Good and Bad Teachers

IYesterday, our blog featured a post entitled “Digital Skills: good and bad teachers on television.” It was our stupefied and disappointed response to long-standing RAI TV personality Enrico Vaime’s comments on the report filmed at IIS E. Fermi in Agrigento for Project Amongst Generations – United for Work implemented with Google and CNA Pensionati. In particular, the reference is to the February 9 Programme entitled Pensioner’s Life broadcast by TV2000.

 

CAs usual, we also launched our post on our Facebook profile. And the surprise came in this morning! We found a beautiful comment by Professor Stella Perrone, Ipsia A. Castigliano in Asti, that we are publishing in full. Thanks Prof!

 

Nostalgia and sadness had the better part of me as I watched the video of the programme broadcast on February 9, 2015 entitled "Grandparents Conquer the Internet" on TV 2000.

 

The clips of two generations working together brought me back to the beautiful experience I had during the last school year with my students and the CNA Asti pensioners. How I missed it! I wished I could relive those moments again. My eyes filled with tears as listened to the protagonists describe their experience. I was hypnotized and just wanted to relive that unique life and didactic experience. I miss those Saturday morning of “real school” when my students and I woke up knowing that we had an important and stimulating task to face.

 

Enrico Vaime’s comments seemed incomprehensible, miles away from my experience. They were meaningless, disparaging words on one of the most beautiful didactic experiments that a student could experience. And the experience was certainly fantastic for the grandparents, too. They will certainly remember it more than any old game of bocce.

 

Then, I heard Vaime pronounce these words: "School should be different. It should teach to live, teach education …” I just thought how thanks to the Fondazione Mondo Digitale’s “Amongst Generations - United for Work” Project my students  were able to …

 

… live intensely from October 2013 to March 2014,

… learn about tiring work,

… overcome issues, getting always better,

… respect commitments,

… how they learned to overcome their fear of not being good enough,

… how they learned to respect their senior friends with good education and sensitivity,

… they learned a lot … above all, how to be determined and not arrogant,

… they played an important role,

… they gathered life experiences and shared theirs,

… they earned ever-lasting gifts,

… and I was there and saw them grow exponentially, in a school that  I wish was always all of this!