School in a foreign language. Confronting remembered experiences in historical and current school realities

Abstract

This research focuses on the remembered perspective of former pupils, who had to graduate from school in a foreign language and therefore could not develop key skills – reading, writing and mathematics – or additional educational goals in their own mother tongue.
Specifically, the essay looks at two groups and school realities: on the one hand, German-speaking children in South Tyrol, who were compelled to attend Italian schools after all German schools were closed during the Fascist period and, on the other hand, children from migrant backgrounds attending South Tyrol’s German schools from 2000 to 2005.

The different concrete historical contexts and pedagogical concepts naturally do not allow a direct comparison. Rather, this research aims for an understanding approach towards memories and personal empirical evaluations.