“Teaching has always been my personal dream”

Cajsa Sjöberg, lecturer in Latin, has been recently awarded the student prize for teachers. From the many nominations made by students, Lund’s Student Unions chose her to receive the prize. Lundagard wanted to find out why and visited Cajsa in her office.

How did you get to know that you won the student union’s prize for teachers?

– I got a telephone call from a representative from the student union who told me that I received this prize. At first I could not believe it. I thought it was a joke but after a while when I realized that it was the truth I was so happy that I started crying.

Really?

– Yes, I did. You know such a prize from the students is the finest prize you can get as a teacher. I was very, very touched.

Latin is a subject which many students often perceive as boring or dry. However, you managed to make your students so enthusiastic about it that they nominated you for a prize. How did you manage to do so?

— Well, generally, I think that my passion for Latin it is an important aspect. I know that it can be very hard to learn it. But I believe that learning can give you joy and energy. The students get many of those moments where they realize things and say to themselves ‘Aha, now I really understand what a specific word means or why we use it in our language’. My students know that and that is why it is so easy to teach them.

In your view, what is the essence for being a good teacher?

– I think the most important thing is to understand your students and to find a common language on a topic.  and continues:

– I think it is crucial that a teacher respects what the students know already when they come to class. And there should be an atmosphere of safety where everybody has the confidence to show doubts and ask questions. I believe that an environment like this facilitates learning for everybody.

Do you manage to reach all your students in this way?

– Of course not everyone but I try to. It depends on how the students are and what they want to get out of my classes. But most of the students are really open. I try to make Latin something fun on which we can work on altogether.

What kind of students are in your classes? What is their motivation to learn Latin?

– My students are coming from very different backgrounds. Many of them need Latin to do research in the historical field. And there are several subjects where history matters such as law, literature, theology and so on.  But also in medicine, zoology, biology it is often necessary to learn Latin in order to understand specific terms, says Cajsa Sjöberg and continues:

– Mostly, I have a couple of students from all these fields. My classes are very mixed but not only in terms of academic backgrounds but also in terms of gender, age or personalities. A retired doctor who always wanted to know more about Latin, a young theology student who needs Latin for his studies  or a heavy metal fan who wants to learn it in order to understand the lyrics of his favorite band.

Why do you think Latin is still matters today?

– It’s all about history. They wrote in Latin in Europe for almost 2000 years. Earlier generations can give us an important understanding about future.  I think that by tracing human thought back to the past we can learn more about ourselves. Without history or without the memory about what has happened before we haven’t got the tool to create a better future. Latin is a key to history. And teaching it has always been my personal dream.