In Italy, the Court of Cassation has upheld the dismissal of a history and philosophy teacher at a Veneto high school for her questionable teaching methods during a 24-year career during which she was mostly absent.
The Italian news agency ANSA reported on June 26 that the Court of Cassation upheld the dismissal of a history and philosophy teacher for her questionable teaching methods. Moreover, she has worked for only 4 of the last 24 years of her career.
The first ten years were marked by total absence; the other 14 included more than ten years of sick leave. Ultimately, she only taught for four consecutive months, during which time she collected numerous complaints from students and parents.
“Approximate, impartial and unprepared” were the words of former pupils of the 56-year-old teacher at Chioggia high school, not far from Venice.
Following the Court of Cassation ruling, she has been dismissed for her “permanent and absolute incompetence.” The court points out that freedom in teaching “certainly includes autonomy in the choice of appropriate teaching methods,” but this “does not mean that the teacher does not implement any method, nor that he or she cannot organize and structure the course.”
Before this ruling, the Chioggia high school principal had requested an inspection of the teacher by the MIUR, the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Research.
During three days, the MIUR inspectors were able to observe her methods. The teacher was inattentive to students’ questions and regularly used her phone. The inspectors noted problems with the curriculum, and certain subjects were not covered. For example, she did not cover the work of the German philosopher Hegel, even though this was part of the syllabus.
At the end of this inspection in March 2013, the MIUR reported “the absence of lasting criteria in awarding marks, the lack of clarity and confusion in explanations, improvisation, the slavish reading of a textbook borrowed from a pupil, the absence of a logical thread in the sequence of lessons, the assignment of grades in an extemporaneous and humoral way, the very bad way of organizing and preparing the tests.”
Even so, this ruling shows just how slow Italian justice can be. After the 2013 inspection, the Ministry proposed suspending the teacher, which she refused, citing “freedom of teaching.” A first verdict was handed down in 2018.
But the labor judge had refused the dismissal because the inspection was too short to take a decision because of her repeated absences. In 2021, the Court of Appeal of Venice ruled the dismissal, confirmed in 2023 by the Court of Cassation, the highest jurisdiction in Italy.
The case has even caused the minister of Education, Giuseppe Valditara, to react. On Twitter, he stressed the need for rigor, the importance of the role of teacher and the efforts the Ministry will make to ensure that teaching is carried out with professionalism.
