Photocopier

The local elementary school does not have a photocopier. If the teacher wants to communicate something to the parents, she writes it on the board and the kids copy it down in a little notebook to show their parents at home later. Handouts, tests and things are photocopied by the parents. Each week it’s the turn of a different parent and he or she is responsible for photocopying all of the materials needed for the entire class. I know this because sometimes I go to the local Tabacchi to make photocopies and I get stuck behind a parent making a gazillion photocopies for his child’s class.

When I’ve asked, “Why doesn’t every parent in the school put in a few Euros and buy a photocopier for the school? It’d probably be cheaper than having to pay to make photocopies all the time…,” I’ve been told different things. Some people say they already pay enough in taxes to the state and out of principle, they won’t give another centesimo for something for the schools. “We already have to buy the toilet paper for the school!” said one mother. Other people wonder who would maintain the photocopier or if someone would break in and steal it.

“OK,” I say. “Then why not hold a bake sale? A car wash? A carnival where kids pay to get their faces painted? All proceeds will go toward the purchase of a new photocopier and its maintenance. Or why not ask a local business to sponsor the photocopier and its maintenance?”

“Sei troppo americana!” I’m told as people shake their heads. “Sounds like something out of an American film!”

I’m not sure why coming up with solutions to a problem makes me “sooo American,” but these are real things we do to fund things for our schools. Hollywood has nothing to do with it. I know what the schools are like here. Over the last few years, I’ve taught in various middle schools and high schools preparing kids for the First Certificate exam. Typically, the students’ regular English teacher is Italian (what with unemployment being what it is here, the preference is to hire Italians to teach English over native speakers) but I’m brought in as a supplement a few hours a week just so the kids can hear a “real” accent and be better prepared for the test. I love my students and it’s been a good experience, but I have issues with the schools and now that I am soon to become mother, I’m thinking a lot about them.

Intellectually, I think they are good and rigorous. But they seem to be 50 years behind in terms of teaching methods, focusing on recitation, memorization and oral tests. It’s like the schools are trying to prepare miniature Socrates or Aristotles, not people who will go out and make an impact on the modern work world. If they don’t have photocopiers (let me mention here that the schools I worked in DID have photocopiers, though typically one or two for the entire school), you can imagine the computer situation. Some have them, some don’t but not a lot of emphasis is put on computers. I’ve worked in schools where the money situation was so tight that we didn’t have actual erasers for the blackboards. We used strips of felt rolled up into makeshift erasers. In another school, the afternoon sun would come beating in, blinding the students but we had no curtains or blinds. Kids would use those free newspapers and stick them lightly to the windows with gum (you got it - no Scotch tape). Typically there are no decorations or adornments of any kind on the walls, save for perhaps a cross. All in all, a pretty sad, pretty spartan environment in which to learn.

Last June on the last day of class before my high school students would go take their First Certificate, we had a question-and-answer session about the test. The first question asked was “Will we be able to cheat on the test?” I got pissed off but I kept my cool because I know that cheating is somewhat of the “norm” here and my student’s question was innocent and – to his mind - practical. I’ve seen tests administered here and sometimes the teacher leaves the room for a coffee break, or even if the teacher doesn’t leave the room, there’s quite a bit of chatter and rustling as the students pull out the mini strips of crib notes they’ve prepared or whisper something to their neighbor. The students often complain that they are “forced” to cheat because such a ridiculously exhaustive amount of material is covered in some subjects that if they don’t, there’d be no way to pass the tests.

“No, you can’t cheat,” I explained. “The test is administered by the British Council and they are very strict about cheating. If they catch you cheating, they will rip up your exam paper without hesitation. When you are in that classroom, you may as well be in Cambridge, England – no longer in Italy.”

They got it.

That last day of class I noticed a newspaper article another teacher had taped to the wall. It was about mediocrity in Italian society and how Italian government and business was full of mediocre people because of things ranging from nepotism to the best and brightest either fleeing Italy or not being able to rise to the top for the lack of meritocracy. I wondered how many people had actually stopped to read it.

Why don’t the parents ban together and go talk to the school about the amount of material covered or about this cheating problem? I don’t know but I do know that there’s a huge cheating scandal going on right now involving answers being sold for admissions tests to various Italian universities, and some of the key players are parents. Am I saying all Italians cheat in school? Of course not. Am I saying all Italian parents are corrupt or encourage their kids to cheat? Of course not. But there’s a level of apathy that starts with just accepting that in 2007 your local elementary school has no photocopier. It’s an acceptance of mediocrity and “this is just the way it is” that, quite frankly, really sucks.