Learning Teaching Training Activity in Italy October 2022
Italy Training
I.C. ALIGHIERI FORMIA-VENTOTENE, Formia, Italy implemented the 4th Learning Teaching and Training (LTT) Activity for students and Teachers in Italy from 12 to 17 of February 2023. In the LTT they are taking part students and teachers from the following schools of Europe:
• Scoala Gimnaziala "George Calinescu", Iasi, Romania
• Lykeio Agios Ioannis, Limassol, Cyprus
• 4th General Lyceum of Chania, Greece
• Vasil Levski High School, Velingrad, Bulgaria
• Agrupamento de Escolas de Vilela, Porto, Portugal
Program of the Activity
Implementation of the Activity
This was the fourth face to face meeting of the partners. For every partner schools there were on average 4 students and 2 teachers. For the host school, there were 7 teachers and approx. 10 students.
Every partner school had to prepare, unlike before, a presentation about the educational system of their country. The goal was to see what is similar and what is different in the partner countries from this point of view.
Another presentation was required about the national heritage of each country and the effects of climate change on it, given the fact that the topic of this mobility was "A Historic Approach to Climate Change".
The programme of the activities was the following:
DAY 1: TUESDAY 11TH OCTOBER
- Welcoming Ceremony
- Getting acquainted with Italian school system, visit the school. Presentations about the partners' school systems.
- PPT presentation by each partner about "Climate Change affects our Cultural heritage: ways to preserve it" - students, divided in groups, were given tasks for the next days
- Visit to the old Town, the Roman Cisterna, the Roman Theatre
*The last part of the activities on the first day was an eye-opener for the participants as they could see how water reserves were gathered underground in a cistern in Roman times, how what used to be an open-air theatre has been transformed in homes for inhabitants and how the monuments in the Old Town are slowly falling apart because of lack of conservation and the effects of weather.
DAY 2: WEDNESDAY 12TH OCTOBER
- Short trip to Gaeta, Parco Regionale Riviera di Ulisse and Parco Regionale di Gianola
- Workshop with an expert on how climate change affects the sea and the vegetation by the sea and how it has changed from Roman times.
- Workshop with an expert on traditional old Italian songs – students and teachers were actively involved in recreating such songs
DAY 3: THURSDAY 13TH OCTOBER
- Visit to the ruined city of Pompei, one of Italy's most popular attractions for tourists, that lies at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, the volcano whose eruption in AD 79 engulfed and subsequently encased the city in six meters of ash and pumice-stone. Excavated over several centuries, what we see today gives the finest example anywhere of a Roman town and its way of life.
- Quick view of Naples
DAY 4: FRIDAY 14TH OCTOBER
- Visit to the Island of Ventotene, where there is another smaller school that is part of the host school from Formia. Also, this Island is known for the Manifest of Ventotene which was the starting point for the European Union.
- Farewell dinner – Certificates Ceremony
All the participating schools, including the host one, were during the school year, so the students were exempted from school, on condition that they get their lessons and homework from the other classmates. The teachers were replaced by colleagues during the mobility.
It was a mobility rich in diverse activities, as was described above.
- Given that the international group was always together fostered bonding between the students, who could interact with their peers from the partner countries, to talk about their educational systems, about their interests and preferences, to see what is similar and what is different. Student interaction was, as usual, encouraged on a large scale, despite the occasional difference in age between the participants. They improved their communication skills and their level of English, became more confident and less shy. They learnt how to be part of a large group and how each member's contribution is essential for the greater good.
- The ecological tasks, particularly the visit to the natural reservation, raised awareness among the participants about the importance of preserving nature and knowing how to avoid polluting it in order to reduce the harm done to the vegetation and the local animals' habitat.
- The cultural activities contributed to becoming more open-minded and tolerant of the others, to find similarities amongst themselves and to appreciate what is different.
- The educational visits gave the participants the opportunity to see wonderful unique places, specific to the area, tightly connected to the history of the host country.
- The students took part in many cultural activities strongly connected to this theme, which made them realise how easy it is for the power of nature to affect a country's buildings and monuments, as well as protected areas, and how important it is for humans to be actively involved in the conservation process and to take action to preserve what is typical and unique for their country and cultural identity.