Editorials

From environment to impacts of technology: the topics we would like to see this year at the graduation exam

18 June 2019 | Written by La redazione

The final exam will start on Wednesday 19 June and the "topic pool" for the themes of the first test has been going crazy on the web for weeks. Here are the topics we would like to be submitted to the students, to stimulate curiosity and a critical spirit around some crucial issues for our and their future

Here we are, the dreaded maturity exam is now upon 520,000 Italian students. Among the many innovations introduced this year there is a great certainty: the first test, as per tradition, will be the italian essay. Even here, to tell the truth, from 2019 we will see some changes, with the absence of a historical composition and a short essay. Graduates will be able to choose between three types: text analysis (2 topics), argumentative text (3 topics) and current events (2 topics). In the six hours available, students will have to demonstrate mastery of the language and good argumentative skills, but also critical thinking and curiosity. So why not take advantage of the opportunity to present students with some crucial issues for the future?

 

The “subject pool”, between current events and anniversaries. As always, the weeks preceding the first test of the maturity exam are animated by the “whole subject”: lots of journalistic headings, but also blogs and portals aimed at students, indulged themselves in identifying the possible traces that will be proposed to the students. 2019 offers numerous interesting ideas: as far as current events are concerned, among the most popular topics is the climatic emergency, with the protest of Greta Thunberg that has positively infected students from all over Europe. Immediately behind we find “immigration and racism”, at the center of the political debate and perhaps for this very reason a little less plausible. On the scientific front, however, the photo of the black hole could be the outsider of the day while cyberbullying and risks of the network represent a theme on which more than someone feels to bet. In addition, 2019 is a year full of anniversaries: just to name a few, this year they are 30 years from the birth of the Internet, 50 from the moon landing, 90 from the birth of Anne Frank and 500 from the death of Leonardo. All “birthdays” that deserve to be celebrated and that lend themselves well to a reflection of the students.

 

A reflection addressed to the future. Precisely because today’s 19-year-olds will be the future of Italy and the world, it is important, in our opinion, that they reflect on fundamental issues for their and our tomorrow. So let’s welcome the environment, the evolution of space exploration or the future of the internet, but it will be important to respect a condition: that from the track is required to look to the future and not to the past, because these anniversaries are the opportunity to investigate and reason about tomorrow, starting from the teachings of the past and the signs of the present. However, the graduation exam could be an opportunity to reason for the boys (and indirectly all of us) on the impacts of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, on changes in the world of work, on knowledge and skills that will be fundamental for the world of the future, on the evolution of education and the creation of knowledge.

In general, we would like it to be at the center of everything, regardless of the type of theme or the specific track, there is the future: it is important that maturity is not just an exam, the first big test for these younglings, but also an opportunity for reflection around the major issues that will be crucial for their and our tomorrow. Last year the topic dedicated to bioethics has pleasantly surprised us: we hope that also for the Maturity 2019 the MIUR will reserve us some beautiful surprise.

La redazione
La redazione

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