After 3 months from the beginning of the school year, I had my own opinion about the Italian elementary school.
This year, my child went to the first class of the State School in the north of Italy.
Mandatory school begins with 6 years, but after reading many articles on the topic, consulting with the pediatrician and having studied the program for the first class, I recorded my son to school a little earlier. Educators in kindergarten and Italian acquaintances persistently discouraged me, accusing that I am killed in a child of childhood. The characteristics of the Russian-speaking mothers whose children have already walked to school, they soon inspired me: "Teachers with children behave too softly," "Children in elementary school only draw", "no one pays attention to the discipline."
After 3 months from the beginning of the school year, I had my own opinion about the Italian elementary school.
My main disappointment is that tasks that stimulate creative thinking are practically no. "Grammar Fantasy" Gianni Rodari is clearly not the desktop book of Italian teachers. Too much attention is paid to the letter (at first, this is a copying of what the teacher writes). They write on all lessons, including both music.
Children in school do not "only draw", but mostly paint (even on an item called Arte). The manifestation of the initiative in the execution of tasks is not welcome.
"Mom, wash! Here you do not need to paint - teachers will swear!"My familiar Italian compared elementary school students with small soldiers. It looks like the truth.
The program as a whole suits me, confuses only the presence of 2 hours of religious learning, which can be replaced by 2 hours of incomprehensible subject called "Alternativa".
At the same time, physical education was allocated only one hour. This is very little, first-graders in Russia have such classes - 3 hours a week. Since the beginning of the school year, physical education was spent 2 times.
Approximately as well as with physical education, things are walking with walks: at the first convenient case, the walk during a large change is canceled. Italian parents mostly share this approach - they consider the street dangerous place, besides during a walk, the child can get dirty.
The quality of teaching in schools Italians is assessed as low. We live in the border area, often parents prefer to record children in Slovenian schools, as they enjoy better reputation.
According to international reports (such as Programme for International Student Assessment - Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) Knowledge of Italian Schoolchildren in Mathematics and English below average. Training still focuses on reading and translation, and not on the purchase of communicative skills.
- Mom, I really like English. This is my favorite subject! - What do you like it so much? - Tucher Manuela does not force jackets on a walk and paint drawings to the tasks.Familiar who have older children say they ask a lot of homework. Parents in blogs are written about it. This is evidenced by polls.
The number of school hours at first-graders and fifth graders is no different. On Tuesdays, the son's "long day" - 7 lessons, on the other days 5. Asked a friend from Russia, whose daughter also goes to first class, see the schedule: 5 times a week 5 lessons, on other days 4.
At the same time, the Italian school is not at all friendly in relation to working parents. Explosion in public schools is functioning up to 15.30. And the number of classes with extended day is small. In the regions of the south of Italy, there are even less such classes. Where there are such classes, they are usually crowded (but it is, in any case, do not classes of 30+ people who tell friends from Russia).
Italian schools are characterized by a high flow rate of frames. At the parent meeting, before the beginning of the school year, one of the Pad asked the teacher: "How long do you plan to work with this class?". She dug off from the answer. It may happen that for 5 years of primary school in children will change 5 class leaders, not to mention teachers who lead special disciplines, such as English and physical education.
The average age of teachers in Italy is 52 years (this is one of the highest indicators in Europe). Teachers of my son just over forty. They use the multimedia board during the lessons and are not bad oriented in the Google Meet application, but this is not the situation everywhere.
The age of teachers is one of the reasons that they are reluctant to turn to digital technologies. Digital technologies are generally a weak place of Italy. The site of our school is something out of the 90s. To record on individual meetings with teachers on the windows of the school, the leaflets in which you need to enter the name of the child, despite the fact that everyone has a personal account on the School website and an electronic diary.
Infrastructure is also not at the height. My Son's School is very far from modern standards: small windows, close dark classes (this has become a separate problem in the times of Kovida), the building is incorrectly oriented on the parties of light, artificial lighting is used at any time of the year. I could not find the year in the construction of the school, but considering that the forty-year-old husband of my girlfriend went to this school, it can be understood that the building was not new. The newspapers write that Italian schools are in a deplorable state and literally fall apart (especially in the south of the country). In the school of my son, everything is not so bad - it is even equipped with ramps.
There is still a problem of heavy backpacks and obsession Privacy, but the schools in Mary Mary Montessori and Loris Malaguzzi simply cannot have some flaws.
Teachers belong to children are good. They repeat all the time that their goal is to Bambino to be Felice (happy) e sereno (gray). The word "gray" can be translated as a serene.
My son periodically does not make written tasks during the lessons. At the individual assembly, I heard the following from the teacher:
"I don't want to put it on him, otherwise he will have an unpleasant feeling (!). If you agree, commend the jobs at home. Let's try - and let's see what happens.Teachers periodically feed the children with sweets and cookies - children are satisfied, but I do not know, attribute it to a plus or to minus.
By the way, the OECD reports mention that most of the students of Italian schools go there with pleasure.
In Russia, the boom of preparatory courses to elementary school is now. In Italy, in the garden you "recommend" not to dilute with the teaching of the child reading and writing: goes to school - and there it will teach him everything. The pre-school period is the game time, and you do not need to burden children with superfluous knowledge. Progressive parents and teachers often put in an example of Finnish elementary school, the training in which begins in general from 7 years.
Italian firstbirds do not look like employees of banks - the form is not provided. It was used in the times of the fascists, an attempt to start a discussion about her return failed.
Italian school can be proud of its inclusiveness.
Article 34 of the Italian Constitution states that education is open to all, and Italy clearly adheres to this principle. Primary education for at least eight years is mandatory and free. Up to grade 5 school textbooks provide the state.
In Italian schools are accustomed to the fact that there are many foreigners in classes. I often read about the problems of access to the formation faced by migrants in Russia. Here this is not. Reception of foreign children in the Italian school occurs under the same conditions as the Italians. This allows minors who come to Italy, without any bureaucratic obstacles to implement their right to teach.
On average, 10% of foreigners in Italian schools. Of the 18 people in the class of my son - 3 non-Italian. It turns out even more than 10%. In the neighboring town, where migrants work mainly on a large shipbuilding shipyard, the ratio may even be reverse. But in such conditions, the system does not give a failure - the school lays a certain set of cultural property.
Intercultural mediators are involved in communicating with parents who do not speak language.
In regular classes, children with disabilities are studying. Each of such children has a separate teacher whose task to help the child in school.
- Mom, today we painted paint handles and made prints. And even at himself it turned out! - I gladly tell me Ram after lessons.
Samuel (Samu) is a classmate of Rama, who almost can't move and does not talk to a self-consistent. But he can smile. And when the children laugh at the teacher's joke, he laughs with them.
Self brought to school in a wheelchair in the middle of the school day. The class has a special part, for which it is transplanted.
I have a lot of questions to the Italian educational system, but when I see how the door is sprinkled after the call - and the teacher exports itself, I feel that such a school makes a very important thing.