Return of Latin (optional) to middle school, more history of Italy and the West, musical and artistic education from primary school to improve creativity and self-expression. More space for reading, to consolidate writing skills. More grammar to encourage self-control and respect for others. Get rid of geopolitics from high school. These are some of the innovations announced by the Minister of Education and Merit, Giuseppe Valditaraal Newspaper. A reform which, in the form of a decree, was presented to the Council of Ministers and signed on 14 January and which will concern the entire school cyclefrom childhood to high school. With the aim, says the minister, of “taking the best of tradition for a school capable of building the future”.
The expert’s comment
«Presenting the new national indications for the first cycle of education, i.e. those ranging from nursery school to lower secondary school» commented the professor and school expert, Paola Spotorno «the Minister of Education Valditara declared: “Our objective is a school that looks to the future, with a solid gaze rooted in our culture and our history”».
«Personally» continues the teacher, «my reflection is a little different and, if it were a film, I would call it Back to the past. Reading the new national indications, the first thing that stands out is that the world seems to have shrunk. The minister, in fact, indicates the way for a return to a Eurocentric or, even worse, Italocentric visionexcluding the rest of the events of global history from the study of history.”
Even the reintroduction of Latin, albeit at an optional level in middle schools, raises some doubts. «Despite having a deep connection with the Italian language and with the roots of our culture, it will hardly contribute to strengthening the knowledge, skills and abilities of children who are already fragile today, in particular those coming from families with fewer resources. These students, in fact, may not take advantage of this opportunity, thus increasing the gap between those who will be able to afford – in a literal and figurative sense – to choose Latin and those who, however, will not”.
In short, nothing good on the horizon. Or, at least, a little. «It’s true, the introduction of music in elementary schools and the return to poetry learned by heart they can be useful tools to strengthen the children’s method and mnemonic ability. However, while recognizing the importance of developing memory, this is certainly not the epochal turning point we need. It worries me that when talking about high school reform we think of the cancellation of the discipline of geo-history, it is not so much the cancellation in itself of the subject which, in fact, was a hybrid and occupied only two hours a week in high schools – as much as the total elimination of geography. This represents further evidence of an education system that is becoming increasingly closed, national and less global.”
