Participants: Ece Erdeniz, Ergül Kaygısız, Murat Kurt, Pınar Yüksel

We observed the education system and implementations of Italy during the program. Least mandatory education level is 16 years old in Italy. Classrooms capacity is maximum 27 students. Students with special education need (SEN) are educated as much as possible with their peers.    

There are some steps for SEN students which are;

1. It has been transformed into inclusive education method after 1977 by law,
2. Related stakeholders include every each person who are in communication with child,
3. Documentation.

Process for SEN students has designed by the Ministry of Health. There are two types of level for determining the child situation, one is for the students at low level and the other one is for heavy level. This process is implementing with the participation of all stakeholders. Also, this process is being reviewed by the experts and stakeholders.

We observed that “Emotions” are the milestones of the education system in Italy. At the early age groups, games and the older groups structured conversation is the key factor. Besides, one of the most important things in education system is “Emotions and Art”. 

1^st Day of The Program

27.05.2019 was the first day of the program and it was implemented in Monteflavio. We have briefed regarding Italy Education System and Inclusive Education. It was important to see their perception regarding SEN students. It has always been that SEN students are part of the society and inclusive education plan is designed by this philosophy. One of the curious things is that students who are not speaking Italian fluently are also considered as SEN students.

2^nd Day of the Program

Second day of the program was implemented at Monterio Romano. We have been welcomed by students and their teachers. They performed us with music and also they gave us a tour in the school. Besides, we had a seminar which is called “Emotions”.

3^rd Day of the Program

We gave a visit to Catering and Tourism School in Rietti on third day of the program. Age level of the students is between 14 – 19 years old and the capacity is 1000. Average number of students in each classroom is 20. Important thing is that at least 4 students in every classroom who are diagnosed with learning disability. Physical areas of the school are designed for the student with physically handicapped.

4^rd Day of the Program

The day started with a presentation regarding education of hearing impaired people in Rome. Then, we visited “Istituto Statale per Sordi di Roma” school. This school is implementing a method which is consists of reverse inclusion. Most of the families are choosing this school because number of the student in classrooms are less than others and also number of teachers are quite high. Besides, parents are willing to send their children that school because they want their children to learn sign language even though they are not hearing impaired.

5^th Day of the Program

On the 5^th day of the program, we went to Acquaviva di Nerola and listened student’s performance and their presentation. Afterwards, baby dolls were transferred from one country to another.

To sum up, we observed that students are in the schools that we visited are quite different than the ones in our school. We are told that students who have disability at a high level are included in the education system but we saw only two students who have multiple disability. We had chance to observe reverse inclusion system, Italy’s special education system and their approaches and the best practices. It was nice to see that their education system is trying to raise awareness of other students and their parents as well.