Focherini: Being in an Italian School!

Being in the schools and teaching in the schools has been quite an adventure! It is thrilling and I love every minute of it. The differences between student responses in the classroom and teaching styles, when compared to the American classroom, have been many. My first day of school I stayed in one classrroom of 7th graders (or what they call the second year of middle school) and simply observed them and the teachers for the day. It is important to note that in Italy students in all grades from elementary through high school stay in one classroom all day (like our elementary schools) and the teahcers move around the school. Also, the students go to school from about 8:00-1:00, Monday through Saturday (the high schools longer and the high schools are specialized into art schools, language schools, etc. and middle schools can be as well such as with Lorenzo’s school – Alberto Pio, which is a school with a music program).

There is a lot to learn about and from Italian people. The Itialians that I have spent time with really seem to appreciate the things they have and they respect things and others greatly. For example, my host family and many others really conserve energy, recycle everything, and they are generally very mindful of people around them and the needs of others. They spend a great deal of time with their family, friends, and even if there is little time do so, at times, they still make it a priority in their lives. I really hope to take away a greater apreciation for this consciousness in their lives and transfer it to my life. I am very busy but I really do hope to express how much I love my family and friends by giving them more of my time and slow down my life at least a little bit more.

As for what I am learning in the schools so far, I am not exactly sure what I will take away just yet. I am in Focherini (spelling mistake in my first blog but this is really how you spell the school's name) middle school and the teacher I teach with is an English teacher, Antonella. Antonella is very nice and eager to include me in her lessons as a co-teacher as well as teach my own lessons (Next monday I am teaching a lesson on scrapbooking so the students can practice English as well as learn about scrapbooking which many Italians do not do - I am very excited!). As of right now, I believe it is too early to tell what I will take away from the schools, the teachers, and the students. They have all been wonderful and I am learning a great deal about Italian culture and education. Many things are different in the schools in Italy as compared to the school systems in the US. With variances in culture schools in each country are run differently and teaching styles are different. Italian students on the other hand seem to very similar to students their ages in the US. Schooling is very imporant to many people in Carpi and so the government in Carpi works hard to make sure that educaiton is put first and made as great as it can be for the students.

In my observations so far I have seen 5 different teachers teach and many are pretty strict and short with the students. The teachers discipline the kids by singling them out and then the student must bring their “diario” (a schedule book with all of their disciplinary actions taken, notes sent home to parents, grades, and homework lists) up to the front of the class and the teacher then writes down what they were doing wrong or if the student was not prepared for class that day in the the diario. However, for the many disiciplinary actionts taken that seem embarassing or harsh with sometimes cosntatnt yelling or desk pouding from a teacher, things that most American students would cry over, do not seem to phase most students. All of the Italian teachers I have observed also give praise only to their best students and they are very open about telling you, in front of the other students who is a bad student and who is a good student. The Italian teachers that I have observed so far also do not praise unless something is completely correct and when I correct a student but then praise them it confusses them greatly. These have been some cultural differences I have noticed in the classrooms at my school here in Carpi. One is not necessarily better than the other, just culturally different!

I think that both Carpi schools and many, many schools in America face a similar challenge though in their schools. As I have talked with my host mother and father about the different schools and their chidlren’s experiences as well as my experiences in the schools, Ihave found that schools have very good teachers who care but they also struggle to find those good teachers who are well trained, are passionate about the teaching and then in turn teach well. Ibelieve this is a great issue in America and it seems to be so here in Carpi, though with new initiatives and laws education seems to moving towards more imporvement. However, like in the US education is being cut back left and right – just this year in my school they had to close another computer room, science, lab and the only art room in school because they needed to provide more classrooms for the growing student population but they cannot afford many more teachers or a new building. Considering that the municipality in Carpi really considers education to be very important this situation will hopefully change.

As for teaching in the classroom, I have been very busy! The first day I spent observing and I have been teaching ever since in the English classes of levels 1, 2,  and 3 or in the US 6th, 7th, and 8th. The first day of their English class I asked the students to introduce themsleves to me – name, favorite color, favorite subject, what they like to do in their free time, where they live, etc. Then I presented myslef in the same way. The students then asked me questions about myself, American culture, etc. After the presentations and the question time I talked to the students about the differences I noticed from my first day of observations between students in Carpi and students in America. I told them that in public schools religion is not allowed whereas in Italy it is because Catholiscism is the official religion in Italy – we talked about why there is not religion in public schools and why there can be religion in private schools. We also talked about the way they count on their hand and raise their hand as compared to students in America. In much of Europe people begin counting with their thumb whereas Americans mostly start with their index finger and students in Carpi mostly raise their hand with only their index finger up right and the rest folded in their hand whereas students in America raise all of their fingers when raising their hands. I noted other differences like the length of school day, how many days, and how students in America have lunch at school and do not go home for lunch.

The students appreciated learning these differences adn so did I! It is fascinating to learn how other people live and in what ways they carry out their days. I have learned so much in the schools from this week alone and I cannot wait to learn more from the people of Carpi!