ITT “G. Malafarina”
The ITT “G. Malafarina” is a technical school for surveyors, computer programmers and electricians in Soverato, in the South of Italy. Soverato is a small town of about 10,000 people; in the summer it trebles its population with the coming back home of families living abroad or in the North of Italy because of work commitments, and it is also a Summer tourist resort. The 500 students, aged 14-19, come from the surrounding villages, from a range of 50 km, they belong to middle and lower social classes, whose standard of living is based on agriculture, handicraft, fishing and some tourist activities. The school is also attended by sons of non-Eu citizens and some students with special needs(H). The main problem of the rural area where the school operates is the high rate of unemployment. The main goals of our school are: to promote the acquiring of the fundamental principles of the Italian Constitution, to prepare the students for an active role in a democratic society, to promote a European awareness of the different cultural values to achieve a greater mutual understanding. These objectives will contribute, through the use of the new technologies, to a new dimension in order to teach the new values and integrate themselves in the new European dimension of the modern citizen. This new approach stimulates the creativity of the students and of their teachers, reducing the percentages of scholastic failure or of social exclusion and favouring equal sex opportunities in order to consolidate acquired experiences and share them in the future. The intent of ITT Malafarina is to lead students and teachers to follow the activities connected with the objectives, to bring into forth the common values of the European citizen, to share ideas, to apply curriculum concepts and methods. It represents even a step towards a general enriching of the implied cultural and social values. Our teaching methods adhere to an innovative European Education Syllabus according to which informatics, the environmental concern, the learning of foreign languages are incentivated in order to promote international job integration. In our school students are provided with competences, effective trainings, through individualized support programmes for students aged 14 – 19, curriculum subject competitions, both national and international certificated foreign languages and technical stages, cultural exchanges by joining Comenius Bilateral and Multilateral School Partnerships, combining their inquiring minds with the respect for their national identity. As a matter of fact the school slogan is “tradition and future”.