LIFE AT SCHOOL!!!

Back to school!!!!

Questo post e' dedicato all'istruzione australiana.

Anziche' scrivere dati, statistische, etc. abbiamo pensato di "intervistare" direttamente gli "addetti ai lavori", ovvero coloro che lavorano nel sistema scolastico australiano.

In questo modo il post diventa piu' realistico.

Ora sedetevi comodi, prendete popcorn e coca cola e godetevi l'intervista!

Nome:  

ENZA: Enza Sangiorgio

OLIVIA: Olivia Cosentino              

LAURA:   Iride ;) 

Età:   

ENZA: 56

OLIVIA: 25

LAURA: 27 anni e 11 mesi :D (ai tempi dell'intervista non aveva ancora 28 anni NDR)

Da quanto sei in Australia:   

ENZA: I was born in Australia and lived in Melbourne  until I was three years old. My parents then  went back to Italy  and we stayed there until I turned  seven.   I started school in Rome and I was  almost  eight  when we returned to Australia to settle permanently.  I grew up in Perth and finished my university studies and then returned to Italy on a holiday in 1980.  I ended up staying 17 years and returned to Perth in 1997.  It is therefore hard  for me to say how long I have been in Australia, because I have gone back and forth from both Australia and Italy several times.  Let’s say that I have been back in Australia “permanently” since 1997.

OLIVIA: sono nata in Australia

LAURA: da un anno e 4 mesi

Quale è il tuo lavoro:  

ENZA: I’m a language teacher (Italian and French)

OLIVIA: insegnante di italiano e inglese

LAURA: sono child educator presso l'UWA Early Learning Centre 

Mi descriveresti la tua giornata tipica di lavoro:  

ENZA: A typical working day in a school would start with me arriving early to work (schools start anywhere between 8.30 and 9.00am here).  I would normally arrive at 7.30 am and start working on my  lesson preparation (notes, teaching aids, video clips, photocopies of exercises to be done in class and so forth).  I would start my working day with my first class ( I would have roughly  between 4-6 classes on any given day) and continue until morning tea break around 10.30am.  Tea break is usually 20-30 minutes and I would go to the staff room to enjoy a cup of tea or coffee and a chat with my colleagues.  I would then resume my lessons in either Italian or French and continue like this for the whole day.  Depending on my timetable and my school, I would have forty minutes of  DOTT time (DOTT stands for “Duties Other Than Teaching”) where I would be free to  do more lesson planning and/ or correcting of student work.  During this time , I may have administrative work to do, or I may contact parents to discuss student progress if necessary.  I would have a lunch break around 1pm, which would usually last for 40 minutes and then I would resume my teaching in the afternoon.  School usually finishes any time between 3.00 to 3.30pm.  I would rarely go home immediately, as I would undoubtedly have more work to finish before leaving.  I would usually go home around 4.30pm.

OLIVIA: Ci sono 5 lezioni (ore) al giorno.  Per ogni lezione, ho una classe differente. Per esempio, la prima ora il lunedì ho la classe di inglese (anno 9). Poi, ho una classe di italiano (anno 8), dopo questo c’è l’intervallo (20 minuti). La terza ora ho una pausa per fare altro lavoro (preparare lezioni, parlare con altri insegnanti, appuntamenti, ecc.) e poi ho un’altra classe di italiano (anno 8). Poi abbiamo la pausa per pranzo (35 minuti) e per l’ultima lezione ho la classe di italiano con gli studenti di anno 11.

Arrivo a scuola verso le otto di mattina (dipende da quanto preparazione devo fare quel giorno) e torno a casa verso le 4-5 di sera. Poi a casa, il lavoro continua. Preparo lezioni, valuto temi, brani, compiti, ecc.

LAURA: ogni settimana il mio shift e' diverso, ma lavoro sempre 7.5 ore al giorno inclusi 15 minuti di pausa, piu' 1 ora extra per il pranzo. Ho iniziato come part-time employee, e dopo 3 mesi ho firmato un contratto full-time, ma e' stata solo fortuna dato che molte colleghe australiane e con molta piu' esperienza sono ancora casual. Diciamo che mi sono trovata al posto giusto nel momento giusto.Ad ogni modo, a causa dei limiti imposti dal WHV, a settembre dovro' lasciare il lavoro e cercarne un altro.

Nel posto in cui lavoro siamo 3 educator ogni 12 bimbi (il rapporto e' di 1:3 per la fascia di eta' 1-2 anni).

 Io e le mie colleghe abbiamo compiti diversi in base al nostro shift, per esempio chi inizia all'apertura alle 7.30 deve fare il primo turno di cambio pannolini, preparare i bimbi per il morning tea (lo spuntino delle 9 del mattino) e pulire appena finiscono, e organizzare l'attivita' artistica del giorno; cosi' come chi inizia dopo (middle shift dopo le 8 o late shift dopo le 8.30) dovra' occuparsi del cambio pannolini della tarda mattinata o del pomeriggio, organizzare e pulire dopo il pranzo o dopo l'afternoon tea (lo spuntino pomeridiano), cullare i bimbi durante il sonnellino pomeridiano. Inoltre a turno ogni giorno una di noi pulisce il bagnetto. I compiti sono tutti ben stabiliti e organizzati, ma c'e' anche molta flessibilita': e' chiaro che ci si aiuta a vicenda anche se ognuna di noi deve rispettare la propria lista delle cose da fare.

Anche se in genere in tutti gli asili si segue la stessa procedura, non tutti sono in grado di essere cosi' organizzati e precisi: per esempio, l'asilo dove lavoravo in precedenza era molto caotico, a mio avviso.

Puoi descrivere il  sistema scolastico in cui lavori:(early learning/primary/high-school/university)  

ENZA: I’m a high school language teacher.  I teach students ranging from 13years of age to 17 years of age.  In high school, we prepare students for their year 12 exams which give them access to tertiary institutions  or employment.

OLIVIA: The high-school I work at caters for students in Year 8 to Year 12. The students’ ages are from 12 to 17 years old. There are approximately 150 students in each year group but each year this number varies.

The school has 3 principals: one chief principal and two deputy principals. The Principal is in charge of all school matters while one Deputy Principal is in charge of students and the other is in charge of staff.

The school has an administration office, a library, a canteen, cleaners and gardeners. There is also an Education Support Unit, which caters to students with special needs (educational disabilities).

The school is divided into learning areas: Mathematics, Science, English, Society and Environment (Geography, History, Economics), LOTE (Languages other than English: Italian, French, Japansese), Art, Music and Drama, Design and Technology, Physical Education. Each learning area has a teacher who is the Head of Learning Area (HOLA). This person communicates directly with Principals on matters associated with the learning area they represent.

Each week there are meetings amongst learning areas, Principals, administration and other committees. In these meetings, the groups of teachers and administration officers discuss school matters and make decisions for the school.

LAURA: Lavoro nell'early learning, quindi si parla della fascia di eta' 0-5 anni. Onestamente mi sento ancora ignorante riguardo il sistema scolastico australiano; per quello che riguarda gli asili, le educatrici sono tenute a scrivere un diario settimanale di quello che succede in classe e le attivita' educative svolte. Tutto e' regolato dall' EYLF - Early years learning framework - che descrive tutti i principi, procedure, linee guida per l'educazione dei bimbi in eta' prescolare. 

Le educatrici devono osservare i bimbi durante qualsiasi attivita' (pranzo, gioco libero, intentional teaching, disegni, ecc.) e scrivere le proprie riflessioni e osservazioni; di solito sono le "qualified educator", cioe' quelle diplomate o laureate in early childhood education, che scrivono diari, osservazioni e programmano le attivita' da svolgere. Ovviamente anche le "assistant" possono, anzi devono, osservare, proporre nuove idee, partecipare attivamente e aiutare le qualified! Nel mio caso per esempio, essendo italiana, io e le mie colleghe abbiamo deciso che una volta alla settimana insegnero' una parola italiana ai bimbi (con un gioco o con un'attivita' artistica), facendo uso quindi dell' intentional teaching. 

Le educator devono anche partecipare a workshop di varie tipologie e aggiornarsi di continuo riguardo le attivita' educative da svolgere con i bimbi.

Concludo con una precisazione: ho sempre usato il femminile parlando di educatrici, perche' pare che qui sia un lavoro per donne e Ricky ne sa qualcosa. ;) 

Quali sono I punti di forza del sistema scolastico australiano e quali quelli negativi:  

ENZA: POSITIVE ASPECTS - I would say that the most positive aspect of the australian education system is the fact that  in any given subject, a lot of importance is given to  the practical side of things.  There are lots of “hands on” activities in any subject studied at school.  Another positive aspect is that teachers are much more available for their students and often go out of their way to help them.  Students are given an enormous amount of help (doing revision, studying  for  tests/exams, going over work,  and so on).  Students are given warning  for any upcoming  tests or exams and this gives them an advantage so they can prepare appropriately.   I have also noticed that in  the  in early childhood stages,   (kindy and pre-primary)  a great deal of importance is given to making children  do very practical things when learning. It also encourages independence in children at this very early age.

NEGATIVE ASPECTS-  Whilst early childhood education works really well in Australia, I feel that upper primary and secondary school tend to teach things in a rather  superficial way.  Many notions are introduced (at a superficial level) and the “outcomes” based method that has been used tends to be generic and dispersive.  Furthermore, the fact that Australia still does not have a National Curriculum means that each state uses different programmes and standards for conducting and evaluating  different disciplines.  Luckily, a National Curriculum will be shortly implemented and hopefully, education across Australia will be more uniform.

Another negative aspect has been the fact that for the sake of “stimulating” students and keeping them “entertained” at school, things like grammar, syntax and basic literacy and numeracy skills  which might be considered “boring” by the students , have not been taught properly.

Furthermore, the tendency in the Australian system is to encourage students to regurgitate things  learnt off by heart rather than making them think critically  and question things.  Learning seems to be based on  “When”/ “Who”/ “What”/  rather than “Why” or “How come” or “What if”

OLIVIA: I am only in my first year of teaching and so I am still learning a lot about the high school education system. I cannot think of any positive aspects but I have one main criticism of the current system. It is this: each state has a different curriculum. The Federal Government is implementing a nationwide curriculum in the next few years and I think this is way overdue. Still today, each State of Australia teaches children different courses/materials, yet with technology and globalisation and increased travel across Australia, it’s necessary that all Australian children are taught the same material by the same methods.

LAURA: sicuramente l'ORGANIZZAZIONE e' un punto di forza di questo sistema, mentre come punto negativo oserei dire che i nostri amici ozzie non studiano abbastanza, i programmi sono troppo poveri e fanno troppe vacanze.

Potresti fare un paragone tra sistema italiano e australiano:  

ENZA: Whilst the Italian education system might seem a bit more old fashioned than the Australian one, I would say that it prepares students more appropriately for university and/or employment.  First of all, students in Italy need to be very self motivated because the average teacher does not usually help out as much as an average Australian teacher.  From a very early age, students in Italy are encouraged to speak up, because the testing system is based on oral tests and exams more so than on written tests and exams.  This means that students  are encouraged to question, think critically and become very confident public speakers.  They need to be ready for “questioning” (i.e  testing) on any given day by their teacher.  This means that they spend a great deal of time at home doing homework, research and revision  for all their subjects every day.  Compared to an average Australian teenager, they have much more homework. 

Furthermore, Italian students study more subjects in high school and many at a much greater depth than their Australian  peers.

The Australian stystem often offers many extra “perks” such as new laptops for all students between years 10-12, for example, or special excursions, overseas trips, camps and so forth and this makes school life less boring , more practical and interesting perhaps than for Italian school students.

In Italy, a lot of importance is given to theory, whilst in Australia, a lot of importance is given to practice.

Most Australian schools have great facilities, such as gyms,  ovals and sporting grounds, tennis courts, home economic centres, pools,  music auditoriums, theatres, and so on, whist in Italy these things are not always availabe in the average secondary school.

The subjects studied in Australian schools are more generic , whereas in Italy , high schools offer specific disciplines.  For example, if you wish to pursue a career in languages you would go to a “liceo linguistico” which is a special high school which offers all the core subjects offered elsewhere, together with a huge selection of languages which would be the main focus of  subjects offered at the school.

In Australian schools most testing is done in written form, whereas in Italian schools, a lot of testing is also done orally.

Whilst the Italian  system focuses mainly on  preparing students for the maturita`, in Australia students can  sit for the equivalent exam (WACE) in any given subject   at vaious levels. For example,   year 12 students can sit for either Stage 2 or 3 Italian.  This means that they can either do an “easier” version of the exam( Stage 2)  or a more difficult one,(Stage 3) depending on what they wish to study in the future. 

University entrance  in Italy is based on whether the student passes their final”maturita` ” exam.  In Australia, you do not only have to pass but also gain a certain grade (ATAR score)  in order to be accepted into a particular faculty  at a particular  university.

OLIVIA: I know very little about the Italian school system, if anything at all. What I do like about the Italian school system is that children must attend 6 days a week but the school day is shorter. This system obviously fits in with the Italian lifestyle and would be difficult to adapt to here in Australia. I do think, however, that the school day in Australia is too long. After lunchtime the children are tired and bothered, especially in the summer time and especially boys who tend to play a lot of sport in their lunch break. I believe children work best early in the morning and should have a lengthy rest in the afternoon. In the evening, they can then complete schoolwork.

LAURA: mi riaggancio alla domanda precedente e insisto: noi italiani (e in genere europei) abbiamo programmi scolastici assolutamente piu' vasti e completi, diamo inoltre grande importanza alla conoscenza e all'analisi della nostra lingua e della grammatica e anche delle altre lingue per chi le studia (o almeno ai miei tempi era cosi'), mentre qui non sanno nemmeno cosa e' un soggetto o non sono in grado di fare lo spelling di una parola nella loro lingua. Comunque, non ho ancora avuto a che fare con le scuole australiane e quindi preferisco approfondire il discorso quando saro' piu' informata.

Pensi che il sistema australiano sia in grado di formare delle persone non solo in senso professionale:

ENZA: This is a very difficult question to answer.  I cannot speak for other Australian states, as each state has different standards.  However, having worked in the Western Australian education system, I would say that students that finish year 12 here are not “well rounded”  individuals.  They come out of high school with some general notions in literacy and numeracy, but have little knowledge about the world in general.  They have scant and superficial knowledge of world geography, world politics and very stereotypical knowledge of other cultures.

They have been trained to look towards the future (hence science and technology are usually their greatest strengths), but have very limited knowledge of history and their place in the world because the current system does not encourage them to look at the past. The school system in Western Australia churns out many future engineers and scientists but very few philosophers and historians.

Given its isolation, Western Australia is very removed from the rest of the world and this is reflected in its education system and the type of people that graduate from high school.

OLIVIA: Yes, I do. For me, school definitely aided in the formation of my personal identity, my spirituality, my ability to network, problem-solve, deal with humans. I can only speak from the perspective of a private school student. I do think there is a huge difference between public and private schools. Private schools nurture the students and protect them whereas public schools are less able, less-equipped and not expected to nurture students as much. One could argue that private school-students are over-protected and not presented with an accurate picture of the real world, while public school-students are more exposed to real issues and matters associated with family, adolescence, sex, drugs, etc. I have heard that private school students are more likely to drop out of university in the first year than public school-students. Perhaps this does show that private schooling doesn’t really prepare students adequately for life after school.

LAURA: ho conosciuto diversi australiani al lavoro e mi sono resa conto che nel loro campo specifico sono davvero bravi e preparati, ma per il resto li trovo un po' ingenui e fuori dal mondo (dal resto del mondo). L'Australia e' l'unico posto che conoscono e il resto sembra non essere  importante.

Cosa cambieresti di questo sistema:

ENZA: I would

Change the courses of study so that all subjects could be studied at a much  more in depth level

Make the study of at least one language  compulsory in all high schools

Change the exam system and allow for different types of testing

Give teachers  less administrative work so they can focus more on their teaching

Encourage students to think critically and question things at a young age.

OLIVIA: This is a very difficult question. Again, I don’t know enough about the system to accurately critique it.  I would change the length of the school day. I would also aim to enforce more respect for teachers. I don’t think communicating solely to the students is effective. A teacher’s work is easily undone as soon as the child returns home in the afternoon. Parents should be more involved in their child’s education and be held more accountable for their child’s performance.

There are also children who are simply not fit for school and could contribute more to society by working or doing community service. Education is crucial for a child but does the child have to learn science or geography after primary school? Some material is extremely abstract and difficult for children to comprehend and I don’t think it is right that we assess all students together in order to fit one specific mould. Society needs plumbers and carpenters, retail workers and salespeople as well as lawyers, doctors and engineers. Schools and parents should be assessing their child’s abilities at an earlier age and there should then be a specific pathway for that child to undertake in order to become a useful member of society.

Un ringraziamento sincero per la loro disponibilita' e per il tempo che hanno dedicato all'intervista!