Applying the New Standards for Classical Language Learning to Latin-Teacher Education

The Standards for Classical Language Learning have great utility and value for those providing instruction and training to Latin teachers. As a faculty member who contributes to the UMass MAT program I have used the Standards as a significant structure within my pedagogical methods courses. The assignments within those courses ask students to examine and apply each Standard individually and, over time, build a curriculum that incorporates all their aspects. This paper describes some of those assignments and provides examples of the creative and pragmatic ways students have applied the Standards. The Standards provide a streamlined and structured field of academic goals that allow teachers in training to understand what will be expected of them in their teaching and that provide teachers a way to defend their Latin programs if such need arises. Faculty at the college level who have students interested in a career in Latin teaching would do well to inform their students of the Standards for Classical Language Learning so that they better understand the standards by which the effectiveness of their future teaching will be judged and assessed.