We finally arrived! I cannot believe how beautiful this city is! The Duomo (pictured here) 
is still breathtaking to me. Our trip is to learn about educational practices in Italy, and I just cannot help thinking that education as we know it the world over got a start here in some form or fashion. When Europe drew itself up out of the Dark Ages and ushered forth the Renaissance, what did education look like? In the Middle Ages and for most of the Renaissance, education was found in one form: La Santa Iglesia (The Holy Mother Church). Monks and nuns from wealthy families were shipped off to the convent or monastery as a means of finding education - an education ruled by the rigors of religious doctrine and dogma, but an education nonetheless. Other members of society were forced to work. They received an education in the professions. Wordworkers, blacksmiths, hostelry, stone carvers, etc. all created guilds which would maintain a normative standard by which all of the major professions would be measured. One could really not achieve much in life unless he (I choose not to use the pronoun "she" here because women were afforded even less opportunity in life) learned a trade or devoted himself to God. How then did education become available to the masses and move from the arena of the privileged to a basic human right for all?
On a lighter note, we had finally arrived to Florence and started our journey by checking in at the Hotel Bodoni. It was amazing at how quaint this little jewel of a hotel is in terms of its operating procedures. Note: no computer on the reception desk and NO electronic key cards to get into the rooms!
Our first order of business after a quick shower and freshen-up was to take a walking tour of Florence. This was
helpful to familiarize ourselves with the city and to begin our journey back in time and into the context of Italian history which not only shaped their educational system, but ours as well!
is still breathtaking to me. Our trip is to learn about educational practices in Italy, and I just cannot help thinking that education as we know it the world over got a start here in some form or fashion. When Europe drew itself up out of the Dark Ages and ushered forth the Renaissance, what did education look like? In the Middle Ages and for most of the Renaissance, education was found in one form: La Santa Iglesia (The Holy Mother Church). Monks and nuns from wealthy families were shipped off to the convent or monastery as a means of finding education - an education ruled by the rigors of religious doctrine and dogma, but an education nonetheless. Other members of society were forced to work. They received an education in the professions. Wordworkers, blacksmiths, hostelry, stone carvers, etc. all created guilds which would maintain a normative standard by which all of the major professions would be measured. One could really not achieve much in life unless he (I choose not to use the pronoun "she" here because women were afforded even less opportunity in life) learned a trade or devoted himself to God. How then did education become available to the masses and move from the arena of the privileged to a basic human right for all?On a lighter note, we had finally arrived to Florence and started our journey by checking in at the Hotel Bodoni. It was amazing at how quaint this little jewel of a hotel is in terms of its operating procedures. Note: no computer on the reception desk and NO electronic key cards to get into the rooms!
Our first order of business after a quick shower and freshen-up was to take a walking tour of Florence. This was
helpful to familiarize ourselves with the city and to begin our journey back in time and into the context of Italian history which not only shaped their educational system, but ours as well! 
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