Development and Institutionalization for Pre Professional Teacher Training in Tunisia (TETRAI²) Teacher Training in Italy Oriana Palusci Giusi Zanasi Naples / Dresden September 2014 This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
INTRODUCTION A long history of debates and struggles It would take a long time to recall the historical and institutional background of Teacher Training in Italy, but it s important to underline at least a widespread mentality which has prevented the development of a coherent legislative regulation of this matter in our country. The history dates back to Giovanni Gentile, a neo-idealist philosopher, who was the Minister of Public Education in Mussolini s government, and who introduced a School Reform (1922-23), which had a long-lasting influence upon the Italian Education system. Thus, very briefly and schematically, what prevailed were deep rooted beliefs such as «non c è un sapere che insegni l arte di fare scuola» that is: there isn t any knowledge that teaches how to teach; it is impossible to teach teaching; the educational relationship must be always new and different; it cannot be reduced to general rules and methods; the teacher himself is the method [the masculine here is used by Gentile/ he had probably in mind a male teacher]. The teacher is like an artist; good teaching is based on his own native talent, on his human qualities (equivalence education/vocation-calling) and above all on his disciplinary competence: chi sa, sa anche insegnare, a person that has achieved a deep knowledge, is also able to convey it. Consequently, the call for the teaching profession to acquire the necessary skills and pedagogic competence has had to face a strong mistrust towards any discussion about teaching strategies and towards any technicality. Furthermore there have been strong political and ideological disputes between the Right and the Left, and one should not forget the powerful influence wielded by the Catholic Church to this day controversies concerning diverse concepts ranging from a strict conservatism to a very radical innovation, considering the School as a place of transmission of the cultural heritage or else as an institution that reflects and supports social transformation. Last but not least, it must be also mentioned that Academic scholars have long shown an inner resistance to dialogue and cooperation with the school world. On the other hand, despite the constant lack of legislative support, we have had an interesting tradition of Pedagogy studies as well as practices, from Maria Montessori at the beginning of the XX century to Don Lorenzo Milani in the late 1960s, and later, in the 1970s and 1980s, a growing number of teaching experiments by university professors and school teachers, for example in the scientific area, mainly in mathematics. Nevertheless, until 1999, those who intended to become school teachers had to obtain a degree and then pass a national competitive examination, which had essentially a disciplinary character, with little or no emphasis on pedagogy and teaching skills.
PEDAGOGICAL TURN SISS AND TFA Teacher training courses organised by universities Finally, the beginning of the new millennium (2000) witnessed an important legislative innovation in the field of Teacher Training: the introduction of SSIS (Scuola di Specializzazione all Insegnamento Secondario), a postgraduate Specialisation Course for secondary school teachers. In line with our cooperation project, this introduction regards only Secondary School, leaving aside the primary school. Secondary school in Italy includes two cycles: the first one, scuola media, lasting 3 years, with pupils between the ages of 10-11 and 13-14 and the second one, liceo, lasting 5 years, with pupils between the ages of 13-14 and 18-19. The SSIS was a two-years training, organised and managed by universities, focusing on disciplinary contents, but also on specific pedagogic labs and internships at schools. It was suppressed in 2009, mainly for two reasons: Teacher Training, including a Bachelor degree, a Master degree and the SSIS, required 7 years. It was simply too long; moreover it had proved to be once more conceived in fundamentally theoretical terms, with too many exams (often on the same topics already covered by university programs) and especially with inadequate attention to the concrete Teaching practice. Four years ago (2010) a new Ministerial Decree implemented a new kind of Teacher Training Program. In order to obtain the qualification for the teaching profession one must attend a specific specialization course after the Master degree. The course lasts one year, with 1500 hours in all, 400 (+75 for pupils with disabilities) of which devoted to an internship in a school. Thus, the name itself, Tirocinio Formativo Attivo (TFA), emphasizes the central focus on Active Apprenticeship, which is the teaching practice. As in the case of the SSIS, the course is organized and run by the universities, but at least theoretically in a much closer cooperation with tutor teachers, who have to follow the trainees in the schools. At a regional level, universities run different training programs depending on the areas of the specialisation of each site in the region. For instance, the University of Naples L Orientale runs the Teacher Training courses for modern languages. The management of the educational activities is undertaken by the Board of the Course, made up of faculty, tutor teachers, one representative of the trainees and one representative of the (USR) Regional School Office. The number of teachers, no less than 2, depends on the number of trainees (in the proportion 1/30). The university organizes seminars and labs as well as the placement of trainees at schools. The first TFA started in 2012; the second cycle will take place this coming autumn. The access to each teacher training field ( classe di abilitazione ) is limited to a preestablished number of candidates (numerus clausus), established each year by the
Ministry of Education, according to the needs of schools, planned on a regional basis by the School Offices of individual Regions. To access the TFA candidates must pass a national selection. The selection comprises three stages. The preliminary test is designed by the Ministry of Education, the subsequent exams by the Universities. 1. A preliminary test with 60 multiple-choice questions, which aims to check the candidate s knowledge of his/her disciplinary field. A candidate who has passed this first test, can proceed to step two. 2. A written exam in which students prove their abilities in different methods of analysis concerning the disciplinary field. In the humanities text analysis, interpretation and so on; in the scientific field, it may include a laboratory test. A candidate who has passed this exam, can proceed to step three. 3. An oral examination concerning disciplinary topics, with the aim of assessing the candidate s background knowledge of the discipline and the capacity to organize and respond to in an oral interaction. (We must remember that oral exams are essential in the Italian Education system, both at schools and universities). The TFA program consists of 4 fields of study and training: 1. Pedagogy Learning theories / teaching strategies / intercultural integration and so on. 2. Didactics of individual disciplines. 3. Internship at schools (400 hours) under the guide of a tutor, which includes direct apprenticeship in a classroom (first observation and then teaching practise), but also participation in teacher meetings to discuss school management and classroom management, plan teaching programs and other school activities, including the elaboration of European projects. 4. Didactic Laboratories, which include the so called indirect internship, that is more hours of training with a school teacher about different matters: relationship with the pupils, how to motivate them, how to bring them to the stage of personal production, how to plan a teaching unit, evaluation methods, how to work with the new media and so on. Pedagogy training and Didactics of the individual disciplines are organized by the TFA Board of the University and the teaching of classes is delegated to university professors. On the other hand, the Didactic Laboratories, held at the university, are mainly run by school teachers with a long experience. For their final exam the candidate must discuss a written dissertation consisting of the didactics methodology used in the planning of a Teaching Unit on a given topic, as well as present a report about the Internship and the training program. The supervisor is a university professor together with the teacher trainer who has followed the training activity at school. The examining Committee is composed by five university professors, one school headmaster and a representative of the (USR) Regional School Office. Once the
candidate has passed the final exam, the university attests to the successful achievement of the requirements and awards a diploma of teaching qualification. CONCLUSION Some Critical Issues During our first meeting a Tunisian colleague pointed out the question of training of trainers. This issue concerns our country as well. After more than 10 years of Teacher Training, the Universities have now a certain experience, and yet, to this day, the selection of professors and school teachers for the TFA courses still appears almost precarious; particularly many university professors have neither a specific pedagogic competence to take on this new task nor a sufficient knowledge of the school world, as many of them openly declare themselves. Thus, it is too early for a final balance, things are still in progress, but it can be safely assumed that the outcome of the TFA, its effectiveness and the levels of qualification it produces, cannot but be very different, depending on the competence of individual institutions and individual university professors or school teachers. Another problematic aspect regards the further qualification of the teaching staff. Long-life training courses for teachers have never been the object of specific regulation nor of systematic actions in our country; the few existing ones are based on the initiative of individual groups or associations like ANFIS (National Association for Teacher Training) or other similar Associations. Furthermore, we are in the middle of an open-ended process: some years ago (2007) the Ministry of Education planned specific Master Degrees (with num. clausus) for Teacher Training courses (with 600 hours internship at schools as part of the curriculum), but this met with strong resistance from the Academia, and they have not yet been put in action anywhere. So, the adventure of Teacher Training in Italy is still in progress.