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Now teachers are waiting for new maps to arrive to
replace the old ones. The new maps show a mostly unified
Europe, with 25 countries now in the European Union.
These maps will help Cagli’s children understand
what their country is part of, said Antonio Serafini,
director.
According to Serafini, many aspects of these students’
education have changed since Italy joined the European
Union in the early 1990s. The changes include learning
to use the euro instead of the lira, understanding
the geography of the European Union, and expanding
foreign language instruction.
Students say that they liked the lira better but
that they are getting used to the euro.
Now Cagli schools emphasize the importance of learning
different languages, Serafini said. Students begin
learning French as primary students, and just this
year the school has begun of offer English.
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“Learning English is of even greater importance
now because it is the language of international business,”
he said.
“In such a little town such as Cagli the negative
effects [of the European Union] are appearing more than
the positive,” said Serafini.
The negative effect of rising prices of goods has occurred
in Cagli, but the educational system here has not fully
been affected. There are no losers regarding Italy’s
educational system, according to Serafini. “We shall
be a confederation of countries,” said Serafini.
This confederation of countries will help Italy improve
its education. The advantages for Italian education
include stronger curriculum, more funding, better teaching
methods, advanced equipment, and the upgrading of facilities. |
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The advantages will help Italy to have an educational
system more like other European countries, which will
be good for Italy as a whole, Serafini said.
The schools need new maps and textbooks but lack
funds to buy them, he said. Pamphlets about the European
Union are inserted into the old books, which have
been around this school since 1994, until new books
can be purchased.
The teachers at F. Michelini Tocci School created
these pamphlets, but they know that students need
more information, said Serafini. The new books scheduled
to arrive next year cover the EU in greater detail.
“Changes are important. There will be difficulties
at first because you do not trust the differences,
but it gets better,” said Serafini.
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Antonio Mansi, an 18-year-old student in Cagli said
he noticed a few changes in his upper level classes.
“Many of our projects changed and new classes
were offered after Italy joined the EU. One of these
classes was based on learning to use a computer. I did
not take it though, because I already knew how to use
a computer,” said Mansi.
“Cultural exchanges grew also, I went to Denmark
and the Czech Republic. It was a good experience, because
their schools are different, more American,” said
Mansi
Since Italy joined the European Union, there have also
been administrative changes in Italian school systems. |
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“The big news for Italian schools is the creation of a file, which we
were forced to adopt after Italy joined the EU. This
file contains the best work of the children and is kept
in order to show them to the parents and to keep as
record of their progress. This is a great cooperation
between the school and the parents of our kids,”
said Serafini.
Serafini is more interested in talking about the European
Union and its effects on education in Cagli than his
students are.
The students are interested in talking about their
global interest: American pop culture. During the
interview
they chanted lyrics by rap superstar Eminem. One student
stood up smiling and held out his shirt, featuring
a
giant picture of Eminem on it.
Others yelled “NBA” and
their favorite teams.
“Lakers,” screamed one student as loud
as he could. |
Additional Photos and Video... |
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