Italian School

I'll admit, I didn't really fall in love with school here. (Not that I was in love with RSS). Daily, I didn't look forward to going to school. It got better toward the end, as I got better at Italian and closer to my friends, but January and February were certainly more on the depressing side, between the cold and the rain, no snow or skiing, and my lack of confidence and skills in Italian. 
I was placed in a great group of kids, aged 17 to 18. They were all very friendly, helpful and patient, allowing me time to think while speaking, and always explaining things to me. 
But classes themselves were either too easy, such as math, physics, or English, taught something I'd already learned, such as history, or was far beyond my ability, such as in Italian and philosophy. I also felt that the teaching style was such that it targeted all my faults and weaknesses. The blackboard was small and rarely used, notes were to be taken word-for-word as the teacher spoke (one teacher even read out punctuation), actual "note" taking nearly unheard of. Textbooks were used to a far greater extent, one teacher's lessons were essentially her reading the book out loud, but most others included a lot of reading and highlighting. Books are purchased here, which I didn't do because they would've cost too much, and I wouldn't have understood them. Marks are based on a few tests and interrogations. 
I would try really hard to take notes during lessons, but would get really lost, really quickly. I originally looked forward to interrogations, picturing myself debating the teacher in philosophy or religion, but ended up not doing any as I realised that the interrogation had little to do with debate, but a lot to do with memorisation. In fact, I found that many tests had to do with memorisation. In math and physics, we had to memorise formula and definitions - something I'd never had to do in Canada - where interrogations for other subjects involved the memorisation of one's notes or text book, to be spewed out, word for word. 
For the first several months of exchange, I would defend the Canadian system, saying that it was no easier than the Italian one. But as time wore on, I realised that I found the Canadian one easier based on level of understanding, teaching technique, and the capability to get a higher mark. 
In Canada, I felt that teachers would go out of their way to help students - staying in lunch hours and after school to give additional instruction - but here, I never saw that. It was also common in Canada for teachers to write full or partial notes on the board - a great help to me, a visual learner (here, it would be easier for acoustic learners - for me, trying to understand Italian was another part of the challenge).  As I mentioned earlier, marks are based on a handful of written tests and interrogations per year. I was used to doing assignments, labs, essays and projects at home that would all contribute to my grade, as well as in-class work, quizzes, and tests. Here, each test or interrogation is marked on a ten-point scale. But it isn't a "free" ten point scale. Teachers reluctantly give below a 5 1/2, or above an 8 1/2, so, from a North American perspective, marks are lumped in the middle, around a 7. A 7 is a good mark - like a B - and 8 a B+/A-, 8 and up an A. Percents do not match numbers exactly - an 88% would be an 8, for example. 
I don't necessarily see a problem with the ten-point scale (though I'll admit I didn't understand it in the beginning), though it doesn't compare well to the North American system. Another exchange student here will be using her 
grades here for credit in the US, and expressed concern in having to explain that an 8 should be considered an A. 
Schools here are separated based on subjects, then classes within each school represent further focus. I was placed in the experimental line at a classics school, so I took math, physics, art history, Greek and Latin (actually, I didn't follow them, my classmates did), history, philosophy, Italian, English, law, religion and physical education. Other lines had French, Spanish, economics, or weighed the subjects differently. 
Other types of schools include scientific, linguistic and artistic, as well as the technical schools that teach accounting, cooking, business, and trades. Classic and scientific schools are, for the most part, still considered the peak of education here. For a long time, only if you went to a classics school could you study whatever you wanted in university, as scientific schools limited you to only sciences in university. 
Something I rather like here is the importance of class representatives. Each class has two, and they are the links between teachers and administrators, and the students. They keep track of tests and who needs to be interrogated, discuss problems and organise meetings, decide whiter or not to protest, among other tasks. 
A final note on Italian school: Italian lessons. 
Italian class had very few similarities to English class in BC. Perhaps this is because English lessons might be described as a communications course as well - the study of literature and writing making up just a part of the curriculum. In Italian class, we had three topics: literature, novel study (The Brothers Karamazov), and the Divine Comedy. In literature we studied short stories, poetry, and authors. The Brothers Karamozov we're about halfway through. In fourth year, we studied "Purgatory", of Dante's work (in third year, "Inferno" is studied, and "Paradise" is in fifth year). Marks are based on interrogations, essays and the occasional long answer test. 
Compare this to my Canadian English class where I studied similar topics - novels, short stories, poetry, essays - but had to present my knowledge differently. Marks were based on research projects, oral and visual presentations, essays, analysis, short and long answer tests, and participation in class. 
Perhaps we're trying to stuff too much into one class in Canada, but I do feel like I learned a lot of very practical skills - planning and writing essays, research and presentation skills, as examples. (Though if my English teacher were to ever read this blog, she would probably cringe and disassociate - grammar and elegant writing are not my strengths.) In Italian class, much of the material was beyond my grasp, but I have enjoyed studying Dante. 

And that has been my experience in Italian school.