̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - literacy

Virgil has the edge on Shakespeare in helping students to love literature

tdk25 — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 13:02:25 +0000

̽��ֱ��finding comes from a limited study with three groups of 15 and 16-year-old state school students taking Latin GCSE, and raises the possibility that there may be a case for expanding ancient literature’s use in the wider curriculum.

Almost all students involved in the study claimed they enjoyed aspects of Virgil’s epic – especially the fast-paced action and mythological themes – even though they had mixed feelings about the other poetry they studied at school.

Ironically, students taking Latin GCSE only ever read about 100 lines of the Aeneid’s 12 books, and the study suggests that despite their enthusiasm most will probably emerge with a “distorted” view of it. ̽��ֱ��students surveyed were, for example, only reading extracts from Book Nine, in which Aeneas, the eponymous hero, never actually appears.

̽��ֱ��research is reported in a newly-published collection of essays, ̽��ֱ��Aeneid and the Modern World. It was undertaken by Dr Frances Foster, from the Faculty of Education, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, whose work explores how young people perceive the ancient world and its literature.

“If you’re a 15-year-old studying the Aeneid, what you’re actually studying is a tiny segment of one book,” Foster said. “It’s rather like watching part of an episode in a television series without ever seeing the rest.”

“If we can establish that other students enjoy it as much as this research group did, it might be worth exploring whether literature from the ancient world can be made more widely available, not least to the majority of children who never learn Latin.”

About 12,000 students in England take an ancient language to GCSE, mostly at selective or independent schools. Those taking Latin (the majority) have an option to study extracts from one book of the Aeneid.

By contrast, English Literature is usually mandatory up to age 16, and covers texts which are variously branded ‘heritage’, ‘high-quality’, ‘challenging’ or ‘prestige’ – such as the works of Shakespeare. Other studies show that many students experience fear, embarrassment and low confidence when studying these, and that some leave school unenthusiastic about literature in general as a result.

Foster’s research sought to explore how students relate to the Aeneid, which is similarly seen as a ‘prestige’ text, given that they only study a decontextualised extract from it.

After establishing from a survey of Latin teachers and an exam board that most teachers do choose the Virgil option, she then undertook a close analysis of three GCSE Latin groups at state comprehensive schools. Students completed a questionnaire which asked them which aspects of the Aeneid they enjoyed, if any; what they found challenging; and their views on poetry in general. Foster also interviewed their teachers, and observed lessons.

Surprisingly, all but one student claimed to enjoy at least something about the Aeneid, even though just 39% said they enjoyed studying poetry in English lessons, while most were ambivalent and 16% actively disliked it.

Their favourite aspects included the fast-moving narrative, graphic and often violent plotlines and – for 84% – “learning about mythology”; a slightly odd result given that Book Nine is notably short of mythological features.

“Other research also suggests younger readers can’t get enough of mythology,” Foster explained. “ ̽��ֱ��appeal seems to be the combination of monsters, weird fantasy stuff, and action – basically what you would find in a lot of computer games. What they seemed to like was the idea that the Aeneid is a mythological text. Their teachers had introduced it on these terms, so that was how they perceived it.”

Foster speculates that another, related reason for the Aeneid’s appeal may be that reading Roman literature often involves an immediate ‘payoff’. “Because a lot happens in the story, you get a lot of reward for struggling through it, even though the Latin is difficult,” she said. “Compare that with some English novelists, where you might slave over pages in which very little seems to happen.”

̽��ֱ��study suggests there is a disjuncture between why teachers opt to cover the Aeneid and what students gain from it. While teachers saw it as ‘cultural capital’, Foster argues that students who only read small fragments of the poem are likely, at most, to come away knowing part of the plot, some characters, and that the Aeneid is a famous Roman poem. “What makes it distinctive – even pre-eminent – among ancient texts is potentially being lost on many of the next generation,” she writes.

Teachers also reported successful lessons which connected the Aeneid to other subjects. One, for example, helped his class to understand the use of emotive description in a passage describing the death of a key character by comparing it to the work of First World War poets, as well as the final scenes of Blackadder Goes Forth. He reported that some students were moved to tears during the lesson.

Foster argues that although students only have a limited, bite-sized encounter with Roman literature through Latin GCSE, the evidence indicates that they still show signs of forming “a connection with it”.

“Obviously most children never get the chance to read it at all and there are real constraints on what schools can do to change that,” she said. “There might just be ways, though, in which translations could be introduced into English, Drama, and other subjects. Ultimately, if this is high-level poetry that students actually like, perhaps we ought to be finding ways to give them the chance to do it.”

̽��ֱ��Aeneid and the Modern World is published by Routledge.

Students who study Virgil’s Aeneid at school find it significantly more engaging than other ‘high-prestige’ literature, even though they only learn tiny fragments of the text, research suggests.

Ultimately, if this is high-level poetry that students actually like, perhaps we ought to be finding ways to give them the chance to do it

Frances Foster

Painting by Luca Giordano

Aeneas defeats Turnus in the climactic Book 12 of the Aeneid.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Spotlight on children

lw355 — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 09:00:00 +0000

̽��ֱ��importance of supporting children to grow into happy, healthy and inquiring adults is abundantly clear. Physical and mental wellbeing in children is a foundation for a healthy and productive life.

And yet we live in a world where one in four of us will experience the isolating and traumatic effects of mental health disorders, three-quarters of which begin before the age of 18; children are still held back throughout life as a result of low levels of literacy and numeracy; and up to one billion young people worldwide are likely to be victims of violence this year.

Our researchers are studying all aspects of children, helping to understand how a child’s early experiences can shape their lifelong development. Today we launch both a Spotlight on children and the latest issue of the ̽��ֱ��’s Research Horizons magazine to showcase examples of this research.

We address some of the big questions, such as what are the origins of mental health and why are teenagers so vulnerable to mental disorders? We take a life course and multidisciplinary approach to the problem: from a child’s genes and clinical development in the womb, through the neuroscience and psychology of learning disorders, to psychiatric approaches aimed at understanding why some children are more at risk of developing mental health problems in later life and why some are resilient.

“We marvel at the brain’s complexity,” says Professor David Rowitch, who leads the Department of Paediatrics. “Across the ̽��ֱ��, no stone is left unturned in our attempts to better understand how to ensure healthy brain development and learning, as well as neurological and mental health, throughout life. We recognise how profoundly quality of life is affected. As this Spotlight focus will show, neurological and mental health has high priority both in basic research and clinical medicine, and in government policy.”

We also ask about life experiences. Tragically some children and their mothers are exposed to violence and drugs before they are even born, or grow up in communities entrenched in crime, and where healthcare systems are failing. Yet we know little about the effects of adverse environments – on people and on the stability of societies in which they become citizens. A pilot study to understand what it means to be a child of the city today is following 1,200 children in eight cities in all major regions of the Global south.

Professor Manuel Eisner, from the Institute of Criminology and who leads the study, explains: “By comparing a new generation from each city, we can build a scientific backbone for interventions to prevent violence against children as well as against their mothers, and support stakeholders to take wellbeing initiatives that work in different global contexts.”

Education features prominently in our research. In India, for instance, researchers are working with local partners to ask whether low learning outcomes could be a by-product of an Indian school system in which the language that children are taught in school often differs to the language spoken at home. And in Cambridge, where the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Primary School is sponsored by the ̽��ֱ�� to provide education for the local community in North West Cambridge, we examine how the School places research at its heart – in both informing education practice and in furthering research at Cambridge’s Faculty of Education and elsewhere.

What about the role of parents? It’s clear that our mothers, fathers and families affect our lives and the people we become, but are we focusing too much on the ‘skill’ of parenting and losing sight of things that matter more – like how we talk to and play with children? Researchers are piecing together the complex jigsaw that involves families, language, play, and physical and psychological health to better understand what gives a child the best chance in life.

“ ̽��ֱ��modern digital age challenges us to cope with rapidly changing settings at home, school, work and leisure,” says Professor Zoe Kourtzi from the Department of Psychology. “Our propensity to learn and rapidly adapt is thus central to 21st-century life. These challenges are particularly marked in the early and later periods of life, when young children are preparing or progressing through years of intensive education and older adults are facing major changes to their health and social circumstances.

“Research at Cambridge aims to understand how learning supports flexible behaviour and resilience to the new challenges that individuals face across the life course. Using interdisciplinary methodologies, we aim to enhance basic understanding of the mechanisms of lifelong learning, and transform this knowledge into innovative personalised interventions that will promote public wellbeing through applications in education, social care, public health and policy.”

Some of our research is having unexpected effects – such as a book of ‘lost words’ that encourages children to love and protect the natural world. Thanks to crowdfunding campaigns, the book is appearing in primary schools across the UK – an outcome that has surprised and moved its creators, who hope the book will help to bridge social gaps in the uneven distribution of access to nature.

Underpinning much of the Spotlight is the idea so eloquently put by the 19th-century American social reformer Frederick Douglass: “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men”.

Professor Manuel Eisner (Institute of Criminology), Professor Zoe Kourtzi (Department of Psychology) and Professor David Rowitch (Department of Paediatrics) are editorial advisors for the 'Spotlight on children' issue of Research Horizons magazine (see inset image), which is available as a PDF and on Issuu

Welcome to our new ‘Spotlight on children’, a focus on research taking place at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge relating to children and childhood – from health to education, language to literacy, parents to playtime, risk to resilience.

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men

Frederick Douglass, 19th-century American social reformer

̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Primary School

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