The students’ role in the school Stefano Todesco Istituto Professionale Commerciale e Turistico “Elsa Morante” - Sassuolo

In general… the students are the centre of the school, which works for them strong stress on the fact that the student is a person rather than a pupil, hence – making him grow as a person is more important than teaching the subjects – all teachers work on general issues like: respect for each other, politeness, motivation to learn, self-esteem and others

– when possible, the teachers try to have a personal approach to the students, showing interest for their personal matters and hobbies – usually students have good results with the teachers with which they have a deeper personal relationship the students are encouraged to be involved and to participate in the lesson even during traditional lectures when the teachers teaches the class the students are not passive, because they ask a lot of questions

Students with particular needs They are part of ordinary classes, up to three for each class Physically handicapped: they are helped by special aid teachers and other personnel and follow the same curricula as their schoolmates Mentally handicapped – if possible, they follow slightly simplified curricula and get a diploma like the other students

– otherwise they follow a different curriculum which is decided by the special aid teacher with the teachers of the different subjects; at the end they get a certification of what they have learned Learning difficulties – if there is not a real handicap, the students with difficulties must follow the same curriculum as the others – there is not a special aid teacher, and this is a big problem for the other teachers

The students and the school administration Class Board(all the teachers of a class) – there are two students, elected by their mates, and two parents, elected by the other parents – they participate only to the last part of the meetings, when the class teacher summarizes what has been said and their proposals are listened to – these students have the right to vote when the Board decides to suspend a student

School Board of governors (all the school personnel is represented: teachers, technicians, administrative staff, janitors, parents, students) – there are four students, elected by all the school students – to be elected the students make electoral lists and electoral campaign – the students take part to the whole meeting and have the right to vote like all the other components

Disciplinary measurements If a student behaves incorrectly, the teachers speak to him in a manner as little authoritarian as possible If the behaviour continues, exasperation might lead the teacher to shout If the reproach has no effect, the teacher writes the fact on the class register

If this happens several times, or for very serious faults (beating schoolmates, insulting teachers, damaging the school) the student is suspended for a period of up to 15 days Longer suspensions are given only in extreme cases If the behaviour is heavily incorrect for the whole year, the student can be rejected The first aim of sanctions is to make the student change, rather than to punish

Admission to the following form In Primary Schools pupils are not admitted only in exceptional cases In the first three years of secondary school students are rejected if they do next to nothing In high schools it depends on the kind of school – in grammar schools, beside studying constantly, the student must have good capacities as the level of the class is usually high

– in other schools the student is admitted if the teachers think he is able to cope with the curricula of the following year – in Vocational Schools great importance is given to commitment, so a hard-working student is usually admitted even if he has low capacities Sometimes teacher have to take into account the fact that, if some students are rejected, the class might be cancelled the following year

Practical training They are part of the curricula of most schools They are chosen according to the specialization of the school and last 2-5 weeks Sometimes it is difficult to find firms which accept students, so the teachers have little or no choice The best students can do the practical training abroad (Leonardo da Vinci)

The host firm gives a mark to the student, which becomes a part of his school evaluation If things go as they should, the students learn the job and sometimes they are employed during the summer or when they complete the school It is very uncommon for the students to behave incorrectly, usually even the worst do their best

Participation to projects Projects can involve students or whole classes If they involve students, usually the best are chosen If they involve classes, the most suitable or the one who needs that project most is chosen Projects of many kinds: European, musical, artistic, sport, theatre, journalism…