Lorna at Vicenza

I always disliked questions that started with, explain why the author .......

I used to sit there thinking "how do I know why the author set this play in Florence or why the author decided to choose daffodils and not yellow crocus or why the author made her heroine such a soppy, feeble minded, dunce and who cares anyway?" I must have been taught well though as I always got good marks in English Lit.

MarkRD

I only got "C" at O Level .. but now getting my revenge with 3 x "30 e lode" at Italian university ! ha!

Garbatellamike

I had 2 experiences answering that question top marks or detention as I always answered along these lines:

There is nothing in the book that tells you why the author decided to ........ ; therefore, there could be any number of reasons, which could include, but are not limited to,...... and then make some stuff up!

Depending on the teacher it was top marks for analysis of the question or detention for being flippant!

Edit: given the teaching approach in Italy there will only be one result here (not good marks) so definitley not recommended here!

mmmmbuti

I think that study is flawed, read the comments in the article.

I wouldn't believe the bullshit students say about their teachers. It's really unlikely an English teacher who had to study English literature for 5 years at University would assign a book she never read just because it's famous.

For 8 years at school (medie + liceo) all I did as compito in classe for both Italian and English was to write essays (mostly about literature, history or current news). Unless the quality of teaching in Italy completely collapsed in the last 15 years, I find hard to believe what you write.

After comparing myself with my British coworkers and friends, I must say that quite a few times I end up realizing I know more than they do, about a lot of things: geography, science, history, math, (and of course, Latin). At least when I went to school, Italian school was hard and selective, aimed to prepare students to an equally hard and selective University, in which students were basically left on their own devices with very little support. I'm not saying is a better system, not at all, what I'm saying is that, at least for me, it seems to have worked.

MarkRD

Open to criticism as most of these reports are.


An English teacher with a laurea in lingue at most will have done 4 exams/courses in English literature covering the whole history from Chaucer to Orwell, and maybe beyond, concentrating on Shakespeare and perhaps some works from the Romantic era. It's true that these type of exams give a broader picture (based mostly on anthologies) although I wouldn't doubt that she had never read Farewell to Arms in detail or from start to finish. Good idea to bring in the WWI theme though!



Sounds like you went to a very good school (liceo classico/scientifico?). I wouldn't say the quality has 'collapsed' but often hearing what my OH has to say about her school days comared to my daughter's, there seems to have been a downward trend in many areas.


Yes it's true that the Italian system does give you a much broader education compared to, say, the UK which tends to be very specific from quite an early age and avoids subjects like philosophy and now even foreign languages are having a bad time. An Italian friend of mine recently went to a UK school for class observation: her conclusion was that there is more stress on the teachers than one the students.
Making things "hard" is very much the way in the Italian system (I have found) and what you say about university is still true in the majority of cases.

37100

Youngest son wanted to go to a technical school, but cirriculum only had 2hrs of Italian a week compared to 4hrs a week at Liceo. With only 2hrs a week he would never have been able to write a decent essay. Eldest went to a Liceo Classical. Now there he did learn to write an essay!

Lorna at Vicenza

Most of my experiences so far are about middle school and what I have seen and heard myself in various liceo and superiori schools.
I do believe the story about the Hemingway book. A couple of years ago a teacher told me that she was giving her students The Importance of being Earnest as holiday reading. I said "Oh I did that at school. Have you read it?" She said no but she'd a seen a TV adaptation and found it hard to follow.


We used to spend months and months studying just one book and some of them were bloody hard work at that age even in our own language. It's not surprising that many Italian kids don't bother with the holiday books because they're just too difficult.

When I'm in schools as a lettrice I get to go in the sala insegnante/staff room and believe me, I've heard some right stuff in there. I've worked with a couple of teachers that had good English and liked to speak to me in English even outside the classroom. Most of them though prefer to speak Italian

37100

Not at son's Liceo Classic. First day, compito in class. And anyone who had received a debito had to be in school on the 1st September.

Lorna at Vicenza

Kids these days have google at their fingertips and I know a lot of them that just google quick and shorter summaries of books and character analysis etc.

I have a lovely girl from "classcio" though and I have seen just how detailed her text books are and the amount of info she is learning. She's not just disecting, translating and analyising some of Shakespeare's works but all his life history too and the history of the Elizabethan theatre and Cromwell and all sorts. Did you know that Shakespeare had twins? I didn't until I started going through this girl's textbook with her.

Patty

Day 4 of school and I'm already in despair.
On day 2 son had 2 hours of "nothing" (ore buco as they say here)
today 4 out of 5 hours are "nothing".
They STILL have no idea who their maths teacher and telecommunication teacher is going to be. The school is so disorganised.
They have also changed the hours so they have only one break now and the school bar cant cope with the whole school descending on it in one go. So he comes home starving and bored !! Grrrrrr

HADENOUGHPIZZA

My 13 yr old now has a wednesday that starts at 8.00 and finishes at 17.00 - lunch break starts at 13.00 but her class can only use the canteen from 13.30 onwards and classes start again at 14.00 . Even the teachers think it's madness . Their geography teacher gave them mountains of holiday homework to make up for the fact that she was so far behind but this year they don't have her anymore and the new one has said that he's not going to look at it all ....

Lorna at Vicenza

What a pain Patty and HEP to be experiencing problems already. Fingers crossed my two have had an easy start so far. Homework already of course and a bit of a mess with the bus service the first day and lots of shopping lists.

Lorna at Vicenza

Ha ha I take it back.

Got an email from the school this morning about Chloe's class going on a town walkabout and the old "caserma" etc. for the WWI anniversary. The trip is on September 25th

Got a different email 15 minutes ago informing me that Chloe's class will have 6 swimming lessons and 6 gymnastic lessons off the school property and in the council pool and palestra. First swimming lesson? September 25th.

I rang the school secretary and politely asked her to check the dates as even the most clever student cannot be in two places at the same time. She said "It's probably another case of each 'docente' making their own plans and setting their own dates without ever consulting anybody else."

Oh really? You do surprise me

MarkRD

Tell them to put off the WWI trip til next year. Italy didn't join in until 1915.


No, perhaps not.


I remember my daughter doing history at the scuola media. Subject: Norman invasion of England 1066 etc. Great, so I told her 'that was the last time England was invaded' as is commonly known and accepted.
She came back the next day almost in tears cos she had proudly given this info to the teacher, who then promptedly answered back saying she was wrong and had brought up some teensy-weensy attempt at invasion in the 15th century or summat.
She probably got a nota for trying to be clever.

duffer

I thought 1066 was the last time England won the World Cup. Shows you how much I was paying attention. So what happened in the 15th century?

4th day of primary school for DS today, he seems to be enjoying it, considering nobody from his scuola materna have come to this school. Although we already got a note in his diary yesterday about not bringing all the stuff from a long list of things. Doh!

Anyway, so far not a word of complaint from him, despite his school day starting at 7.55 and finishing towards 18.00.