACT Latin Summer School, run in July 2023. Specifically, it covers our typical teaching arrangement, lectures, trips and events and acknowledges the generosity of our sponsors.