Case Studies

Name of the teacher

Cristina Massai

Email:

Country:

Italy

Subject taught:

Italian Literature and Latin

Years of experience:

21

Name of the School:

ISIS “Da Vinci-Fermi” – Scientific High School “Fermi”

School Typology:

Upper Secondary School

Country:

Italy

City:

Castel del Piano (GR)

Web site:

Background and Context:

Our High School I.S.I.S. “Da Vinci – Fermi” has a number of 197 students, which come from nearby towns. The approximative number of foreign students is 10, born by foreign parents and/or born abroad. The students have included in the various classes by a number from 1 to 3.

Factual Description:

The project was developed during the entire school year with second year classes students.
Dealing with a laboratory activity with open classes, it facilitates in general the intention among students, providing working group activities (ref. infra).
In particular, foreign students have the opportunity to take advantage of their own attitudes without be bound of the linguistic factor (problematic factor in facing classic literary texts) – for this reason the is a good interaction between Italian and foreign students.
The consideration of justice and rights issues has a positive impact both on didactics and on the students’ motivation.
From the side of teachers, the difficulties appear on the management of the numerous groups (a co-presence to work in smaller groups would be needed).

Activities carried out:

The project is developed in different phases:
- Reading of the “I promessi sposi” of A. Manzoni – considerations on the issue of justice (denied) etc.;
- Individual considerations on the issue with elaboration of available texts (oppressed/persecutors yesterday and today etc.);
- Discussion in class;
- Intervention of the strengthening teacher (Law) with lecture moments and following role-play;
- Working group: brainstorming – emerge the issues on which working;
- Storytelling: the groups create a rough draft on the “denied rights” – then move to the script of the scenes to represent on the issue and subsequent performance (with different manner year by year).

Assessment and lesson learnt:

The laboratory permits to actualize a literary text which constitutes an essential part of the Italian programme of the second year and to create an inter-disciplinary path, integrating a subject that is not provided for the curricula of the Scientific High School (Law subject).
Taking a starting point from the text, the discussion extends both to recent events (work on the articles of newspapers, etc.) and to past experiences of students (“you have subject to/you have been a spectator of a prevarication…”, etc.) with positive consequences on the awareness of the all involved actors, both students and teachers.
The moment of the performance reinforces the expressive abilities of students and it permits to the teachers to observe the characteristics of students on non-formal contexts. At the same time, students work together in heterogeneous groups, easily overcoming their own prejudices.
At the end of the laboratory, the students express a better awareness.
The applied strategy is replicable – in fact, in this case the laboratory has been repeated every year, with changes that come from needs shown of working groups.

Description of the Case Study in National Language: