Job Discussion Forums

[wannaberomegirl]

Hi--quick question...
when does the school year traditionally start and end in Italy?

[garyanello]

At the risk of infuriating some old-timers, I'd like to weigh in briefly. I am what would be considered a 'newbie' but I was rather irked at the abuse heaped upon you in your previous post. You took it gracefully. Kudos to you.

Yours is a question that might be answered easily elsewhere but, as you said, the question IS brief. As a wanna-be America-to-Italy expat myself, I'm grateful for ANY input regarding Italy. Before the response "Then why don't YOU tell her, Gary?" fills this forum, let me me say I don't have the answer either.

Perhaps this reaction could be considered a bit much, but I am a little baffled at what easily comes off as arrogance in this forum, especially on the part of those of us who are supposed to be a little more culturally aware and sensitive...At the end of the day, we're all striving to do the same thing.

I am bracing myself for the flames...

[Teacher in Rome]

At the risk of going over old ground, it will be very difficult for you to work in Italy if you're not EU. There are ways of getting a work visa, but all these ways involve a lot of hassle - something that most people try to avoid. The school I work at generally has a lot of work to offer teachers, but we don't employ non-EUs unless they have the correct working papers. From your point of view, if you work illegally, you have zero working or civil rights, and you also risk deportation.

Having said that, the academic year starts mid-September, goes on until Christmas, starts after Epiphany, carries on to Easter, then goes on again until the second or third week in July. August is completely dead, but schools start looking for teachers again in the beginning of September.

For info on the sort of documents you need, see earlier posts!

[daily chai]

Hi Teacher in Rome! Do unis also look for teachers in September? I bet August is dead, but what about July? My non-Italian uni looks for people in spring, but I guess they can project enrollment pretty well.

Gary, you said it perfectly. I totally agree. Wannaberomegirl, you showed your stuff. Nice job!

[Teacher in Rome]

Hi Daily Chai!

To be honest, I don't really know when universities start looking. It's quite difficult to get into uni work - you need numerous letters after your name, as far as I've heard. Maybe the best thing to do is look directly on the university sites to see if they're offering anything.

Good luck!

[longtimeteach]

Hello Wannabe,

I read the posts in answer to yours in the Spain forum and I just wanted to tell you not to take anything personally that Scot47 writes. He tends to respond in an irritable fashion to quite a lot of posts so it's nothing to do with you.

This board is a great place to get solid information so I hope you don't get frightened off by a person who has his own ideas on who should and should not teach English and under which circumstances.

PS - you handled it very well; I second the 'kudos'!!