ITALIAN CULTURE
PRESENTATION
Rebecca Killian
Teaching English Language Learners
Dr. Taddei
June 23rd, 2015
ITALIAN DEMOGRAPHICS
 Population: 61,680, 122
 Religion: 80% claim a religion most of which is Christian, almost entirely Roman
Catholic with a few Jehovah’s Witnesses and Protestants. There are 800,000-1
million Muslims and 20% Agnostic or Atheist.
 Ethnic Groups: Italian with a few small groups of German-, French-, Slovene-,
Albanian-, and Greek-Italians within the main group.
 Race: Caucasian
 Birth Rate: 8.84 births/1000 population
 Death Rate: 10.1/1000 population
 Infant Mortality Rate: 3.31/1000 live births
 Economy: Italy is highly industrialized in the north and has an agricultural society
in the south.
 Government Structure: Republic
ITALIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
 Compulsory from age 6-15
 Three types of secondary school: Lycée system, Technical High School and
Vocational High School.
 The Lycée system has six different areas of study: classical, scientific,
foreign languages, the arts, dance and music, and human sciences.
 Technical High School teaches economic trades like business, economics
and tourism, as well as technical trades such as mechanics, computer
science and chemistry.
 Vocational High School teaches in two areas service trades like agriculture
and social health and industrial trades like production and maintenance of
products.
ITALIAN EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
Italy uses the Reggio Emilio Approach to education. Which incorporates the
following principles
 Children must have some control over the direction of their learning.
 Children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving,
listening, seeing, and hearing.
 Children have a relationship with other children and with material items in
the world that children must be allowed to explore.
 Children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves.
MONTESSORI ALTERNATIVE
Montessori has a few key components:
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A mixed age classroom for peer learning.
A set amount of time set aside specifically for learning without interruption.
Specially designed Montessori toys geared towards learning explicit skills.
Children get to choose where they will learn or play.
Teachers teach by guiding the children not by direct instruction.
ITALIAN TRADITIONS, HOLIDAYS AND
HEROES
 Feast of the Seven Fishes
 Wedding Taratella circle dance
 Wedding log cutting with a double handled saw to symbolize that man and woman
must work together through all of life’s tasks.
 The holiday of Ferragosto to celebrate the Virgin Mary
 Liberation Day to commemorate the fall of Mussolini and the end of the Nazi
occupation of Italy.
 The holiday of Epiphany to recognize the first event that acknowledges Jesus’
divinity or the coming of the three wise men.
 St. Stephen’s Day to remember the first Christian martyr
 Guiseppe Garibaldi- known for unifying Italy and freeing the country from foreign
rule.
ITALIAN ARTISTS
 Michelangelo
 Artemisia Gentileschi
 Tintoretto
 Titian
 Amedeo Modigliani
 Fra Filippo Lippi
 Filippino Lippi
 El Greco
 Giorgione
 Donatello
 Dominico Ghirlandaio
 Georgio de Chirico
 Caravaggio
 Canaletto
 DaVinci
 Sandro Botticelli
 Fra Angelico
 Raphael
ITALIAN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
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The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Edina Altara illustrated over 30 children’s books
The Bear’s Famous Invasion of Sicily by DinoBuzzati
Geronimo Stilton by Edizioni Piemme
Heart by Edmondo De Amicis
The Last Dragon by Silvana De Mari
GAMES ITALIAN CHILDREN PLAY
 Lupo delle ore – Wolf what time is it!
 Regina, Regina Bella – very similar to mother may I but Regina means queen instead
of mother
 Fazzoletto peo peo – like duck, duck, goose but children drop a handkerchief on
the person who chases instead of calling them goose.
 Strega comanda color – one child is the witch or strega and will call out a color. All
the children must find something of that color and touch it before the witch tags
them or they are out.
ITALIAN SONGS AND FINGERPLAYS
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Stella Stellina – Star, Little Star
Buona Notte – Good Night
Batta le Manine – Clap Your Hands
Avete Paura Dell’uomo Nero? – Are you Afraid of the Bogeyman?
Dice il Pollice – The Thumb Says
Farfallina – Butterfly
Bolli Bolli Pentolino – Boil, Boil, Little Pot
Filastrocca Senza Senso – A nonsense rhyme
Fa la ninna, fa la nanna – Go to Sleep, Go to Sleepy
Testa, Spalle, Ginocchia e Piedi – Head, Shoulders, Knees and Feet
Topolino Toploletto Zum Ba Ba – Mousie, Mousey Zum Ba Ba
ITALIAN CHILDREN’S STORIES
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How the Tales Came to Be Told
The Myrtle
Peruonto
Vardiello
The Flea
Cenerentola
The Merchant
Goat-Face
The Enchanted Doe
Parsley
The Three Sisters
Violet
The Serpent
The She-Bear
The Dove
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Cannetella
Corvetto
The Booby
The Stone in the Cock’s Head
The Three Enchanted Princes
The Dragon
The Two Cakes
The Seven Doves
The Raven
The Months
Pintosmalto
The Golden Root
Sun, Moon, and Talia
Nennillo and Nennella
The Three Citrons
ITALIAN CHILD REARING VALUES AND BELIEFS
 In Italy family is highly valued
 Children are considered an integral part of society, Italy has fewer generational walls
than the United States.
 “Italian children have a place in the culture, and the culture has a role in a child’s
socialization. They don’t have to be kept away from adults who might find them noisy
or bothersome. At the same time, parents don’t present their children as rarefied
creatures worthy of adoration. Other than a booster seat for the little ones, they rarely
ask for special consideration. People smile at children on the bus, they talk to them at
the fruit market, but when they don’t eat their vegetables in a restaurant, it’s not just
their parents who have something to say about it (Marshall, 2012).”
 Italian mothers live in fear of “colpo di vento” or a blast of wind which they believe
causes illness or a stiff neck.. The fear makes Italian mothers bundle their children
from head to toe to avoid illness.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Donadio, R. (2013, June 30). When Italians Chat, Hands and Fingers Do the Talking. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
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Introduction to Montessori. (n.d.). Retrieved June 21, 2015, from http://amshq.org/Montessori-Education/Introduction-to-
Montessori
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Italy. (n.d.). Retrieved September 17, 2014, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/it.html
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Keller, M. (2009, December 22). Traditional Games Italian Children Play. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
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Kid Songs From Around The World. (n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2014.
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Marshall, J. (2012, March 22). What the Italians can teach us about child-rearing. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
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McNamara, R. (n.d.). Garibaldi, Revolutionary Who United Italy. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
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Nosari, K. (n.d.). The Italian School System. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
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Parenting in Italy: Differences in parenting from American ways. (2013, September 2). Retrieved September 19, 2014.
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Welcome to the Italian folktales page! (n.d.). Retrieved September 17, 2014.