How Thick Are Floors Between Stories

University's long history of disaster

Guido Crainz
University's long history of disaster
La Repubblica, July 28, 2010

is very difficult to reflect on the partial reform of the university today question without having to reckon with the long history that is behind us and that calls into question a whole, responsibility for the political class and the academic world. A story in which, as in Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, there is no one to blame: at the end of all possible defendants appear in various forms responsible. Is sometimes evoked the ghost of '68, but Gaullist France, for example, responded immediately to the "May" with the law Faure, who started a real modernization of the universities. None of this happened to us, and the reform debate on the eve of '68 - the inadequate law Gui - not so much had been sunk by the student protest as conservative obstructionism of the "Members-barons, fierce opponents of the incompatibility between teaching and parliamentary mandate, and the introduction of full-time. Even at '68 is sometimes attributed to the liberalization of access to all the faculty there since the conditional - so sometimes anachronistic - the school attended previously. Even this is not quite accurate: in the original government plan was expected as a result of the liberalization reform schools. Difficulties in realizing the majority then introduced without any "filter" and a premise that liberalization - as practiced - was introduced more than a failure. Start then that depleted levels of study that was highlighted on these pages by Carlo Galli. Begins, even an abnormal increase of students who fail to graduate or graduate in a very long time, one of the most negative of our legal system. In all this, the '68 does not appear the main culprit, and in its aftermath with it the fear of new flare-ups favored a truly innovative government project, presented with skill and intelligence from the Socialist - Offset "shareholder" - Tristan Codignola (his death is a heartfelt remembrance of Benjamin Placido it evoked the "sadness of the reformist," fueled the heavy obstacles in his long work). In that project, also the result of an extensive comparison of educational and political, became the central departments and degree courses, the Faculty traditional disappeared, he outlined the role of "teacher only", the students had substantial representations and spaces of autonomy, and so on. Passed the Senate but the House shelved in 1971-72 by the strength of broad areas the DC (and of course the potentates academics) that law was later definitive failure, and then began a long sleep. In the absence of defined rules multiplied figures of both intermediate and poor teachers of "fellows" or "fellows", which would put the bank "Law 382" in 1980. In it, the proclaimed "unity of the figure teacher" was immediately contradicted by the distinction between ordinary and associates: and for those who already had some form of teaching was provided for a fitness certificate to that associated with organic swelling immediately. The most innovative aspects would have to involve the recruitment of young people and have as its cornerstone research graduates and the institution of the role of researcher, destinato a sostituire la precedente pletora di figure sottoposte all' arbitrio del "barone". Figure che entrarono però tutte o quasi nel nuovo ruolo - anche qui con un giudizio di idoneità molto simile ad un' ope legis -, e anche questo frenò per molti anni il ricambio. L'autonomia del ricercatore era comunque affermata, ma questo è uno degli aspetti che la riforma Gelmini mette in discussione, come ha sottolineato bene Benedetta Tobagi (mentre i dottorati sono da tempo in crisi, e non solo per le ristrettezze finanziarie): i nuovi ricercatori saranno assunti a tempo determinato e potranno rimanere nell'Università solo vincendo un concorso da associato entro 6 anni (termine poco credibile, nel panorama attuale: è il preannuncio di future ope legis?). L' "innovazione" rischia così di reintrodurre o favorire nuove forme di subalternità e vecchi difetti senza alcuna motivazione reale. Oggi si diventa ricercatori dopo un percorso difficile e segnato da una dura concorrenza, anche se condizionato sin qui dalle dinamiche dei concorsi locali: non vi è comunque un grandissimo rischio che un giovane giunto in questo modo all'Università si trasformi nel "fannullone" paventato da Brunetta o dal rettore Frati. Permangono semmai gli ultimi residui di una situazione precedente, ed anche per scongiurare il suo ripresentarsi è necessaria invece una idoneità nazionale, così come lo è per le altre fasce (con modalità volte a ridurre, perlomeno, l' influenza of "group" or lobby). It is necessary to promote the progression of researchers - which today bears much of the royal road to learning with regular competitions and serious. Needless to hide, too, that in the concrete situation of the teachers retirement at 65 is the premise almost mandatory - though certainly questionable and not enough - a real turnover. Subject, of course, that there can be no reform of 'education without significant investments. But there is something missing in today's debate: there is no idea, a prospect that concerns background, together, the University and society. Yet the general idea was also visible in the "project Berlinguer" that led to 'present order, the "3 +2". There was the 'need for training that would put an emphasis on cognitive levels starting at the same time providing for incentives for specialization and depth. And there was the need to overcome a 'learning organization become ossified. The main failure induced by that law were not actually written into it but were the result of bad governance, 's of inadequacy and' insensitivity to the nodes of a large part of the teaching faculty: hence the fragmentation and the proliferation of materials and course, the emptying of the thesis, the lack of consideration of new ways of teaching and the profile of the new two-year specialist and so on. For this, too, have missed those supports these guidelines and educational - all 'is the entry level degree to which the specialist - who also were considered essential in' inspiration of the law. Still referring to the real academic world finally the failure of attempts so far made to reform the competitions (the local competitions were born as a remedy, which proved to be bad, recognized the shortcomings of national competitions). It refers to it, too, the substantial indifference with which they are normally received complaints despite heavy and well documented. In other words, the 'urgent need for radical change comes primarily from the fact that a substantial part of' current faculty has been shown to non essere facilmente "riformabile".