Digital competences and teaching of classical languages: students' perception in Italian and Spanish schools

Abstract

Digital competence belongs to the competences that were recommended by the European Parliament in 2006 as a part of the students' training in citizenship. However, it is perceived that students of classical languages could face bigger disadvantage just because of the type of studies they chose to undertake. For this reason, we ask ourselves what is the perception of students of classical disciplines regarding the use of new technologies in classrooms and what competences they consider to be developed within these studies. Using a participatory approach/vision of the world and using a qualitative case study methodology, we collect data through semi-structured interviews with Italian and Spanish students. The OpenCode program was used to analyze the data. The main content categories were: use of technological resources in the classroom, teaching methods, Latin and Greek competences useful for job placement. We have discovered that students, especially Italians, perceive a deficient use of technology in the classroom and that the use of frontal teaching prevails. In terms of competences, students hardly see the usefulness of classical languages for their future work. We offer a proposal for the evaluation of citizenship competences for students of classical languages.