Liceo classico

The liceo classico school type finds its roots in the so-called liceo ginnasio, established in 1859 with the Casati law,[1] as a school following elementary school (compulsory), initially in force in the Kingdom of Sardinia and then extended to whole Italy after Italian Unification. High schools, however, already existed, having been established during the Napoleonic era, to ensure a high level of education to secular institutions as well.

On the model of the pre-unification humanist scholastic tradition, the Casati law provided for a single lyceum address in which the literary and humanistic subjects were prevalent. The original study plan foresaw an eight-year course (there was no middle school at the time), divided into five years of ginnasio and a three-year liceo ("lyceum"): the study of Latin began in the first gymnasium class, that of the (Ancient) Greek in the third.

The liceo ginnasio was an eight-year secondary school, since it also included middle school. It was accessed after primary school (initially a four-year school) and gave access to university degree courses of any kind; liceo ginnasio was the only secondary course of lyceum type, which was not aimed at technical-professional training, but at the continuation of studies in the university.

The study plan was directly related to the school tradition of the trivium and were therefore prevalent humanities so much that, in the early years of gymnasium, the only Italian and Latin covered three-quarters of the total hours of lessons. It should however be considered that at the time, the elementary school (four-year and municipal) was very different from the modern one and that, in fact, the first true schooling took place at the gymnasium.

The liceo ginnasio was meant to form the future elite of Italy; those who attended were supposed to continue with their studies, since it didn't provide a professional education.

Since its implementation, the school was criticized for its being focused on philosophical and humanistic topics and since it relegated scientific and technical education to a secondary role.[2]

Timetable outline

The gymnasium-lyceum outlined by the Casati law remained essentially unchanged until 1923, even if the schedules and timetable outlines were renewed several times (in 1867, 1884, 1888, 1892).[3] The timetable outline of 1892 introduced the study of French from the third year of gymnasium to the fifth, filling the lack of a foreign language.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, having emerged the problem of poor mathematical/scientific instruction, individual lyceums were allowed to activate experimental sections in which, instead of the Ancient Greek, mathematics or a modern language could be taught. In 1911 the liceo moderno and the first liceo scientifico were established, which joined the traditional course; to distinguish it from the latter, the traditional gymnasium-lyceum began to be called informally "liceo classico" ("classical lyceum"), even if, officially, the name remained "ginnasio liceo" ("gymnasium-lyceum").

The liceo moderno was abolished in 1923 with the Gentile Reform, which at the same time established a new liceo scientifico (in place of the previous one).

The Gentile Reform of 1923 kept the overall structure of the gymnasium/lyceum, emphasizing the humanistic-classicist aspect.[4] This was in line with the principles of neo-idealist philosophy, of which Gentile was with Benedetto Croce, one of the greatest followers. In fact the neoidealist philosophers considered the literary, historical and digressive subjects the only ones able to provide real knowledge, especially philosophy, being in itself a literal, simple and primitive form of the abstract and natural sciences, and precisely for this reason indispensable for make them understandable.

In the Gentile's view, elite schools had to coincide with the liceo classico, intended for the education of future Italy's elites: only graduates from liceo classico were in fact granted enrollment in any university degree course, while for example those who came from liceo scientifico could not enroll neither in humanities, nor in law degree courses. This last obstacle was particularly serious, as law was a degree course of primary importance for Italy's elites.

Timetable outline

Before 1940, post-elementary education was divided into several school types, each of which was preparatory for either lyceum or technical school). In that year the Bottai reform established the three-year middle school,[5] which absorbed the first three years of gymnasium: since then, the liceo classico became structured as a five-year school, but it maintained the numbering of the previous classes (so the first two years became the fourth and fifth classes of ginnasio, the last three became the first, second and third classes of liceo: the numbering is typical of liceo classico schools, since other Italian secondary schools have a normal numbering).

Apart from a few timetable adjustments, such as the separation of history and geography into two separate subjects being taught in the fourth and fifth years of gymnasium, the new curriculum remained substantially identical to the previous one.

On this occasion the official name was changed to "liceo classico"; the denomination of the years of study, however, remained as in the traditional one, still in force: after the third year of middle school there are the fourth and fifth years of gymnasium and then the first, the second and the third years of liceo classico. The Gentile reform allowed liceo classico students to access university degree courses of any kind.

Because of the war, the timetable was repeatedly remodeled until it became quite standard in 1952.[6]

Outline of the timetable

The number of liceo classico students started to decrease in favor of liceo scientifico schools, also because it was easier to access those schools with the reform of middle schools. When, in 1969, access to university was granted to students coming from any Italian secondary school, the number of students who enrolled in liceo classico schools further decreased; at the time of Gelmini reform (2010), students enrolled in the last year of liceo classico amounted to 51,000 students compared to 103,000 of the liceo scientifico.[7][8]

As all other high schools, also the liceo classico, starting from 70's, enjoyed a certain degree of freedom that allowed to activate experimental curricula (sperimentazioni) together with the official regulation course provided by the Ministry, or even in place of this. The experimental curricula, once approved, could be freely adopted by the individual liceo classico schools.

The most widespread sperimentazione was going to fill what was perceived as the biggest gap in this school, namely the lack of foreign language education in the last three years; and indeed, this experimentation effectively replaced the course of regulation and was itself the basis for further sperimentazioni, such as sperimentazione storia dell'arte ("experimentation history of art") and sperimentazione P.N.I. ("National Plan of Computer studies" experimentation). At the time of Gelmini reform (2010), the overwhelming majority of students attended one of the below curricula:

• Liceo classico – sperimentazione della comunicazione ("classical lyceum – communication experimentation"): which included the study of the additional subject "Scienze della comunicazione" ("Communication Sciences"), and the program included an hour of law and economics from the fourth gymnasium, two more hours of mathematics and two hours of Earth science and biology. The Language of Communication can vary from computer science, movie, theater and dance.
• Liceo classico – sperimentazione PNI linguistico ("classical lyceum – P.N.I. linguistic experimentation"): provided for the usual strengthening of mathematics (4 hours at gymnasium, 3 hours at lyceum) and non-curricular teaching of a second foreign language (French, German, Spanish) for two hours per week for the first four years. The learning of the linguistic area, thus enhanced, is based on the comparative study of the common grammatical and semantic-lexical roots. The curriculum combines, therefore, the classical training, integrated with expansions in mathematical-informatic areas, with the requirements of European citizenship, expanding the curriculum with the teaching of a second community language.

The liceo classico sperimentazione progetto Brocca ("classical lyceum – Project Brocca experimentation") envisaged, more than the traditional curriculum, the inclusion in the biennium of the subjects law and economy, laboratory of chemistry and physics, Computer Technology combined with mathematics for the entire five-year period, and an increase in science hours (chemistry, biology, Earth sciences). The experimentation was abolished with the entry into force of the Gelmini reform.

The experimentation started with the principles of the Maastricht Treaty, where the European dimension of teaching is linked to the learning and dissemination of the languages of the Member States and the knowledge of the culture and history of the European peoples. In this way the liceo classico europeo (literally "European classical lyceum") has been assigned the aim of favoring the formation of a European conscience, as a function of an ever greater strengthening of the European Union.

The liceo classico europeo was conceived starting from the programs of the traditional liceo classico curriculum, on which have been grafted peculiar or innovative features, such as, in particular, the five-year study of two foreign languages (the English language and a second Community language among French, German and Spanish), the study of law and of political economy, the study of two non-linguistic curricular subjects taught in a foreign Community language among history, history of art, science, geography (also called geo-history), and law and political economy, the merging of the (Ancient) Greek and Latin into a single subject (classical languages and literatures) with a comparative approach; moreover, the hours of mathematics are increased up to a total equal to that of the liceo scientifico.

In 2008 there were about 280,000 students signed in the liceo classico (of which 70 percent were girls), placing this schooling curricula in fourth place (after liceo scientifico curricula, and technical and professional institutes).[9]

With the Gelmini reform of 2010 the previous traditional liceo classico curriculum, the experimentations and the assisted projects all merged into the new liceo classico curriculum, in force since 1 September 2010. The current course does not differ markedly from the previous one, established in 1952, but it contains a few minor improvements. The liceo classico has the following timetable:[10]

• ¹ With computer science in the first two years
• ² biology, chemistry, science

The main subjects are humanities and literature. Regarding the subjects in common with all the lyceums, it is worth mentioning a considerable number of hours are also devoted to the study of history and philosophy.

The main subjects are Latin and Ancient Greek. Latin is also taught in the first two academic years of the liceo linguistico and in the traditional curricula of the liceo scientifico and liceo delle scienze umane, while Ancient Greek is taught only in liceo classico schools. In the first two years (ginnasio), liceo classico provides a thorough education on the grammar, syntax and morphology of Latin and Ancient Greek, while, in the last three years, courses are focused on Ancient Greek and Latin literature.

Geography, which is taught ginnasio together with history, is stopped in the last three years in favor of philosophy, physics and history of art. The program of natural sciences includes the study of chemistry and astronomy in the first year, biology and chemistry in the subsequent three years and geology and chemistry in the last year.

The Italian law DPR 15 marzo 2010, n. 89 provided, in annex C[10] the new liceo classico timetable outline. The decree n. 89/2010 is part of the so-called Gelmini reform, which revised the structure of higher secondary schools.

In 2012 there were 6.66% of students enrolled in liceo classico schools all over Italy: for the first time, students who enrolled in the first year of liceo classico were less than those who chose liceo linguistico schools, which amounted to 7.25%. In 2016, the students of liceo delle scienze umane schools were 7.4% of total students, while those of liceo classico were 6.2%, making liceo classico the fourth liceo school by number of students.[11]

Liceo classico is supposed to teach the students, among other things, a more rigorous way of translating a text. It is taught that the nuances of meaning can make the difference and that, in order to be able to translate correctly, it is necessary to understand and explain with simple words the meaning of each word. The translation of the so-called "versions" (Italian: versioni) of text in Latin and Ancient Greek has been compared by physicist Guido Tonelli to "scientific research" and it's supposed to be a useful mental exercise.[15]

Moreover, Latin and Ancient Greek may also make the students more interested in archeology, philology, linguistics and the deciphering of ancient languages. When students of liceo classico are abroad and learn a new language, some of them are supposed to follow a more rigorous and perhaps more profitable approach than other students, for example by buying a good dictionary and deepening the study of grammar.

In Italy, Latin and Ancient Greek are said to be highly educational; these disciplines, as well as liceo classico itself are supposed to make the students more skilled according to many Italians, even though there is no conclusive statistical evidence that shows this. According to the critics, the study of Latin and Ancient Greek would not provide a better education in all fields, but only in the field of humanities, i.e. literature linguistics, history, philosophy, philology, archeology, art history and therefore it is more suitable for students with a primary interest in these disciplines.[16]

Some Italian newspapers also praised Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates because they had studied Latin and Ancient Greek at high school, and some newspapers even claimed that this was the key to their success and that without the knowledge of these disciplines they would have been "underpaid employees". Other sources, however, pointed out that in particular Mark Zuckerberg was already very clever on his own, he had studied in elite institutions, he also knew Hebrew and other ancient and modern languages, and he had knowledge in various fields. Moreover, it is unclear how many hours Zuckerberg and Gates have actually dedicated to these subjects, perhaps only a small part compared to the efforts needed by the Italian school system. Last but not least, other successful entrepreneurs, such as Steve Jobs, did not know Latin and Ancient Greek.[17]

The Italian academic Massimo Fusillo, professor of literary criticism and comparative literature at the University of L'Aquila, for a brief part of his life was also a classicist and argued that the previous students of liceo classico who enroll in classics university courses "basically start from the beginning". In addition, in the United States students begin to study Latin and Ancient Greek in universities without having knowledge at all of these languages and, despite this, American universities always provided highly skilled classicists.[15] Fusillo also stated that, during his teaching experience at university, he rarely found "differences between students coming from the liceo classico and liceo scientifico".[15]

Among the points in favor of liceo classico is certainly its being an elitist school, since it allows the cleverest and most ambitious students to follow a common study path compared to a mixed class, and this may result in a better education. This, however, is generally valid for most elite schools, regardless of whether Latin or Ancient Greek are taught.

The statistical data that seem to prove that liceo classico provides a better education (for example, students who studied at liceo classico graduate at university with higher scores compared to students who studied in other schools),[18] are correct, but not sufficient to establish an indisputable primacy of liceo classico on other high schools.[19] Since liceo classico still has the fame of being an elite school,[20] Italian students who choose liceo classico are more "serious", prepared, more motivated by their parents than students who enroll in other high schools and their average scores are higher since the middle school. Therefore, from a statistical point of view, it's not correct to draw conclusions from the graduation grades of students coming from different schools, since there has been a sort of upstream "selection" and the sample of students of liceo classico is, in statistical terms, "not representative of the population".[21] In addition, students who are rejected by liceo classico often enroll in other high schools or technical schools – often the private ones – and a certain percentage manage to graduate, while it's very unlikely that a student rejected from liceo scientifico or a technical institute enroll in liceo classico and manages to graduate there. Another factor might be the almost total absence of foreigners studying in liceo classico, since it has been proved that there is a negative correlation between the number of foreign students in a class and the collective performance of the students of that class.[22]