Travel journal

Sunday April 17th, 2016

2016-04-23T16:06:02+03:00

Home from Rome

This morning we have a proper breakfast with a view above the roofs of Rome and then head for the Vatican by bus. St. Peter's square is crowded with visitors, as always, and people are watching the mass from massive TV screens.

After a light lunch we take another bus back to Termini and go to collect our luggage from the hotel. It is time to kiss Rome goodbye. A late flight arrives at Helsinki-Vantaa at midnight. Home at last - back to school early in the morning. We have finally arrived - with a cornucopia of ideas and impressions to digest and share.

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Saturday April 16th, 2016

2016-04-20T21:01:37+03:00

Back to Rome by train

No school today due to the referendum on Sunday so we catch the 10.10 train to Rome. In Rome we stay at a hotel near Termini, the main railway station, and having settled down head for lunch (take shelter indoors for a light shower of rain).

The rest of the afternoon in spent walking and sightseeing and hopping on and eventually off a sightseeing bus with more sightseeing - Colosseum, Circus Maximus, Castello St. Angelo, to name a few. The day ends with an exquisite dinner at a small restaurant at Trastevere. This is as good as it gets!

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Friday April 15th, 2016

2016-05-01T14:27:21+03:00

The fifth day at Liceo Manzoni takes us outside the school gates with students and teachers. A referendum will affect school work on the days to come. Carmen, the philosophy teacher, along with her son come and collect us from our hotel to meet the rest of the group at 7.30. We are still missing people and keep on waiting for them to arrive. Then the only thing missing is the police forces - carabinieri who are to inspect the coaches before we are allowed to leave. By 9 o'clock we are finally on the move.

The destination today is the town of Gaeta on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The festival of Giovani gathers young people who wish to explore their career opportunities along with the rewarding program.
The school only has two studies counsellors per 2000 students, which means events such as this are an essential part of finding one's path in this messy world of ours. During our two hours' drive we enjoy the ever changing scenery of the rustic region. Fantastic photos are added to our files.

On location we find something similar to the Finnish Studia Fair but on a larger scale and outdoors, too, in a maritime environment. The students have several places to visit and we try to catch up with them. At some point the whole group sits down to watch a TV broadcast where Liceo Manzoni receives a prize by the hand of Director Vairo.

Lunch at a seaside restaurant with Italian teachers and a walk through the narrow lanes with washing hanging above. We are basking in the sun and working our way to the potential meeting points. Finally the coach comes to collect us and after another drive through the charming countryside we reach Caserta by eight in the evening. An educational excursion indeed!

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Thursday April 14th, 2016

2016-08-28T14:17:18+03:00

Osmo: The first lesson on Thursday. The class was divided in two groups. Some did their exercises in maths individually, while the others were gathered round the teacher´s table in order to study elemets of David Hume´s philosophy together with their teacher. It´s pretty challenging, because the pupils are only some 16 years old, but everything was ok.

The next lesson was in the class where the teacher was suddenly sent. The atmosphere was a bit noisy, but the pupils were keen and really interested in Finnish schools, our language and Finland in common. The next lesson; some of the pupils took a test. One detail that aroused my attention was the fact that many pupils had no books with them. Maybe due to really heavy school bags?

At the end of the last day in school I would realize that the real teacher is an eternal pupil himself (an old Chinese proverb).

Taina: My first lesson of the day was an English class based on Cambridge English materials on Ghost towns. The teacher had a video projector available and he was using online materials whereas the students had paper textbooks. Most students read some text and answered questions individually in turns, which actually makes the major difference from our style of making everybody read and talk during the lessons.

I kept on following several lessons in different subjects during the day - one of them in Italian but with students acting as skillful interpreters- and my conclusion was that they all were very keen on learning new things and finding out things about different cultures such as Finland. In CLIL classes the subject was taught in English and the students were taking a lot of notes. I wonder if they also use online reading materials?

Harri: Job shadowing goes on. On the basis of the experiences I have got in job shadowing, I would like to make a few changes: students and teachers should have short breaks between their lessons, i.e. enough time for lunch (the younger the students are the greater the need), and everybody needs to go to the toilet every now and then; this way the teaching and learning process could get a good start and enhance the concentration needed in classroom work. Besides it is not very effective if the students with their teachers have to wait for the iron-gates to open every morning before they can enter their classrooms and start their everyday schoolwork.
Since you have computer connection in each classroom, thus enabling computer-based material - I think- you have to find ways to support both teachers and students to benefit from this possibility better.
Furthermore, the students retaking their exams should be gathered into a separate classroom(s) with a supervisor so they can have a proper chance to do well in their effort.
As for the methods, teachers could have larger variety of student-friendly activities, and offer all the students experiences in learning. I enjoyed most of the lessons taught by many dedicated and personally committed teachers.

After the school day the administration and the teachers had their meeting and we shadows went our ways to visit a site with Roman antiquity, the amphitheater of Santa Maria Capua di Vetere, called Campania Amphitheater. When walking the underground tunnels and visiting the gladiator museum at site we caught a glimpse of the past Roman Empire. For the students and teachers of Liceo A. Manzoni it is a commonplace but for us at Forssan yhteislyseo something we study in history lessons.

In the evening Emma and the other host teachers take us to a farewell dinner with real Italian pizza at a restaurant close to school. Italian ice cream to top it all! The hospitality of the teachers at A. Manzoni touches us deeply.

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Wednesday April 13th, 2016

2016-04-23T15:35:13+03:00

The third day at school and we are getting an idea of what is going on. We are job shadowing different teachers in various subjects the whole day and there are some things that catch our attention as regards to organizing school work, lessons and methodology.

This is a massive school with 2000 students taught in two buildings. The groups are small, though, from 15 to 28 students. So you can imagine the number of classrooms and corridors! Both students and teachers find it difficult to study the daily timetable to know where to go next. Luckily there are assistants to let them into classrooms and to tell them where to go. School buildings are quite large, partly like a complicated labyrinth. The cage-like staff room does not advance co-operation between teachers and does not invite any real job-related discussion.
When following different lessons, we were a little taken aback by continuous interruptions of various kind. The exams - test di recupero - were held in the same classroom with the ongoing lessons. We started to wonder whether students and learning were not the key issue. It seems that disturbances prove disrespect for teaching and learning processes. Barren classrooms without sound-proof panels, curtains, and good seats affect students' concentration and performance - let alone wide open windows letting in traffic noise due to lack of proper ventilation.

Despite all this, we think that students' dedication to maintain the high level of involvement in debates and classroom discussions was very impressive, i.e. they do want to learn and participate. Their enthusiasm disarms us. Italian schools and teachers' choice of traditional methodology produces working outcome.

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Tuesday April 12th, 2016

2016-04-24T08:48:47+03:00

The second day at school; and we were met with a heartfelt welcome by Ms Fusco and her students at fine arts. Short presentations on Renaissance artists and a violin concerto by a talented student. Bravo! And even more so since we were told that they do not teach music in Italian upper secondary schools.

Then we went our separate ways to follow different lessons: a group of 5th formers discussing sustainable development with the German exchange student. We could not help joining in.

The classical skills of oration still play an essential role in Italian education. Later in the afternoon we were to monitor the semifinals of a debating competition between Liceo A. Manzoni and a school in Naples in the Aula Magna. Cheered by their fellow students the local debating team made it to the finals in Milan. The happy faces of the students and teachers!

Lunch at a restaurant nearby - they do not offer school lunches in Italy. Then back to school to follow the project Medea - the Greek tragedy- rehearsing their performance. Hypnotic!

Arianna invited us with Emma to dinner after the visit to Belvedere, king's residence for hunting purposes, which was later turned into manufacturing silk. Another town with industrial past. We had a nice family dinner. On top of this we even got a ride to the hotel.

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Monday April 11th, 2016

2016-05-12T21:14:26+03:00

The first day at A.Manzoni!
We made it to the gates of the school, butterflies in the stomach. Luckily a friendly passer-by gave us the detailed instructions to get in. Through the gates on the steps. Waiting for our Erasmus + co-ordinator, Mrs Emma Abbate.
In the lobby we anticipated the audience with the Director Adele Vairo, we received good news for our own co-ordinator Mrs Marjo Sevon: green light for the student exchange programme.

Heading for the Aula Magna for our presentation. Our audience and the atmosphere were positively keen so we had many questions from both the students and their teachers. We are satisfied with the enthusiasm they showed.

We are hungry but there is no canteen in the school, so Emma and Carmen - another local teacher -take us to lunch in a nearby restaurant. This place is nice and food is good.

A tour of sights: first a three-kilometer walk around the Royal Garden to the cascade of water glittering in the sunlight. Back by bus to the magnificent Royal Palace.

After all this glory we return to our quarters to do some homework (teachers DO have it) and enjoy a light dinner next to our hotel.

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Sunday April, 10th 2016

2016-04-13T19:29:40+03:00

It is still rainy. We were prepared to defy the elements and followed the original plan under the dutiful guidance of Emma who really makes an effort to entertain us. She has the required local knowledge, Emma is a native of Naples by the way.

This time we took the morning coach to Naples (2€) where we took the train to Herculaneum after a speedy walk to the railway station. We entered the archeological sight. Herculaneum is an amazing place for all those who want to experience the destruction of catastrophical powers of nature at work. In a fairly short time we understood the outcome of the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius with hundreds of victims.

On way back to Naples we did some physical exercise: we were waiting for the train on the wrong platform! Naples is really worth visiting. It is huge and has many magnificient buildings. The church buildings are real cradles of art. We had the chance to enjoy the difference in family traditions between Finland and Italy. We saw families with their children - regardless of their ages -strolling proudly on the promenade as late as 9 o'clock in the evening. In order to return to Caserta we resorted to the evening local train. Thanks to Emma, our lovely and competent guide we arrived safely well after 10 o'clock. Emma had the pleasure of meeting her father at the railway station to take her home, but we - poor visitors - walked all the way to our hotel. We were happy and our aching feet got the soothing care they needed.

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Saturday April, 9th 2016

2016-04-23T15:53:58+03:00

A day of travel:

Left early for Helsinki-Vantaa airport to catch the plane to Rome. Passed by Caracallan therms and Via Appia on our way to Termini railway station. Unfortunately the train was 45 minutes delayed. Emma, our coordinator and hostess was to meet us at Caserta railway station.

On our way to Caserta we saw steeply rolling hills of southern Italy . On arriving in Caserta the first thing that caught our eye was a massive building that ruled the whole sight, the Royal Palace of Caserta, a Unesco world heritage site.

Later we visited Casertavecchia, a medieval village on the top of a hill above modern Caserta. It was raining so we only got an idea of a panoramic view of Caserta, Napoli and Pompej. Here people enjoy sunny weather all the year round, so should it rain, they tend to stay in and enjoy cosy and comfy life at home. However, we found the places inspiring.

In the evening we had a home-made dinner cooked by Tiziana, one of the teachers hosting us. Italian food and good conversation, a perfect end for a travel day.

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