Student democracy in Italy

The project

Classes with their buddies in Italian and English, exchange on how democracy is exercised in both schools, cross conferences by Italian and French class representatives, visit of the Novecento museum, storyboard exhibition by the Prada Foundation, photography exhibition on climate followed by a philosophical debate, lecture on the lessons of Athenian democracy, visit of MUDEC on the impact of colonisation.

Eight of the fifteen students were grant holders: inclusion lies at the heart of the project. Milanese families organised the weekend visits and the very moving farewells took place at Garibaldi station.

On the Italian side, students themselves organise three days of the school year (“self-management”) and invite speakers: a practice the teams from Guadeloupe wish to explore.

The students involved in school life prepared the mobility with their Milanese peers: comparison of student bodies and school electoral campaigns, eloquence workshops and a shared padlet.

On site

• Hosting by host families in Milan
• Comparison of the ways French and Italian school democracy is exercised
• Workshops and debates with the Liceo Classico Tito Livio

Highlights

• Cross conferences by French and Italian class representatives
• Milan Design Week and photography exhibition on climate
• Educational art-history trip to Florence

Crossed perspectives

Fifteen students hosted by families compared mandates, campaigns and councils: an experience that equipped the school’s student representatives for their own bodies.

Results and follow-up

Self-confidence in foreign languages, strong bond with buddies and their families, desire to study in Europe considered “with serenity” by all students, and the idea of self-managed learning days.

In pictures