After graduating in 1998 as a kindergarten teacher at what was then the Scuola Magistrale, now the Department of Education and Learning / University of Teacher Education of SUPSI, Katja taught for a few years at the Russo kindergarten in the Onsernone Valley, before leaving for Geneva, where she pursued a course of study until obtaining a doctorate in educational science. Today she lives between Geneva and Losone, and is involved in teaching education and research mainly in Ticino, but also in other cantonal contexts.

Katja, when did you realize you wanted to become a teacher? 

Let's say I realized I had this passion when I was in my last year at the Liceo cantonale in Locarno, thanks to an orientator who, after asking me a few questions, immediately told me: I think Magistrale is the right school for you!

What does this profession represent for you?

My answer is dictated by a mixture of idealism and long attendance and practice of this profession: I find it wonderful, of enormous importance and at the same time extremely challenging. Perhaps it is the words of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist and very young Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2014, that best express what I believe in reference to this profession: “A child, a teacher, a book and a pen can change the world.”

The figure of the teacher is often a direct mirror of the evolution of society itself.
How do you think the perception of this role has changed over time?

The profession changes as much as society changes and evolves, and at the same time it also remains stable in its essence; in fact, I am convinced that in an epistemology of complexity, planes that seem contradictory can coexist. The kinds of challenges change, teaching methods and pedagogical approaches change-and I would say fortunately, in many ways! It then changes how the profession is viewed and recognized. Lately we often hear that the image of the profession has deteriorated. That is true to some extent, and it is a perception that is quite keenly felt in the teaching world. But there are some signs that also show that not all of society has lost faith in the extreme importance of this role: for example, the last cantonal votes in Geneva saw a large majority of the people vote against a reduction in the duration of teaching training. This is an important signal, consistent with the fact that in many national and international contexts, the trend is precisely to want to increase the years of training, in response to the increased complexity of this profession but also to new knowledge that shows how solid training is necessary to teach effectively and to last in this profession. The role of the teacher has also changed a great deal in the kinds of interactions it requires-with families, with other professionals, with the social context that is enriched by cultural and linguistic diversity while also becoming more complicated as well as more complex. The challenge that my colleagues and fellow school teachers at all levels of education face every day is to distinguish between these two planes and to try, as much as possible, to see disruptions as opportunities for transformation and growth, without denying the difficulties they face. What I believe does not change is the passion, energy and belief in the human that such a profession has always required and will always require.

In a social context that is certainly more complex, there is also today a greater openness and awareness toward issues that a few years ago did not seem to hold much importance or were even considered outright taboos. I am thinking, for example, of sex education, sensitivity related to gender equality, and inclusiveness. What role should and/or can a teacher have in this context? What responsibilities?

I believe in the value of complexity. And as you well say, there are many issues that are being addressed more openly today. I am actually in charge of a course called “Education in Affectivity and Sexuality” where together with students and students we address some of these important issues. Again, we do this from a perspective of complexity: we work with our own experiences, combined with scientific knowledge, knowledge and research in the national and international arena that show how closely the well-being of a community is correlated with quality education in the areas of health, sexuality, gender equality, and inclusiveness. The role of those who teach and their responsibilities in this field are essential, as is an awareness of the limits of those responsibilities, shared with families and other professional profiles. Solid skills are therefore needed, based on scientific knowledge as well as good self-awareness, and the ability to operate in an inter-professional network. Indeed, those who teach must know how to operate in terms of prevention, for example through explicit education in respect, consent, affectivity, and knowledge of one's own body and emotions. In addition to this, he or she must know how to act in the immediate, recognizing the signs of discomfort so as to be able to report them, or even just answer the many questions of natural and indispensable curiosity of pupils and students from the very first years of school.

Early school years that perhaps, in the common understanding, are still little considered and valued...

The challenges that a teacher finds himself or herself facing today are many, among them surely there is also that of making the profession known to those who observe it from the outside. I am thinking in particular of preschool, which is still often called “the kindergarten,” a term in common usage but one that evokes a place to “park” girls and boys while waiting for “real school” to begin. Preschool, on the other hand, is a fundamentally important school, a place for building cross-curricular skills and confronting areas of experience that are indispensable for future schooling and training. Philippe Meirieu calls it “l'école première”, the “first school” and for him this means that it is the first in chronological order, but also that it is essential for scholastic success and for the construction of a fairer and more supportive democratic society. I mention just one of the many aspects that may seem surprising to those who are not closely familiar with this school order: in kindergarten we begin learning conversational skills, and more and more often we hold with pupils aged 3 to 6 years so-called cooperative councils, an institution where we “hold council,” precisely, where decisions are made, issues of common life are dealt with, votes are taken ... and thus where we build the necessary foundations for the exercise of democracy. I invite in this regard to discover the work of some of our former students, now teachers:

Contribution by Laura Rocco and Katja Vanini De Carlo entitled Il consiglio di cooperazione come spazio dialogico. Un’esperienza di democrazia diretta alla scuola dell’infanzia within the volume La progettazione di spazi democratici e partecipativi a scuola. Alcuni fondamenti teorici e pratici.

Eva Greta Pedrazzini's dissertation entitled "Ma eri anche un po' arrabbiato?" Il consiglio di cooperazione come risorsa per la gestione delle dinamiche relazionali.

Speaking of male and female students, what would you feel like giving advice to those entering the profession today?

I try to give little advice, rather my approach is one of dialogue, bringing theoretical knowledge and some of my own experiences gained over the years, to enable us to build together, students and students and trainers and trainers, a community of practice and learning that is truly co-evolving. Probably one piece of advice that I often feel like giving is to never stop exploring and getting to know yourself first - it is said that the main working tool of those who teach is ... their own person.

It is important to live in the present, but every now and then some imaginary leaps into the future can be fun: how do you imagine teachers and teachers 50 years from now?

Of course, it's a wonderful cue, I firmly believe that imagining (and thus narrating!) the future allows you to shape it!
Just last year, during the celebration of the 150th anniversary of teacher education in Ticino, we had the opportunity to deliver future-facing messages and objects to a time capsule. I wrote a letter to my colleagues who will be active in teacher education in 2074, expressing the wish that they can continue to cultivate the passion that I feel is alive today at DFA/ASP: the passion for learning, teaching and research in this field, the passion for training and for professional and human development, the passion for the school.
I am an incurable optimist but I back up this vision with what I observe every day in my work. Therefore, I am also serene and confident about the “fun” aspect you mention: every day I measure the good fortune I have in being able to work with the students and students who are preparing for this profession. They are extraordinary people, full of passion, creativity, talents and resources, and they bring to the table diverse values and experiences that, in sharing, will work for an ever better school, fun and effective, adapted to its time and always ready to fight against injustice, for a better world - I am convinced of this. In this day and age, in a world that often seems to us to be adrift on many fronts, I would say that there is a great need for such a vision.

Thank you for the opportunity for this exchange.