Differences Between Italian and American Schools

Studying abroad is always an experience that lets you compare different school systems. If you’re from Italy and you come to America, you’ll notice a lot of differences. In this article, I’ll talk about some of these differences, from school hours to teaching methods.

School Hours and Classes

In Italy, school hours are different than in America. Classes start at 8:00 AM and finish around 2:00 PM. A block lasts for one hour, and often, we have two consecutive hours of the same subject. This helps us focus more on a topic for a longer time without having to switch subjects often.

Breaks and Lunch

In Italy, we don’t eat lunch at school. Our school day is shorter, and although there is no real lunch break, we get a 15-minute break where we usually eat a snack or chat with friends. This snack is often the only meal we have at school because we eat lunch when we get home after school. Some high schools have a bar inside the building that sells some food, but not all of them. If there is no bar then, schools usually have cheap food machines. 

Moving Between Classes

A big difference is that in Italy, students don’t move from class to class. Instead, it’s the teachers who move to different classrooms, bringing the materials they need for their lessons. This means students stay in the same classroom all day.

Relationship with Teachers

The relationship between students and teachers in Italy is much more formal and distant compared to America. Teachers in Italy are seen as authority figures, and there is not much closeness between them and the students. It depends on the teacher of course, some are more friendly than others but still not too much. Also, Italian teachers can sometimes seem stricter or even unfair, while in the U.S., the relationship tends to be more informal (in a really good way); for example they are actually happy to help you and they do their best to help you if you got a bad grade. This is rare in Italy.

Holidays

When it comes to holidays, the differences are pretty small. Both Italian and American schools have long summer breaks and winter holidays. However, school in Italy usually starts in mid-September, while in America, it begins at the end of August. Christmas holidays in Italy are also a bit longer than in the U.S., but in general, both countries have similar holiday schedules. In Italy we don’t have spring break but we usually have a week off for Easter.

Tests and Homework

One big difference is the frequency of tests and quizzes in Italy. In Italy, we have frequent oral exams, which can happen at any time depending on the teacher’s decision. Teachers have more freedom to call for an oral exam, which can create stress for students. Also, in Italy, we have a lot more homework compared to American students. This means a lot more work both at school and at home. Of course, some people study more than others, but overall, the workload in Italy is much heavier. In general I noticed that in America, the schoolwork is more based on projects rather than tests, in Italy it’s the complete opposite. Also, at the end of the five years of high school (yes, we have one more) there is a really big exam called “maturita” (literally it can be  translated into maturity). This exam is the closest thing we have to Americans final exams, but it includes all the things we did in five years. First there are the two written parts: everyone has to write a long essay and then, based on what high school you chose (linguistic, scientific, humanistic…) every year the second subject is drawn. For example, I go to a scientific high school, which means that next year my second written exams could be math, math and physics, or physics. If you pass the written parts, you can do the oral exam, where they draw  out an image and you have to connect that image to as many subjects as possible

In the end, Italian schools are quite different from American ones, whether it’s the school schedule, teaching methods, breaks, or the relationship with teachers. Each system has its own strengths and weaknesses, but both aim to prepare students for the future. These differences are an opportunity to understand how education can be structured in different ways, with the same goal of helping students succeed.