ERIC EJ973248: Knowing Ourselves: How the Classics Strengthen Schools and Society

2012·0.19 MB·English

by  ERIC

Knowing Ourselves
How the Classics Strengthen Schools and Society
By Peter Dodington on incompetence and boost productivity I would go back to the ancient Greek
by paying teachers according to how well maxim: “Know thyself.” This, for me, is the
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ears ago, when I was an assistant they raise the test scores of their students. key to the kind of success I would want for
principal at a large urban high Writing in the American Spectator, Andrew our children. After all, knowing oneself is
school in New York, I spent a Coulson complains that, “while every other the first step in achieving success in areas
good deal of time talking with service or product has gotten better, more one truly cares about. If we want our chil-
students who had been sent to me for dis- affordable, or both, public school produc- dren to achieve not just success, but a suc-
cipline problems. My usual strategy was to tivity has collapsed. It is now costing us cess they truly want, we must help them
ask them to tell me about their personal more to teach kids less.”1 first understand themselves. Then, they
goals. What did they want in their own If I could sit down with these critics, I will know what they value and can focus on
lives? I tried to establish some kind of a would try to go back to their personal feel- success in that area, whether it involves
foundation about what they intended to ings about public education. What do they wealth, fame, or other less measurable but
do, and then see if we could work back want from the schools? What do they want no less important achievements. One of
to how doing their schoolwork and not for their own children? Then, we might find the central goals of the school system, then,
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RA cursing at their teachers might help them goals for the schools that parents, teachers, ought to be instruction in self-knowledge.
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RT Li get closer to that goal. and the general public all share. Once we Studying the ancient Greek and Roman
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AN I am reminded of these sessions when I agreed on those common goals, we could world provides students an excellent
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hE BRi many complaints today about public achieve them. knowledge. The ancients dedicated them-
N/T schools. Nearly everyone finds fault with Deciding what we truly want for our selves to figuring out what “the good life”
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24 AMERicAN EdUcATOR | SUMMER 2012
students to learn more about themselves: curriculum, we would be taking a major so self-centered. No one wants to admit he
Homer and Latin. Homer’s works give great step toward increasing educational excel- or she is trying to be number one. We say,
insights into the process of self-realization. lence and equity, and solving the problems rather, that we should merely “do our best.”
His epics are full of young people telling us critics of public schools raise. These Glaucus, though, shows us a better way.
about their highest goals in life. Perhaps courses are well suited to our public There is nothing wrong with saying that
this is why reading the Iliad and the Odys- schools and provide the kind of education one has been taught to be the best. Then,
sey was also one of the major components in self-knowledge that I—and I hope oth- no one is being self-centered; child and
of the school curriculum for the ancient ers—want for our children. parent are actually working together to
world. Likewise, learning Latin, even achieve the highest goals for each other.
ideals for the young in Homer
beginning Latin, helps students realize The passage also conveys the love Glau-
they can change themselves for the better. There are many places in Homer where the cus feels for his father and the love he has
The combination of a difficult topic and a young warriors share what is important in received in return. His father wants only
well-ordered, step-by-step curriculum their lives. In the sixth book of the Iliad, for the best for him, but the implication is that
allows even otherwise weak stu- he does not demand this of
dents to succeed, and gives them Glaucus. The passage makes no
a new understanding of their mention of force or compul-
homer and Latin set the
own strengths and talents. sion, only advice. Glaucus is
Studying Homer and Latin is highest academic standards free to choose another path, yet
also particularly well suited to he is also aware of the conse-
our public school curriculum. but still are appropriate for a quence—to “bring disgrace” on
These subjects set the highest his family. His respect and love
wide range of students.
academic standards but still are for his father lead him to do
appropriate for a wide range of what is best.
students: the weaker and the Isn’t what Hippolochus
stronger, the richer and the wants for his son what we all
poorer. This makes them an excellent way example, the Trojan prince Glaucus meets want for our children: that they attain the
to fulfill the need for both equity and excel- the Greek Diomedes on the battlefield. heights of whatever careers they choose,
lence in our public school system. Such Diomedes has just dispatched several Tro- yet not let their success distort their views
studies are often seen as primarily private jan warriors and is amazed that one more of themselves, and that they listen to our
school subjects, but their real strength is has come out to face him. “Who are you?” wishes and advice, and use both to further
their ability to improve the public schools. he calls out to Glaucus, who replies at some their own goals? We don’t want them to
I have spent most of my life teaching length and ends with the following:2 say, “I am the best,” but rather, like Glau-
these courses. I began teaching English on cus, “My father taught me to strive to be
Hippolochus bore me, I am proud to
an Indian reservation in Montana, but the best.”
say,
soon wanted to learn more about the clas- Another expression of a young person’s
And sent me to Troy, and told me
sics. I think that working with Native ideals is voiced by Hector, the best of the
many times
Americans, who understood their tradi- Trojan fighters. Later in the sixth book of
To be the best, always, and to keep
tions so well, sparked my interest in learn- the Iliad, he and his wife, Andromache,
myself above the others,
ing about my own roots. I set out to learn argue about why he must always fight in
And not bring disgrace on the race of
Latin and Greek and teach them at the the front of the battle, where it is most dan-
my fathers.
secondary level. In the course of my career, gerous. He mentions the shame he would
I worked at some of the “best” and “worst” Glaucus strives to be the best, not for feel if he ever pulled back and notes that he
schools in the country, from private and himself alone but for his father and his has simply grown accustomed to this kind
selective public schools that sent almost all ancestors. It is not his achievement that of effort. He says:3
their graduates to the Ivy League, to public defines who he is, but the education he has
Nor does my spirit urge me (to pull
schools in low-income urban settings that received from his forefathers.
back), since I have learned
ranked near the bottom academically in In aiming for this kind of excellence,
Well to be the best, and to fight in the
their cities and states. I started out teach- Glaucus opens the door to a level of skill
front of the Trojans
ing middle school Latin, then taught that is not tinged with conceit. He is not
Winning great fame for my father and
eleventh-grade Advanced Placement Latin saying that he himself thinks he should be
myself.
for 10 years, and ended my career back in the best, but that this is what his father and
the sixth grade in the South Bronx. In all my ancestors want of him. What he thinks Hector has trained himself so well that
classes, I always taught a good deal of about his own abilities he does not say. he no longer has any interest in fighting
Homer, and I even made time to teach Keeping his ancestors in the forefront of his anywhere but in the front lines. His heart
courses on the Odyssey when I was an mind allows him to strive to be the best and spirit bid him to do this; one could
assistant principal. while retaining his humility. even say he likes it.
If we could incorporate more work on In our modern world, we often shy away My students often say this is selfish.
Homer and Latin into the public school from this idea of “being the best.” It seems Hector admits he is simply doing what feels
AMERicAN EdUcATOR | SUMMER 2012 25
good, even though it causes Andromache how even engaging in conflict can work for Odysseus makes those abilities clear in
so much pain. But who would say putting the common good. By fighting well, he the previous scene. One of his men, hav-
your life on the line for the safety of others helps both himself and his enemy. ing escaped from Circe, runs back and
is selfish? It only seems so because Hector If there is a theme to these passages, it tells him they must flee; the witch is too
is brutally honest about it. He tells his wife is that the characters know themselves. powerful, he says, and they will certainly
exactly why he does what he does, regard- Glaucus, Hector, and Sarpedon all under- be killed if they return to her. Odysseus
less of how it might sound. To this honesty stand why they have chosen the lives they replies that this man may stay behind if he
she has no answer, and she soon stops are living. Knowing themselves allows wishes, but he himself must go back and
arguing with him. them to explain themselves clearly to those try to save his men. There is no other way,
It is a worthy goal to work hard, and to close to them. They have looked into them- he says.
work hard on a task that benefits the com- selves and thought about why they act the Then, when he meets Circe, and her
munity is even better. But to do potions and charms fail, she
this so well and for so long that ascribes this immunity to the
it becomes second nature, that fact that Odysseus must be a
is something special. Hector special man whose mind cannot
has moved beyond simply be manipulated. She says:5
believing in what he does; he
What kind of a man are
has become a part of it. His self-
you? Where is your city
sacrificing work has become his
and your people?
pleasure.
How can it be that in
For another place where a
drinking that potion you
Homeric hero shares what is
were not charmed?...
best, I turn to a scene in book 12
There must be some kind
of the Iliad. There, two Trojan
of unchangeable spirit
princes, Sarpedon and Glaucus,
in your breast.
discuss why they have become One of homer’s best lessons
leaders of the Trojans. Sarpe- According to Homer, Odys-
for our world is that courage is
don, the elder of the two, seus’s power lies in remaining
explains his feelings to his young not just for the battlefield or who he is: someone who does
friend. He says:4 not abandon his friends.
witch’s cave. Often, it appears Because he refuses to change
My friend, if you and I, escap-
when he decides to help his
ing from this war, in our daily lives.
men no matter what, Circe can-
Could live forever, ageless
not change him. He is a man
and immortal,
way they do. Whether it is the connection who lives by his own ideals; he knows who
Neither would I myself fight in the
to their parents, or the unavoidable fates, he is. Staying true to his nature is precisely
front lines,
or just their own pleasure, they understand what protects him and his men.
Nor would I send you out into the
the forces that shape them. Their self- His men, in contrast, are eager to
fame-winning battle.
knowledge allows each to see what would change. They hope to “lose themselves,” as
But as it is, the fates of death stand all
be the best life and freely choose it. This we say, in their pleasures with Circe. In
around us,
theme of self-knowledge figures promi- their minds, they are already turning to
Thousands, which we cannot flee nor
nently in two other great scenes in Homer: their animal appetites as they sit down to
duck under;
Odysseus’s confrontation with Circe in the her feast. She only helps them along. Odys-
So come, let us go, and win glory from
Odyssey, and the final meeting of Achilles seus, though, is not there for pleasure. He
someone, or let them win it from us.
and Priam at the end of the Iliad. has come simply to do what he always
Sarpedon is not saying that risking one’s On his travels home from the war, Odys- does: rescue his men. He has chosen to
life in battle is good in itself; he would seus meets the witch Circe, who changes remain who he is and so is free of the temp-
avoid death if he could. But since immor- his men into pigs but fails to change him. tations of that place.
tality is not an option, the next best thing is The traditional analysis of the poem often One of Homer’s best lessons for our
to summon the courage to fight his best, so says she fails because Odysseus has been modern world is that courage is not just
that either he, or the one who defeats him, given a special flower by the god Hermes, something for the battlefield or the witch’s
achieves greatness. which protects him. This is not how Circe cave. Often, it appears in our daily lives. It
What a good way to view conflict. No herself sees it, though. In the scene where may be as simple as making a difficult
one wants it, but if it cannot be avoided, she meets Odysseus, she does not mention phone call or finding a way to confront a
then fight your best, pushing the level of the flower (neither does Odysseus), but powerful boss. For our students, courage
the contest to a higher plane, so that either attributes his power to his own abilities. may be raising a hand to contribute to a
victory or defeat will bring someone a She understands, so to speak, why the gods class discussion or refusing to give in to a
higher level of success. Sarpedon shows gave him that special flower. playground bully’s demands. What mat-
26 AMERicAN EdUcATOR | SUMMER 2012
ters, as Homer shows, is not how strong you war. Achilles continues:6 last, Achilles has matured into a caring and
are, or ready to take risks, but how you have even loving adult.
And so I give him no care in his old
decided to live your life. Once you decide, In all these examples, self-knowledge
age,
for example, that you are a person who leads to the kind of behavior we want for
Since I sit here far from my
always helps your friends, courage natu- our children. Glaucus understands that
fatherland
rally follows. much of who he is comes from his father,
In Troy, causing pain to you, and to
One of the best scenes of introspec- and thus he can set his sights on being
your children.
tion and self-understanding in Homer the best without losing his humility; Hec-
comes at the end of the Iliad, when the For all his selfish posturing and conceit, tor understands fully how his training
aged Trojan king Priam comes to the Achilles has a heart. And Priam has hit on has formed his desires so they conform
Greek warrior Achilles to ask for the body the key to opening it: the one man in the with his ideals of self-sacrifice; and
of his son Hector, whom Achil- Sarpedon knows that fate
les has killed. Throughout the comes for us all eventually and
story, Achilles has been the so is free to choose a noble life
typical type A warrior: he and help others do the same.
knows he is the best and revels And, of course, Odysseus has
in it. He argues with his gen- the courage to defeat Circe
eral, Agamemnon, and then because he knows who he is,
sulks in his tent, refusing to and Achilles learns how to
fight for an unjust leader; but care about others by looking
then he returns to the battle within himself. Their self-
with a vengeance when Hector knowledge is the key to their
kills his best friend. After Achil- success and satisfaction.
les kills Hector, he childishly Similarly, our children’s self-
refuses to allow the body to be knowledge will enable their
buried or returned to the Tro- What matters is how you have success and satisfaction. For
jans, taking out his anger by them to succeed at the things
decided to live your life. Once
dragging the body around they truly care about, they must
camp behind his chariot. Like you decide, for example, that look within themselves and
many exceptionally talented decide what they want. It is this
you always help your friends,
people, Achilles is selfish, hot- introspection and self-defini-
headed, and alone. tion I would want them to mas-
courage naturally follows.
The old king, Priam, then ter first, with the hope that
takes it into his head that he will outcomes such as courage, car-
go at night to Achilles, in his tent in the world with whom Achilles has a loving ing, and public success would follow. Self-
middle of the Greek camp, and beg him to relationship, his father. When Achilles is knowledge, then, ought to be an essential
return his son’s body. As he tells his wife, reminded of this relationship, he is led to element of what both educators and critics
Hecuba, he wants only to hold his dead consider his other relationships and finally want for our children.
son in his arms one more time. The gods comes to see the negative role he plays in Reading about these ancient heroes,
pity the old man and help him get across all of them. Yes, he is the best fighter, but though, is only the first step. Learning
enemy lines and into Achilles’s tent. his prowess on the battlefield also means an ancient language, like Latin, can take
There, he falls on his knees and begs he causes the most pain. In his life, he has our children to the next level. When my
Achilles to remember his own father, who exchanged the love he could be sharing students made progress in learning Latin,
must also miss his son far away. Achilles with his father for the pain he now inflicts they began to see themselves as people
thinks of his father, whom he has not on Priam’s children. who could face challenges and succeed.
helped for all these years. The two men sit When Achilles looks inside himself and Studying Homer and Latin together, they
and weep—one for his son, the other for reflects on what he sees, he opens himself truly learned to strive to be, as Glaucus
his father and his dead friend. up to a caring relationship with Priam says, “the best.”
Achilles then reminds Priam of two jars and, one suspects, many others. He sees
Challenging oneself with Latin
in Zeus’s hall—one holding blessings, the that the pain Priam’s family has caused
other miseries—and how Zeus takes some him, through the killing of his friend by I have often felt the real change in students’
from each when he parcels out the fate of Hector, resembles the pain he himself has sense of themselves and their own worth
men. His father, Peleus, was surely blessed caused. Achilles finally joins the ranks comes when they try to learn Latin. It is a
in many ways, Achilles says, with wealth, of the other Homeric heroes who, like way of re-creating oneself to accomplish a
honor, and even a goddess for a wife. But Sarpedon, realize that all warriors, friend difficult and meaningful task. It is one thing
Zeus gave him sorrows, too, for there was and foe, are fighting for the same kind of to read about how Hector learns to be a
no powerful race of children born to him, excellence, or who, like Hector, are attuned courageous fighter so well that it becomes
but only one son, who soon left for the to the feelings of family and community. At second nature to him; it is another to actu-
AMERicAN EdUcATOR | SUMMER 2012 27
ally be Hector, mastering a noble task so ics ranked the best in the city. Our stu- level, they began to believe they might do
well that it changes you and your view of dents even beat one of the local private well on any academic task, even the
yourself. This transformation is one of the schools in a Latin contest. opaque questions on the state exam. As
central goals in teaching Latin. None of this came easily. Many times, Thomas Jefferson noted long ago, good
Of course, this transformation only we were not at all sure we would succeed. schools teach students “how to work out
works if the task is difficult enough to make I can remember numerous talks with frus- their own greatest happiness, by showing
you reach for it. If it is already in your grasp, trated teachers threatening to quit after a them that it does not depend on the condi-
or you are just naturally good at it, succeed- long day of difficult Latin classes. Many tion of life in which chance has placed
ing will not tell you much about yourself. students were barely literate in English, let them.”7 This is what was happening at King.
It’s the effort that brings about the self- alone a foreign language. Still, we kept at Like Glaucus’s father, we expected them to
knowledge, or more exactly, the increase it, convinced we could teach Latin to any- “be the best,” and they were beginning to
in effort. It’s the realization that you have it one. In time, we made progress. see that they could rise to the challenge,
within you to change yourself enough to I don’t think simply teaching Latin that they didn’t have to submit to the
complete the task, that you can mold your transformed that school (we also had one chance conditions of life.
habits to fit your desires. of the best principals in the city), but I do My second experience helping students
There are other difficult sub- find themselves with Latin
jects that lead to self-knowledge occurred in another low-income
when mastered; it’s just that school. In 2004, I joined the staff
Latin is one of the best. Its com- of Bronx Latin just as it opened.
bination of difficulty and seem- It was one of the new small pub-
ing uselessness* makes it a lic schools carved out of bigger
preeminent example of study ones in the New York City school
that leads to self-discovery. system, though it was not a char-
In my career as a Latin ter school. Here, too, we
teacher, I have seen many stu- required Latin of all middle
dents find themselves in Latin school students. The school had
class, but two particular no entrance requirements; it
instances stand out. The first enrolled the neighborhood kids
was my experience as the Latin from the Morrisania section of
department chairman at Martin the South Bronx.
Luther King Middle School in The school did well from
Kansas City, Missouri, in the That we offered Latin to the start. It consistently
early nineties. Kansas City had received As on city report
students in the lowest-
won a large settlement with the cards, and students did well on
state, and so had upgraded and performing school said state tests. Seventy percent of
restructured all its schools. One my ninth-graders passed the
something about what we
of the improvements included New York State Regents exam
introducing Latin at several in Latin, even though this is
thought they could do.
neighborhood middle schools. considered an eleventh-grade
At King, we had eight Latin test. Even some of my eighth-
teachers and required all 800 students to think teaching Latin helped raise those graders passed it. Bronx Latin still faced
take Latin. We used the same standard math and English scores. The fact that we the usual urban middle school problems,
Cambridge Latin Course textbooks used in taught it at all brought about a change in including fights on and off school prop-
many private schools, and we entered all the students’ views of themselves. That we erty and the shooting of one of my stu-
the state and national Latin competitions. were offering a course like Latin to stu- dents, but the students had no problem
King had been the worst middle school in dents who were in the lowest-performing learning Latin.
the city when we started teaching Latin; I school in the city said something to them When I think of how our Latin classes
remember students coming to school liter- about what we thought they could do. helped those students, I am reminded of a
ally barefoot. After three years, our scores They knew it was a difficult subject and conversation I had with some students as
on the state tests in reading and mathemat- they struggled with it, but they knew we we were returning on the subway from a
thought they could learn it. In a way, our Latin contest. We had done well, but won
*Latin helps our students learn many valuable skills, frustration when they didn’t learn enough no awards. Our best showing had been
from vocabulary and grammar of English (as well as of helped them believe in themselves. against another school in the Bronx, a spe-
French, Italian, and Spanish), to the history and culture
Then, as they slowly made progress, cialized high school that had a competitive
of the Western world. How better to understand the
ideas of such figures as Newton, Jefferson, and Milton they began to change their own views of admissions test. “You know,” said one of
than to study the language they studied? These benefits themselves and, I think, took all their the students, “we knew just about as much
are well established among academics but often are not
courses more seriously. As they suc- as the kids from that school, yet none of us
well known to students—thus the seeming uselessness
of the language. ceeded in Latin, even at an elementary got in there. We all took the test.”
28 AMERicAN EdUcATOR | SUMMER 2012
I asked her what she thought was the them. The subject is sometimes even easily, and equality is abandoned.
reason. “They cheated on the test?” was her taught as a special education class. Stu- To fight against this tendency, Latin is
first thought, but I assured her this was dents who fail out of other foreign lan- one of our best weapons. It sets the stan-
unlikely. We continued this discussion the guages often end up in Latin. It is so clearly dard of achievement at the highest levels,
next day in class and eventually came up organized and proceeds in such incremen- yet provides opportunities for even the
with the following: the Latin contest proved tal steps that virtually all students can lowest-level students with its simplicity
they were the academic equals of the stu- master it. Being quick-witted, of course, and clear structure. Latin is difficult, but all
dents accepted by that other school, so does help, but one can come up with the it actually requires is diligence. Isn’t that
there must have been something wrong right answer just by laboriously following true of so much in life? If we truly believe
with the way the admissions test was judg- all the rules. The pedagogy of Latin, having in the goals of public education, and want
ing them; either they were not preparing been perfected over literally millennia, has not only to better our children but our soci-
for such tests correctly, or the test itself was been worked out so carefully that it can be ety as a whole, we must push for courses
inaccurate, or both. mastered by students of any ability, given like Latin. It is the path to equal opportu-
This was another way Latin helped my enough diligence and patience by the stu- nity and excellence.
students learn about themselves. They dent and the teacher.
I
had assumed that anyone n public education, we take
accepted by a high-level school the goal of having our chil-
was “smarter” than they were, dren succeed and extend it
and they had never questioned to the entire society. Public
that the problem might be in education aims not just to teach
the testing process itself. Latin, our children, but to improve our
though, gives students, espe- world. What we pay for in public
cially those from poorer neigh- education is the public benefit
borhoods, a good way to gauge we all receive when these better
their abilities. It levels the play- graduates become adults. That’s
ing field, so to speak, since it is why we all share in the cost of it,
a new subject for every student. not just the parents of the chil-
That minimizes the impact of dren in school. The ultimate goal
their previous educational of the public schools is a society
backgrounds and makes it a that is better, and more self-
good way to judge who can do aware, than the previous one.
well. In a way, it is like chess or Latin levels the playing field In the end, we all, educators
fencing, which also work well in and critics alike, want the same
since it is a new subject for
low-income areas. Neither things for our children: that they
activity depends on the kind of every student. That minimizes succeed at the things they care
past educational problems that most about, and mature into
the impact of their
often hinder low-income stu- responsible and successful
dents in other subjects. By backgrounds. adults. To do this well, they need
learning Latin, my students to understand themselves. As
were also learning about their Hector, Odysseus, and Achilles
own true abilities. We might say, in fact, that the study of show us, this introspection can lead to the
Latin, then, is also an excellent means Latin is a particularly “American” solution kind of courage, satisfaction, compassion,
of improving students’ knowledge of their to our public school problems. This is and achievement we want for them. The
self-worth. It draws them in, step by step, because Latin accomplishes our American study of Latin and the classics gives stu-
until they realize their success does not insistence on both equity and excellence. dents a perspective on their own strengths
depend on others; they can change them- It both challenges our students to attain the and abilities. It can be the starting point of
selves. Latin enables them to achieve a new highest levels of intellectual skill and also a good life for all our children. ☐
level of academic success if they are willing provides a way for all of them to succeed.
to do the work involved. Like the study of This goal of offering the best to every Endnotes
Homer, it gives them self-knowledge. student is never easy to achieve. It places 1. Andrew J. Coulson, “A Less Perfect Union,” American
Spectator, June 2011, 19.
Just as Latin works well in low-income an incredible burden on the public schools
2. Homer, Iliad, ed. D. B. Monro (London: Oxford University
schools, it also works well with weak stu- to devise an educational program fit for our Press, 1884), 6.206–209.
dents. One often hears that only elite stu- best leaders and yet still open to all. When 3. Iliad, 6.444–446.
4. Iliad, 12.322–328.
dents (rich or poor) can learn Latin, but it becomes too difficult to offer such an
5. Homer, Odyssey, 2nd ed., ed. W. B. Stanford (London:
there is nothing about Latin that makes this education, there is a natural tendency to Macmillan, 1959; reprinted in 1974), 10.325–326, 329.
inherently true. In even my most advanced lower standards so more students can 6. Iliad, 24.540–542.
Latin classes, I always had a few very weak more easily attain them. Soon, excellence 7. The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson, ed.
Adrienne Koch and William Peden (New York: Modern
students, and Latin worked quite well with is only expected of those for whom it comes Library, 2004), 244.
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