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Educators in need of Education?
118 viewsTags: education. milan, Italy, teaching
Becoming a teacher in Italy is a traumatic process. After having spent 7 years or so completing one of Italy’s 5 year degree courses, prospective teachers then need to do an accreditation course.
Our neighbour’s daughter who has a degree in sociology, has not yet been able to find a permanent job. Now she is looking into becoming a teacher in one of Italy’s non-state Steiner/Waldorf educational institutions. However, before she can begin work, she needs to do a three year part time course. Fair enough. Well, no, not that fair at all.
Awkward Timetable
In Milan to obtain the required accreditation, after having been accepted that is, applicants have to complete a three year course, or so it would appear. The problem is that these courses are run at very strange times. How about twice a week from 4:15 to 8:00 in the evening, over a three year period?
The odd timetable leads to another small question, which is: How is the trainee supposed to live over the next three years? There are no social welfare payments from the Italian state to speak of, which means the logical thing to do is to seek work.
You can see it now. “And so Ms X when are you available to start work?”. Reply, “Well, at any time really, but there is one thing I need to tell you. For the next three years I can only work up to 3:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
One imagines that most job interviews would end just about then and there, and Italian employers will not have any problem finding someone who does not need to leave work early twice a week for the next three years.
The thing that gets me is the timing of these courses. Why from 4 in the afternoon to 8 in the evening? Why not from 6pm to 10pm or something like that?
It is not only the Milan Steiner/Waldorf Federation training centres which have adopted such wacky timetables, take a look at the other centres listed on federation’s teacher training page. One or two offer slightly more friendly training course hours. However one other minor point is that it does not appear to be that easy from the Steiner/Waldorf Federation web site to understand just what courses prospective teachers need to do. Yes, I know you could phone or write, but this can be time consuming, whereas a well organised site would keep complex telephone enquiries to a minimum.
Awkward Websites
The Steiner/Waldorf Federation site, the web site of what is a highly regarded educator in Italy, is not that impressive. Navigation is confusing and answers to simple questions such as ‘Which teacher training courses do I need to take to become a teacher?’, are just not easily answered.
Luckily though, there is another site: Rudolfsteiner.it, and those looking for teacher training should end up on this site thanks to Google. I do hope so.
On Rudolfsteiner.it there is a little more information on teacher training and it is more accessible, but even so, trying to find out just how long you need to spend training to become a Steiner accredited school teacher is not at all clear. Three years? Five years? Still, at least you can find out details of training courses, including costs and objectives. The teacher training web site page could do with a ‘home’ link too.
Frequently Asked Questions?
Both sites would benefit from using a list of frequently asked questions - the famous FAQs.
It is surprising that such a well regarded educational institution has such dire web sites. Certainly the sites would serve to put me off from having my child educated in the Steiner way, let alone enthusing me to become a teacher, especially in today’s high-tech world.
Oh I know one could argue funding issues, but it is very easy to set up a presentable web site nowadays. WordPress, which I use, is free and when mated with the right template can create highly presentable, professional looking sites in next to no time. And WordPress comes in Italian too!
Do they Find Teachers?
As to how they find teachers, I have no idea. Many potentially good teachers may well have been put off by the sheer inaccessibility of the information, but then Italians are used to negotiating a confusing system and put up with it. They should not have to.
By the way, I’d love to know how many actually manage to complete these courses.
Poor Direction
What started off as a glance at an appalling teacher training timetable has ended up as an inspection of educator web sites. This little trip was certainly an education for me.
The worst aspect is that once someone has worked his or her way through the training process, the ‘reward’ is a poorly paid job for a lifetime. Heck they must be dedicated.
The state of the State Education System in Italy
Oh, and I won’t mention trying to work within Italy’s state education system. If it were not enough that training timetables were odd, even after completing a course the chances of landing a place are most probably down to knowing people in the right places, otherwise youngsters don’t stand a cats chance in hell of entering the system.
Let’s hope that the reforms being pushed through do something to remedy the situation…
Read more about Italy’s education system in my Facts about Italy’s Education System post.
More Posts From The Same Category:
- One Casualty of Many, I Fear
- Facts about Italy’s Education System
- Assistance in finding EFL teachers.
- Italy’s Education System Reforms
- Why Internet in Italy is Far Behind the Rest of Europe
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that’s really sad, how the institutions don’t take into account the practicalities of a ’student’ trying to learn to be a teacher while surviving the tuition and such.
ugh.
on that note, hope you’re doing well alex!
~ j
Yep, it is ugly, and they are responsible for educating young people. I don’t know.
Good to hear from you Jan. I’m doing OKish.
What about you?
Alex
BEING a teacher in Italy is a traumatic process: I started teaching as a native speaker when I was 19, graduated in English as a Foreign Language, passed a “Concorso pubblico” the national exam which qualifies teachers and gives access to a list (graduatoria) for supply teaching and a permanent post. But all this wasn’t enough toget a permanent job so I had to attend a 2 year training course at University because in the meanwhile the system had changed … at the same time I’ve never stopped teaching English in nursery, primary and secondary schools (beside teaching in courses for adults, training primary teachers, writing and publishing educational materials etc. etc. ). This year I’m travelling 3 h a day to reach my school and next year with the current reform I will have no job! We are the so called “precari” i.e. we don’t have a permanent contract: the state pays us from September to June and we have to change school every year. Some of my colleagues have been teaching at these conditions for 15, 20 and even 25 years!
I think people abroad should know about the condition of instability of life in which the Italian state keeps us teachers. I will probably go to live abroad as soon as possible, but many colleagues will lose their jobs and this is very sad.
Melanie Segal
Hi Melanie,
Thanks for this, but very sad to hear how bad Italians are feeling.
You may like to see the post entitled:
One Casualty of Many, I Fear
All the best for your future,
Alex
Ohh gosh this is worrying. Im a British student currently at university and hoping to complete my teacher training here (PGCE). Do you know if these qualifications are accepted in Italy? Im having a hard time finding out. I don’t really know what my options are and I really don’t fancy go through all of that which you explained!
Hi Samantha,
Thanks for dropping in.
I don’t know a lot about completing a PGCE here, however, there is a private school here in Milan which follows the English syllabus, perhaps you could contact them to ask about this.
The school is the Sir James Henderson British School of Milan and here is their website:
http://www.sjhschool.com/default.asp
Hope that helps.
Let me know how you get on.
Kind regards,
Alex
Hi Alex,
Thank you very much for this link! That is very useful especially because I am familiar with Milan and I am looking to move to Piemonte, so this would be a perfect location for me. I have also looked at the International School of Turin so that now gives me two great possibilities.
Ciao Samantha,
Happy to hear that the link was of interest. It’s a shame I don’t know anyone at the Sir James Henderson though.
If you do contact them, let me know how approachable the school proves to be.
All the best for your future,
Alex
An invitation to the international press to keep an eye on the Italian situation.
Francesco Cossiga (former president of the Italian Republic, Prime Minister and Home Secretary, and now senator for life) on October 23, in an interview with the “Quotidiano Nazionale” (Il Giorno/Il Resto del Carlino/La Nazione), declared:
“Maroni [the current Home Secretary] should do what I did when I was Home Secretary.
First, leave protesting high-school students alone, because just think what would happen if a young boy was killed or seriously injured…
Let university students continue to protest. Withdraw the police from the streets and universities, infiltrate the movement with agents provocateurs ready to do anything, and let the demonstrators devastate shops, set fire to cars and put cities to fire and sword for ten days or so.
Then, with public opinion on your side, the sound of ambulance sirens will exceed those of the police and the carabinieri. In the sense that the police should not show any mercy to them and send them all to hospital. Arresting them is useless because judges would release them very quickly, but we should beat them up as well as the teachers who are stirring them up.
Teachers above all. Not the older ones, of course, but the young female primary school teachers…this is the democratic recipe: putting out the flame before the fire spreads”.
http://rassegna.governo.it/rs_pdf/pdf/JMS/JMSRA.pdf
After nationwide student protests against proposed government education cuts, the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, organized a press conference last Wednesday to say:
“Let me speak clearly: we will not allow schools and universities to be occupied. Today I will summon Home Secretary Maroni to consider police intervention.
Minister of Education, Gelmini, is excellent. We will not withdraw the legislative decree. Left wing leaders are liars”.
Later he complained about the presence of violent people in the student movements, which, as the international press can verify, is in fact peaceful.
Some newspapers which support the current government (like “Il Giornale”, whose owner is Berlusconi’s brother) are fomenting a daily campaign against teachers and protesting students, and “Libero”, another Berlusconi supporting newspaper, even suggested clubbing demonstrators on their asses (“parti molli”, i.e. soft parts of the body).
In Italy the situation of teachers is extremely worrying.
They are underpaid and often held in poor esteem by families and children, who instead are attracted by TV personalities, football players and rich entrepreneurs (their honesty doesn’t matter). These models have been spread, above all over recent years, by the current Premier.
In particular “PRECARI” teachers (temporary teachers on short-term contracts) who often carry out their mission with great enthusiasm and love, are kept in a dramatic situation.
Despite all having degrees, teaching qualifications and sometimes also master degrees for public authority employment, they are hired every year in September and sacked when the school year ends. Then they just have to hope to be hired again the following year.
There are also many teachers in this situation of limbo who are no longer young and who have also been subjected to this treatment for over 25 years!
Cuts in tens of thousands jobs in the school, which in Italy receives much less investment than other developed countries, will mainly hit these teachers, who have no have no
contractual rights.
We ask you to look into the Italian situation where there is not a real free press because Premier Berlusconi, directly or indirectly, controls most TV channels and a large number of newspapers.
A group of worried teachers.
Link to list of signatures
http://www.worriedteachers.com/sign/list/worriedteachers
Melanie,
Thanks for this. I’ll create a post around it. As to why Italians should feel that they need to treat other Italians in such a heavy handed fashion, I have no idea.
Odd.
Best regards,
Alex
Thanks a lot
We really need international support!
Best regards,
Melanie
This is a translation of the interview with Cossiga.
An interview with Francesco Cossiga
by Andrea Cangini for “Quotidiano nazionale” (Il Giorno/Il Resto del Carlino/La Nazione), 23.10.2008
President Cossiga, do you think that Berlusconi has gone too far in threatening the use of State force against the students?
That depends, if he believes he is the Prime Minister of a strong State then no, he was right. But as Italy is a weak State, as the opposition is no longer the rock-like PCI [1] but the evanescent PD [2], I’m afraid that his words will not be followed by action and that Berlusconi will just end up with egg on his face.
What should happen now?
At this point, Maroni [3] should do what I did when I was Home Secretary.
What’s that?
Firstly, forget the high-school students… can you imagine what would happen if a 10-year-old kid got killed or seriously injured…
Instead, the university students?
Let them get on with it. Withdraw the police from the streets and the universities, infiltrate the movement with agents provocateurs ready for anything, and allow the demonstrators to run loose for a week or so, devastating shops, setting cars on fire and causing havoc in the streets.
Then what? Then, with public opinion on your side, the sound of ambulance sirens should drown out the sirens of police and carabinieri cars.
In the sense that…
In the sense that the forces of law and order should massacre the demonstrators without pity and send them all to hospital. Not arrest them - the magistrates would set them free straight away in any event… beat them bloody and beat the teachers storring them up bloody too.
The teachers, too?
The teacher above all. Not the older ones, of course… the young girls. Have you any idea of the seriousness of what’s happening? There are teachers indoctrinating children and encouraging them to demonstrate - that’s criminal behaviour!
But you realise what they would say in Europe after something like you suggest? “Fascism returns to Italy”, they’d say.
Rubbish, it’s the democratic way - put out the flame before the fire spreads.
What fire?
I’m not exaggerating when I say I truly believe that terrorism will return to bloody the streets of this country. And I wouldn’t want people to forget that the Red Brigades (BR) were not born in the factories but in the universities. And that the slogans they used were used before them by the Student Movement and the trade union left.
So you think it is possible that history will repeat itself?
It’s not possible, it’s probable. That’s why I’m saying: let’s not forget that the BR were born because the flame was not put out in time.
Veltroni’s PD is on the side of the demonstrators.
Look, I can’t in all honesty see Veltroni taking to the streets and risk getting a cracked skull. You’re more likely to see him in some exclusive club in Chicago, applauding Obama.
He won’t take to the streets with a stick in his hands, sure, but politically…
Politically, he’s making the same mistake that the PCI made when the troubles [4] started: it backed the movement, deluding itself that it could control it, but when it too became a target, as was bound to happen, it soon changed its mind. The so-called hard-line adopted by Andreotti, Zaccagnini and me was suggested by Berlinguer [5]… But today we’ve got the PD, an ectoplasm led by another ectoplasm. And that’s another good reason for Berlusconi to be more prudent.
Translated by nmcn
Translator notes:
1. Italian Communist Party, which changed name and broke up in 1991.
2. Democratic Party, led by Walter Veltroni, formed in 2007 from the remains of the old PCI together with other centre-left forces.
3. Roberto Maroni (Lega Nord), current Home Minister.
4. The “contestazione”, a widespread progressive protest movement which began in the late 1960s.
5. Leader of the PCI from 1972 to 1984.
Hi Melanie,
I think the interview encapsulates Italy’s problems very neatly.
There is a distinct tendency to refer to the past, when it would be far better to look the future.
As for the re-emergence of terrorism in Italy, well, it could probably blamed on consistent political mismanagement.
Yep, Italy certainly is a Living Museum, and lots of exhibits inhabit Italy’s parliament!
Stand firm!
Alex