De Agostini Scuola, a training body accredited by the Ministry of Education and one of the main operators of school publishing in Italy, has created “La scuola è”, the first online Festival, dedicated to teachers of lower and upper secondary schools, to put in the field innovative teaching approaches able to make students an active part of the training process, and citizens aware of tomorrow.
From 8 March to 22 April, a rich schedule of training activities, usable in synchronous and asynchronous mode, characterized by moments of reflection and discussion with experts in didactics, developmental psychology, teachers, journalists and representatives of institutions. Over 50 events in 45 days, to rethink the moment the school is experiencing. The pandemic, in the last year and still today, has upset the daily life of the whole school world. This experience can be an opportunity to rethink a new way of doing school, to share ideas, suggestions, disciplinary paths and materials that can then be spent in daily teaching.
Special guests will be the protagonists of five round tables, moderated by Federico Taddia, journalist attentive to the issues of Generation Z and the world of school, where he will take stock of the role and social value of the school, for the growth and development of the “country system”.
The opening event, The school is… The future in the present, scheduled for 8 March at 5.00 pm, includes one lectio magistralis by Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education and Skills at theOECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), on the theme of educating students in 21st century skills, to prepare them for their future. A focus on non-cognitive skills in the Italian school will then follow by Damiano Previtali, Director of the Ministry of Education for the Evaluation of the education and training system, and on the role of the school manager in the activation of virtuous and effective processes in the school by Alessandra Rucci, school manager.
On March 19 at 5.00 pm, on the occasion of the International Day of Happiness (March 20), School is … A wonderful profession, it will be a time to celebrate the role of teachers, true architects of change, and the importance of feeling good at school . They will intervene Maurizio Molinari, editor-in-chief of the newspaper La Repubblica, Daniela Lucangeli, full professor in educational and developmental psychology at the University of Padua, Lucia Suriano, secondary school literature teacher and Marina Imperato, director of the Ministry of Education.
Integrated digital teaching will be the topic discussed in the round table on 24 March, at 5.00 pm, School is … New teaching approaches, in which Mario Castoldi, professor of general teaching at the University of Turin and head of the scientific committee of DeA Formazione, together with Daniele Novara, academic pedagogist and author, Alessandra Rucci and Loredana Leoni, school managers, will take stock of the experiences of the last year, to capitalize on what we have learned and understand what can be improved.
The school is … for us students, on March 30th at 5.00 pm, it will give a voice to the students and celebrate the school as a place for socialization and growth, thanks to the presentation of a research carried out in Italy by IPSOS e Save the Children on the perception that secondary school students had of the experience lived in the last year. Enrico Galiano, writer and one of the best known “social” teachers and Alberto Pellai, psychotherapist and author, will compete to provide useful tools to support teachers and children.
The health emergency and the current scenarios put the spotlight on the school as a training place for the citizens of the future. For this reason, the last online meeting is entitled School is… responsible. On April 19th, at 5.00 pm, it will be an opportunity to discuss with ASviS experts (Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development), Luca Solesin, Program Manager Education and Change Manager at the international organization for social entrepreneurship Ashoka, the author Andrea Franzoso and the climatologist and meteorologist Serena Giacomin on future scenarios and how to school it can and must implement virtuous processes that make students active and aware of change.
There will also be meetings with students, moderated by Luca Perri and other popularizers, who see the involvement of young researchers who have distinguished themselves internationally, such as Alessio Figalli, mathematician and academic Fields medalist 2018 and Anna Grassellino, scientist, director of the National Quantum Information Science Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center at Fermilab Chicago, on current issues such as orientation to STEM subjects for women, the International Day of Mathematics (March 14), Dantedì (March 25), the Night of Geography (April 9), correct lifestyles and sport, and World Earth Day (April 22).
The schedule also offers disciplinary courses, certified on the platform of the Ministry of Education S.O.F.I.A. (Operating System for Teacher Training and Refresher Initiatives), dedicated to secondary school teachers of I and II degree, to take stock of the teaching and learning of the different disciplines with didactic experts, qualified trainers and authors of De Agostini Scuola such as Claudio Giunta and Leonardo Sasso.
The partners who joined the first De Agostini Scuola online training festival are: Ashoka, ASviS, C2Group, DeA Planeta Libri, IIT-Istituto Italiano Tecnologia, Doctors Without Borders, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and San Raffaele Hospital, Save the Children and Sports School of Sport and Health.
The program and all the events of the “La scuola è” Festival are available on festival.deascuola.it