What teacher training route did you choose and why?
I went "traditional", a University course with some school placements. Having finished my studies some decades ago and, more important, having studied abroad, I need time to familiarise myself with the school system, including the curriculum, structure, habits, laws and traditions.
Mathematics is the same everywhere, but not it’s vocabulary! For instance, sometimes even notations are different and not only because of the language. "Lost in translation" assumes a particular meaning, when referring to maths!
Difference in teachers’ attitudes towards pupils is another interesting change I noticed when visiting my children's school. When I was a student, the attention was constantly on mistakes; the evaluation of an assessment was done by subtracting the number of errors from 10, the grade of "perfection", and, after 4 mistakes, the result was to fail. Here, the attention is on what pupils do well, this is a big difference of perspective, another quality to learn!
All these reasons made me decide to come back to University as a student before starting my experience as a trainee teacher in a school. I am incredibly happy and feel lucky; the course is super interesting, teachers are amazing and my fellow students, as a whole, constitute a cohesive community of learners.
I couldn’t have made a better choice!
By Floriana Pacchiarini