Liceo classico
Most of the individuals who achieved the highest levels of leadership in the Italian government, science, diplomacy and business attended the Liceo Classico.
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.
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.
[4] 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 20th 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 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.
The Gentile reform allowed liceo classico students to access university degree courses of any kind.
[8][9] 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.
At the time of Gelmini reform (2010), the overwhelming majority of students attended one of the below curricula: 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).
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.
In liceo classico the first two years are called ginnasio; the name comes from the Greek gymnasion (training ground).
This naming system comes from the Gentile Reform of the fascist regime, named after Giovanni Gentile, an Italian philosopher and politician, who had planned an eight-year school career (five years of ginnasio and three of liceo) that could be accessed by passing a test after the fifth year of elementary school.
Among others, academic Federico Condello and Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore examined its development over history.
On 17 September 1906, Ernesto Cesare Longobardi wrote on newspaper L'Avanti that "Italy needs more traders and technicians than commentators of classics "; but he also affirmed that completely abandoning the study of Latin wouldn't be a good thing.
In difesa del liceo classico (2018), also examines the positions of a controversial figure such as Adolf Hitler quoting a phrase from Mein Kampf, in which it is written that "[education] has to correspond more to the classic subjects,...
"[16][17] In recent years, the real usefulness of liceo classico has also been questioned, with criticism and defenses coming from many parts.
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.
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.
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.
[20] 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".
[18] 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.
