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APPROACHES TO TEACHING (ATTs)

I believe that, although all important, the six ATTs should follow this order:

1. Involving the development of the student’s natural curiosity

2. Focused on conceptual understanding

3. Designed to remove the barriers to learning

4. Developed in local and global contexts

5. Focused on effective teamwork and collaboration

6. Informed by assessment

To me, A and B are the most relevant, especially at the DP level.

1. Involving the development of the student’s natural curiosity

In my experience, to stimulate the students’ intellectual curiosity is a way to enhance their conceptual understanding and have them retain content. By its very nature, intellectual curiosity lowers down the students’ natural resistance to schooling and makes learning meaningful. (And in this respect,  ATT A is strictly connected with ATT C). This is why at the core of my way of teaching is an approach which I call “making things strange”: when I introduce a topic or a text, I being by presenting it under an angle that is different than the usual (ex. beginning a brainstorming session on a given concept starting from its etymology: often etymologies reveal a record of meanings that over time have been lost. Retracing that story can be engaging and at times even engrossing for students).

1. Focused on conceptual understanding

Conceptual understanding is crucial to any educational activity that aims at teaching a method rather than just content. Traditional teaching modes based on conveying information and content often fails in developing one key learning skill, namely the ability of making connections. On the contrary, when teaching centers on conceptual understanding, the students are invited to apply a concept to fields or areas for which they do not need any previous knowledge. This may enhance dramatically their intrepretive sklls.

APPROACHES TO LEARNING (ATLs)

As for the five ATLs, I believe they should follow the following order:

1. Thinking skills

2. Self-management skills

3. Research skills

4. Communication skills

5. Social skills

1. Thinking skills

Even more than the ATTs, the five ATLs are almost impossible to list in order of importance, for they should ideally be all there. Still, I believe that thinking skills in some way comprise all the others. Thinking is not only at the core of the intellectual endeavor, but also of the social one.  As I like to say to my students, that famous sneakers ad (“Just do it!”) is excellent for selling sport shoes, but should not be apply in our daily lives. Thinking must come before action, and paves the way to resarch, communication, personal conduct, and self-management.

B. Self-management skills

In today’s society, we are surrounded by weapons of mass distraction. Social media take up a lot of time from the students’ life. So does the multiplication of social occasions (including “good” learnng opportunites like  those offered by sports and service). I see self-management as a way to improve focus and effectiveness. Also, self-management has an impact on one’s research skills, for it makes students more autonomous, urging them to find their own tools to ansnwer questions and complete tasks.

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This note-taking refers to audio AAt the beginning, the global issue chosen "female promiscuity", as such is not a global issue. It is not even an issue, but just a topic. Only later, we understand that  a comparison is made between way in which two texts treat "female promiscuity" as well as "male promiscuity". In my opinion, a weak global issue statement affects rather negatively the whole IA. Also, not providing even a working/heuristic definition of promiscuity does not help the listener what is the point that the candidate is trying to make. I find the whole discussion of the issue completely deprived of depth: basically it is a description of two opposite way to portray a female character in two different texts, with no reference to all those meaning-producing factors such as historical background, media employed, and meaningfulness of the episode chosen within the big picture. The final impression is of shallowness, reinforced by the last question of the examiner, who is asking for some substantial conclusion.There is a major interpretive fault: the man beheaded in Salome is not Christ, but John the Baptist. This reveals the candidate's poor knowledge of the literary text, as the episode of Salome is one of the most famous in literature and art history and I find impossible that in the text chosen John the Baptist is not mentioned. Discussing a global issue should be a way for the candidates to make connections and, in so doing, demonstrate how relevant and transnational is the topic chosen. There is none of this in this oral presentation: the general sensation is that of a judgmental rant of a schoolgirl.

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This note-taking refers to audio AAt the beginning, the global issue chosen "female promiscuity", as such is not a global issue. It is not even an issue, but just a topic. Only later, we understand that  a comparison is made between way in which two texts treat "female promiscuity" as well as "male promiscuity". In my opinion, a weak global issue statement affects rather negatively the whole IA. Also, not providing even a working/heuristic definition of promiscuity does not help the listener what is the point that the candidate is trying to make. I find the whole discussion of the issue completely deprived of depth: basically it is a description of two opposite way to portray a female character in two different texts, with no reference to all those meaning-producing factors such as historical background, media employed, and meaningfulness of the episode chosen within the big picture. The final impression is of shallowness, reinforced by the last question of the examiner, who is asking for some substantial conclusion.There is a major interpretive fault: the man beheaded in Salome is not Christ, but John the Baptist. This reveals the candidate's poor knowledge of the literary text, as the episode of Salome is one of the most famous in literature and art history and I find impossible that in the text chosen John the Baptist is not mentioned. Discussing a global issue should be a way for the candidates to make connections and, in so doing, demonstrate how relevant and transnational is the topic chosen. There is none of this in this oral presentation: the general sensation is that of a judgmental rant of a schoolgirl.

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FIND A GLOBAL ISSUE AND PREPARE FOR THE INDIVIDUAL ORAL IN 10 MOVES!How is the individual oral organized?It lasts 15 minutes (10 minutes: student individual oral; 5 minutes: teacher questions) and weights for 30% for SL, 20% for HL. Assessed by the teacher, moderated by the IB. 1. How do I pick a GI?The Individual Oral Assessment focuses on a Global Issue (GI). In order to pck one, you can look at a variety of sources. A good starting point is l’Albero della cittadinanza globale (the Tree of Global Citizenship: https://www.aics.gov.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Strategia-Educazione-alla-Cittadinaza-Globale.pdf for the full document), which offers a number of topics or fields (such as “creativity”, “transformation of conflicts”, “openness”) within which you can pick the GI of your preference. In addition, you may also take a look at the IB Language and Literature Guide, which has a section on global issues (on p.54). If the topics appears too wide to you, you can just pick one and do a brainstorming session, until you find a more specific issue that suits your interest and that allows you to create links with other topics.  Three general criteria should guide your choice:  to be global, an issue must be transnational, significant on a large scale, and must have a local impact on people’s everyday life. Over the course of the year you have been keeping your Learner Portfolio (LP): review the materials and notes you have collected: that may prompt you with ideas!2. Pick compelling!Pick a GI in which you are really interested. Remember that you are going to be assessed for an oral performance, and being genuinely interested in a topic that you have freely chosen cam dramatically increase the quality of your delivery and this will come out easily. 3. Find a literary text that illustrates your GITry to find a literary text that is centered, expounds, or reflect the GI of your choice. This choice must be done very carefully, because you cannot pick, say, a whole novel but a passage or a poem that does not exceed 40 lines. So it must be a text that is particularly rich with meaning and, above all, conducive to the point you want to make. Hint: go back with your memory to a passage from a book or a poem that struck you for some reason (whether it was shocking, beautiful, engrossing, infuriating….). Can it reflect or illustrate the GI you have picked for your oral assessment? Again, looking at your LP or even at your previous course may help!4. Find a non-literary textRepeat the operation at n.3, but this time you have to choose a non-literary text (from cartoons to magazine articles, from videoclips to an encyclopedia entry, see the IB Language and Literature Guide, p. 21)5. Write down an outlineThis is absolutely paramount. The key here is organization! In broad terms, an outline consists of: a) an Introduction; b) a Middle Part c) Conclusions. The Introduction must be carefully crafted, because it contains the first information that your examiner is going to hear from you. So state clearly the GI you picked, the point you want to make, the reason why you chose the two texts, and a very short introduction to both texts (remember the importance of context: author, literary or non-literary genre, date of publication). From a rhetorical (read: persuasive) standpoint, the Middle Part tends to be the weakest: avoid this by trying to be as convincing as possible (even bold if the occasion allows). Formulate a conclusion: it should be short but clear. Hint: disseminate a few hooks while you are speaking. What’s a hook? It’s a phrase, a quotation, a reference which you limit yourself to mention but being ready to expand on it. This device has two functions: to entice the curiosity of your teacher and to bring him/her to ask you a question related to the “hook” in the last 5 minutes, which is time allocated to the teacher questions. In this way, you may avert the “surprise effect”.6. Do reharsals!Do reharsals with yourself, with your peers, and with your teacher, as many times as possible. This will boost your confidence, allow in depth observations, receive feedback. 7. Take notes and reflectAt the end of each reharsal, ask yourself the following two questions: a) what worked? b) what didn’t? Take notes and use them for the future, maintaining your strengths, and emending your weaknesses (reflecting after delivering your mock individual oral will be of great help: keep the notes on your LP).8. Do not learn your individual oral by heartThis is the most classic mistake: unless you are a consummated actor, your voice will betray the fake confidence you gain from a text learned by heart. You must avoid this at all costs. You have to become “intimate” with the topic of your choice, to the extent that your arguments will naturally flow. This is one of the most valued skills when it comes to oral performance.9. Keep track of timeCarefully keep track of time.  10 minutes can pass really fast if you are well prepared or can be an eternity otherwise. In both cases, you need to do your best to fit your oral within that time: remember that during the first 10 minutes, your teacher cannot interrupt you. This gives you a lot of freedom, but you need to make the best of it. Reharsals, again, is the keyword.10. Prepare well in advanceYou are supposed to pick your GI and texts by the end of the firt quarter of the year. But in general, the earlier the better: this will also help you to sit a mock individual oral a fair amount of times.

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FIND A GLOBAL ISSUE AND PREPARE FOR THE INDIVIDUAL ORAL IN 10 MOVES!How is the individual oral organized?It lasts 15 minutes (10 minutes: student individual oral; 5 minutes: teacher questions) and weights for 30% for SL, 20% for HL. Assessed by the teacher, moderated by the IB. 1. How do I pick a GI?The Individual Oral Assessment focuses on a Global Issue (GI). In order to pck one, you can look at a variety of sources. A good starting point is l’Albero della cittadinanza globale (the Tree of Global Citizenship: https://www.aics.gov.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Strategia-Educazione-alla-Cittadinaza-Globale.pdf for the full document), which offers a number of topics or fields (such as “creativity”, “transformation of conflicts”, “openness”) within which you can pick the GI of your preference. In addition, you may also take a look at the IB Language and Literature Guide, which has a section on global issues (on p.54). If the topics appears too wide to you, you can just pick one and do a brainstorming session, until you find a more specific issue that suits your interest and that allows you to create links with other topics.  Three general criteria should guide your choice:  to be global, an issue must be transnational, significant on a large scale, and must have a local impact on people’s everyday life. Over the course of the year you have been keeping your Learner Portfolio (LP): review the materials and notes you have collected: that may prompt you with ideas!2. Pick compelling!Pick a GI in which you are really interested. Remember that you are going to be assessed for an oral performance, and being genuinely interested in a topic that you have freely chosen cam dramatically increase the quality of your delivery and this will come out easily. 3. Find a literary text that illustrates your GITry to find a literary text that is centered, expounds, or reflect the GI of your choice. This choice must be done very carefully, because you cannot pick, say, a whole novel but a passage or a poem that does not exceed 40 lines. So it must be a text that is particularly rich with meaning and, above all, conducive to the point you want to make. Hint: go back with your memory to a passage from a book or a poem that struck you for some reason (whether it was shocking, beautiful, engrossing, infuriating….). Can it reflect or illustrate the GI you have picked for your oral assessment? Again, looking at your LP or even at your previous course may help!4. Find a non-literary textRepeat the operation at n.3, but this time you have to choose a non-literary text (from cartoons to magazine articles, from videoclips to an encyclopedia entry, see the IB Language and Literature Guide, p. 21)5. Write down an outlineThis is absolutely paramount. The key here is organization! In broad terms, an outline consists of: a) an Introduction; b) a Middle Part c) Conclusions. The Introduction must be carefully crafted, because it contains the first information that your examiner is going to hear from you. So state clearly the GI you picked, the point you want to make, the reason why you chose the two texts, and a very short introduction to both texts (remember the importance of context: author, literary or non-literary genre, date of publication). From a rhetorical (read: persuasive) standpoint, the Middle Part tends to be the weakest: avoid this by trying to be as convincing as possible (even bold if the occasion allows). Formulate a conclusion: it should be short but clear. Hint: disseminate a few hooks while you are speaking. What’s a hook? It’s a phrase, a quotation, a reference which you limit yourself to mention but being ready to expand on it. This device has two functions: to entice the curiosity of your teacher and to bring him/her to ask you a question related to the “hook” in the last 5 minutes, which is time allocated to the teacher questions. In this way, you may avert the “surprise effect”.6. Do reharsals!Do reharsals with yourself, with your peers, and with your teacher, as many times as possible. This will boost your confidence, allow in depth observations, receive feedback. 7. Take notes and reflectAt the end of each reharsal, ask yourself the following two questions: a) what worked? b) what didn’t? Take notes and use them for the future, maintaining your strengths, and emending your weaknesses (reflecting after delivering your mock individual oral will be of great help: keep the notes on your LP).8. Do not learn your individual oral by heartThis is the most classic mistake: unless you are a consummated actor, your voice will betray the fake confidence you gain from a text learned by heart. You must avoid this at all costs. You have to become “intimate” with the topic of your choice, to the extent that your arguments will naturally flow. This is one of the most valued skills when it comes to oral performance.9. Keep track of timeCarefully keep track of time.  10 minutes can pass really fast if you are well prepared or can be an eternity otherwise. In both cases, you need to do your best to fit your oral within that time: remember that during the first 10 minutes, your teacher cannot interrupt you. This gives you a lot of freedom, but you need to make the best of it. Reharsals, again, is the keyword.10. Prepare well in advanceYou are supposed to pick your GI and texts by the end of the firt quarter of the year. But in general, the earlier the better: this will also help you to sit a mock individual oral a fair amount of times.

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While I tend to agree with most of the examiner’s comments, especially concerning some lack of depth and some naiveté’s on the candidate’s part, I would have probably also emphasized some good aspects of the oral exam, which demonstrate that the candidate has developed a few important oral presentation skills. For example, the introductory part is clear and nicely stuctured, so those who are listening have an immediately clear idea of the candidate’s thesis. Also, she answers quite promptly, although not always satisfactorily, to the questions she’s asked. Finally, she highlights some relevant aspects in comparing the two texts: the attention to body language in the clip; the (although alleged) contrast between the video and the lyrics; the attempt at analyzing the so-called “male gaze”. On the other hand, I have found disappointing the section of the oral devoted to the poem: there is an absolutely complete lack of even miminal historical background, nor we know anything about its author or the collection from which it is taken.So, in terms of marking, I agree with the examiner completely, but I just wanted to emphasize also other aspects of the IA.

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While I tend to agree with most of the examiner’s comments, especially concerning some lack of depth and some naiveté’s on the candidate’s part, I would have probably also emphasized some good aspects of the oral exam, which demonstrate that the candidate has developed a few important oral presentation skills. For example, the introductory part is clear and nicely stuctured, so those who are listening have an immediately clear idea of the candidate’s thesis. Also, she answers quite promptly, although not always satisfactorily, to the questions she’s asked. Finally, she highlights some relevant aspects in comparing the two texts: the attention to body language in the clip; the (although alleged) contrast between the video and the lyrics; the attempt at analyzing the so-called “male gaze”. On the other hand, I have found disappointing the section of the oral devoted to the poem: there is an absolutely complete lack of even miminal historical background, nor we know anything about its author or the collection from which it is taken.So, in terms of marking, I agree with the examiner completely, but I just wanted to emphasize also other aspects of the IA.

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ITALIAN TERRORISM.  What is Italian terrorism?How did it affect Italian culture?How is it represented on the media?A Divided Nation: Everyday Lives Among Fascists and CommunistsA. Pennacchi, Mio fratello è figlio unico (excerpts from a memoir)P. Ginsborg, “Politiche di sinistra”, in Storia d’Italia dal dopoguerra ad oggiFabrizio De André, “Canzone del maggio” (song)Francesco Rosi, Cadaveri eccellenti https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eONvq0kAbo (movie)Piazza Fontana and the “Strategy of Tension”S. Lucamante, “Introduzione”, in L’Italia e la borghesiaM. T. Giordana, Romanzo di una strage (film)Introductory activity to the film:http://italiancinema-mumbai.tumblr.com/post/58502045763/introduction-to-romanzo-di-una-strageBeing an Intellectual in the age of Terrorism: Pier Paolo Pasolini and his DeathP. Ginsborg, “La crisi, il compromessoe gli ‘Anni di piombo’”, in Storia d’Italia dal dopoguerra ad oggiE. Ferrante, The Story of the Lost Child (Storia della bambina perduta) (non-fiction) A. Ferrara, Pasolini (film) F. De Gregori, A Pa’ (song)UsticaMultimedia database on the Ustica disaster https://cultura.biografieonline.it/strage-di-ustica/Blu Notte: Il disastro di Ustica https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV-AijvO2s4 (documentary)F. De Gregori,“Disastro aereo sul canale di Sicilia” (song)The Moro Kidnap and the “Night” of the Italian RepublicMultimedia portal on the figure of Italian politician Aldo Moro, http://www.scudit.net/mdmoro.htmG. Ferrara, L’affare Moro (film)G.  Gaber,  Io se fossi Dio (song)

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ITALIAN TERRORISM.  What is Italian terrorism?How did it affect Italian culture?How is it represented on the media?A Divided Nation: Everyday Lives Among Fascists and CommunistsA. Pennacchi, Mio fratello è figlio unico (excerpts from a memoir)P. Ginsborg, “Politiche di sinistra”, in Storia d’Italia dal dopoguerra ad oggiFabrizio De André, “Canzone del maggio” (song)Francesco Rosi, Cadaveri eccellenti https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eONvq0kAbo (movie)Piazza Fontana and the “Strategy of Tension”S. Lucamante, “Introduzione”, in L’Italia e la borghesiaM. T. Giordana, Romanzo di una strage (film)Introductory activity to the film:http://italiancinema-mumbai.tumblr.com/post/58502045763/introduction-to-romanzo-di-una-strageBeing an Intellectual in the age of Terrorism: Pier Paolo Pasolini and his DeathP. Ginsborg, “La crisi, il compromessoe gli ‘Anni di piombo’”, in Storia d’Italia dal dopoguerra ad oggiE. Ferrante, The Story of the Lost Child (Storia della bambina perduta) (non-fiction) A. Ferrara, Pasolini (film) F. De Gregori, A Pa’ (song)UsticaMultimedia database on the Ustica disaster https://cultura.biografieonline.it/strage-di-ustica/Blu Notte: Il disastro di Ustica https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV-AijvO2s4 (documentary)F. De Gregori,“Disastro aereo sul canale di Sicilia” (song)The Moro Kidnap and the “Night” of the Italian RepublicMultimedia portal on the figure of Italian politician Aldo Moro, http://www.scudit.net/mdmoro.htmG. Ferrara, L’affare Moro (film)G.  Gaber,  Io se fossi Dio (song)

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What are the three things you want to make sure you do when you design your own course?The quality of the texts chosen: over the last 40 years literature has been losing ground in favor of the culture of image. The obsession with speed, typical of capitalist societies, coupled with the expediteness granted by new technologies, have given literature the coup de grace. To counteract, albeit partially, this state of things, I believe that one of the teacher’s task is to make his/her students good readers. In order to do so, you need very good texts. Students immediately perceive when a work is of low-quality. High-quality texts usually have distinctive stylistic and linguistic features, discuss complex ideas, address social and /or individual concerns, reflect or challenge social norms, offer valuable historical insights, etc. Exposing the students to these kind of works is one my most pressing preoccupationWorks chosen should be compelling and in-class activities challenging but fair: I believe that one of the highest barriers to learning is boredom. Bored students do not learn, intellectually engaged ones do.  The texts I choose to submit to their attention are texts that I have personally enjoyed, which have accompanied me throughout an important learning experience: if I am not personally persuaded about the quality of effectiveness of a certain text, students will notice it and underestimate its importance.The course must be designed so that no student is left behind. Broadly speaking, the Italian literary language is grounded on an elitist principle: for the first 750 hundred years of its history, only a small number of people could write in Italian. So most of our literary works are written in a language that poses serious challenges to Italian speaking students, let alone those who study Italian as L2. Consequently, when I design a course I choose works and activities that are accessible to all the students, trying to balance the richness of language with a reasonable level of accessibility.What two principles of course design spoke to you personally, why, and how will you use that to design your syllabus?Autonomy is certainly key. Nowadays most students tend to be spoonfed, and some of they enjoy it very! It is something we should definitely avoid, so we should invite them to think on their learning style and process, guiding them to choose a metholody and create their own learning tools.Variety is another principle of course design that I especially value. Not only because it contributes to debunking canons and giving voice to the underepresented, but also because it helps me introduce new media and reflect  on the nature of the system of literary genres.  In fact, although slightly old-fashioned, literary genres are the most comprehensive toolboxes available to students in their effort to contextualize literary artifacts.What one question do you still have about the philosophy or the practicalities of designing a course syllabus?I’m still in my learning phase and I have many questions to ask.The most pressing at moment regards the connections between TOK and course design.

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What are the three things you want to make sure you do when you design your own course?The quality of the texts chosen: over the last 40 years literature has been losing ground in favor of the culture of image. The obsession with speed, typical of capitalist societies, coupled with the expediteness granted by new technologies, have given literature the coup de grace. To counteract, albeit partially, this state of things, I believe that one of the teacher’s task is to make his/her students good readers. In order to do so, you need very good texts. Students immediately perceive when a work is of low-quality. High-quality texts usually have distinctive stylistic and linguistic features, discuss complex ideas, address social and /or individual concerns, reflect or challenge social norms, offer valuable historical insights, etc. Exposing the students to these kind of works is one my most pressing preoccupationWorks chosen should be compelling and in-class activities challenging but fair: I believe that one of the highest barriers to learning is boredom. Bored students do not learn, intellectually engaged ones do.  The texts I choose to submit to their attention are texts that I have personally enjoyed, which have accompanied me throughout an important learning experience: if I am not personally persuaded about the quality of effectiveness of a certain text, students will notice it and underestimate its importance.The course must be designed so that no student is left behind. Broadly speaking, the Italian literary language is grounded on an elitist principle: for the first 750 hundred years of its history, only a small number of people could write in Italian. So most of our literary works are written in a language that poses serious challenges to Italian speaking students, let alone those who study Italian as L2. Consequently, when I design a course I choose works and activities that are accessible to all the students, trying to balance the richness of language with a reasonable level of accessibility.What two principles of course design spoke to you personally, why, and how will you use that to design your syllabus?Autonomy is certainly key. Nowadays most students tend to be spoonfed, and some of they enjoy it very! It is something we should definitely avoid, so we should invite them to think on their learning style and process, guiding them to choose a metholody and create their own learning tools.Variety is another principle of course design that I especially value. Not only because it contributes to debunking canons and giving voice to the underepresented, but also because it helps me introduce new media and reflect  on the nature of the system of literary genres.  In fact, although slightly old-fashioned, literary genres are the most comprehensive toolboxes available to students in their effort to contextualize literary artifacts.What one question do you still have about the philosophy or the practicalities of designing a course syllabus?I’m still in my learning phase and I have many questions to ask.The most pressing at moment regards the connections between TOK and course design.

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Who gets left off in canonical discussions of literature and why does that matter?   As an old saying goes, “It is the winners who write history”. This applies to literary history as well.  All historiography is the product of a selection of sources, so the historiography of literature is the product of a selection of literary texts. No human being can read all literary texts, not even that of a single national literary tradition. A selection is necessary, therefore a canon is necessary. Some works and some authors will be inevitably left off. In front of this necessary precondition, I believe it is our task as teachers that of selecting the most possible varied and inclusive canon possible, so that our students will be exposed to different options. I also believe that this is not just an ideological or political stance, it is also a logical consequence of the critical inquiry approach. Even etymologically, the word “critic” and its cognates come from the Greek “krino” that means both “to distinguish” and “to judge”: to conceive a canon as a homogeneous set of works would make the act od “distinguishing” an idle activity, and that of “judging” almost farcical. And so, is the notion of a canon helpful in the study and understanding of literature? How does a canon get established?What I said above does not mean we should get rid of the idea of canon altogether.  As a matter of fact, a canon tells a lot about those who have created it, and therefore to familiarize with it can give us valuable insight on the  history of literature. Part of understanding a work of literature is also its Nachleben, namely, its reception, and studying a canon means also to study how its reception took place .At a broader level, canon are established institutionally: stronger the institution, more effective the canon. To limit myself to the Western canon, the only one I am familiar with, we have the canon of Greek and Latin classics that have been preserved by the Church throughout the Middle Ages (and also by Islamic communities of scholars: especially with regards to philosophical and scientific texts). Then there are national canons, meaning group of works that have established national languages and reflected national culture (the three Florentine “crowns” for Italy; Shakespeare in England; Siglo de oro in Spain; German Romanticism in Germany, and so on). Of course, with the emergence of minorities traditionally overlooked, new canons are being formed: so we now have a canon of queer and female authors, or a canon of writers writing in their second language (Nabokov or Joseph Conrad leading the way).  We’re soon going to have a canon of  TV series! And what "canon" are you presenting to students in your literature choices? Why does that matter?I tried to create a canon that, as I said above, would be inclusive and varied, but what the guiding principle was to choose high-quality and compelling texts, because I believe that the intrinsic quality of a work comes before any other consideration. So I have both male and female authors from Europe and North America, the most imof portant Italian feminist novel, and texts reflecting values and points of view of practically any social class, from the aristocracy to the lowest rank of people from the working classes.

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Who gets left off in canonical discussions of literature and why does that matter?   As an old saying goes, “It is the winners who write history”. This applies to literary history as well.  All historiography is the product of a selection of sources, so the historiography of literature is the product of a selection of literary texts. No human being can read all literary texts, not even that of a single national literary tradition. A selection is necessary, therefore a canon is necessary. Some works and some authors will be inevitably left off. In front of this necessary precondition, I believe it is our task as teachers that of selecting the most possible varied and inclusive canon possible, so that our students will be exposed to different options. I also believe that this is not just an ideological or political stance, it is also a logical consequence of the critical inquiry approach. Even etymologically, the word “critic” and its cognates come from the Greek “krino” that means both “to distinguish” and “to judge”: to conceive a canon as a homogeneous set of works would make the act od “distinguishing” an idle activity, and that of “judging” almost farcical. And so, is the notion of a canon helpful in the study and understanding of literature? How does a canon get established?What I said above does not mean we should get rid of the idea of canon altogether.  As a matter of fact, a canon tells a lot about those who have created it, and therefore to familiarize with it can give us valuable insight on the  history of literature. Part of understanding a work of literature is also its Nachleben, namely, its reception, and studying a canon means also to study how its reception took place .At a broader level, canon are established institutionally: stronger the institution, more effective the canon. To limit myself to the Western canon, the only one I am familiar with, we have the canon of Greek and Latin classics that have been preserved by the Church throughout the Middle Ages (and also by Islamic communities of scholars: especially with regards to philosophical and scientific texts). Then there are national canons, meaning group of works that have established national languages and reflected national culture (the three Florentine “crowns” for Italy; Shakespeare in England; Siglo de oro in Spain; German Romanticism in Germany, and so on). Of course, with the emergence of minorities traditionally overlooked, new canons are being formed: so we now have a canon of queer and female authors, or a canon of writers writing in their second language (Nabokov or Joseph Conrad leading the way).  We’re soon going to have a canon of  TV series! And what "canon" are you presenting to students in your literature choices? Why does that matter?I tried to create a canon that, as I said above, would be inclusive and varied, but what the guiding principle was to choose high-quality and compelling texts, because I believe that the intrinsic quality of a work comes before any other consideration. So I have both male and female authors from Europe and North America, the most imof portant Italian feminist novel, and texts reflecting values and points of view of practically any social class, from the aristocracy to the lowest rank of people from the working classes.

# data[].attributes.headline
 My name is Francesco Caruso. I am currently a part-time teacher of Italian at ISP-International School Palermo. Palermo is Sicily’s main city and also the place where I was born in1976. In addition to being a teacher, I’m also a scholar of Renaissance literature, a classicist and a translator and editor. I have a double background: legal and literary, as I graduated in Law in Palermo and then moved to the USA to pursue a career as a literary scholar. Although I’m glad to be back in my hometown, my ultimate goal is to resume an international career and being in the IB can certainly help me achieve it. I ‘m currently teaching Italian in MYP4 and MYP5, and I have a total of 27 students.        The DP has never been taught in my school before. Therefore, my main concern is how to prepare most effectively my students so that they can have a solid education and at the same time they can successfully pass the DP exams.      I believe that being in a group where people share the same goal is in itself educational.  Of course, sharing is key.  This is my first online workshop, and at this stage, I find it difficult to make predictions on how to develop professional relationships. In general, I am very sociable, willing to help, and eager to learn, so I am quite positive about this experience.      List three things you want to achieve.     I would like to learn how:  to build up engaging learning units.to create effective educational activities.prepare my students as best as possible

# data[].attributes.subject
 My name is Francesco Caruso. I am currently a part-time teacher of Italian at ISP-International School Palermo. Palermo is Sicily’s main city and also the place where I was born in1976. In addition to being a teacher, I’m also a scholar of Renaissance literature, a classicist and a translator and editor. I have a double background: legal and literary, as I graduated in Law in Palermo and then moved to the USA to pursue a career as a literary scholar. Although I’m glad to be back in my hometown, my ultimate goal is to resume an international career and being in the IB can certainly help me achieve it. I ‘m currently teaching Italian in MYP4 and MYP5, and I have a total of 27 students.        The DP has never been taught in my school before. Therefore, my main concern is how to prepare most effectively my students so that they can have a solid education and at the same time they can successfully pass the DP exams.      I believe that being in a group where people share the same goal is in itself educational.  Of course, sharing is key.  This is my first online workshop, and at this stage, I find it difficult to make predictions on how to develop professional relationships. In general, I am very sociable, willing to help, and eager to learn, so I am quite positive about this experience.      List three things you want to achieve.     I would like to learn how:  to build up engaging learning units.to create effective educational activities.prepare my students as best as possible