341/90) expects initial university teacher formation, only in 1999 preservice teacher
education effectively started.
The problem of the specific disciplinary formation of secondary school teachers
arises from the fact that they have a degree obtained after four years at university,
resulting in good disciplinary formation, but without professional formation. Younger teachers can rely on preservice educational programs which is a bi-annual (S.S.I.
S., 1999–2009) or annual (T.F.A., 2011–2015) post-degree master consisting in 30%
antro/psico/pedagogical areas, 30% educational labs for analysis of didactical planning and review of class intervention and 40% apprenticeship with final thesis.
1 The
employment process took usually place through procedures ascertaining mainly
cultural preparation and transmission capacities (Dutto et al. 2003a, b). Sometimes
teachers attended fragmentary actions in their in-service training, but for the main
part they formed their professionalism through direct experience in the class
(Luzzato 1999; Dutto 2001). Despite in 2016 a law makes mandatory professional
development of in-service secondary school teachers, very often the total responsibility of their training is continued to be attributed to schools, resulting in a poor
organic unity of the activities. Most teachers thus continue to be self-trained on the
basis of their willingness.
Researches concerning pre- and in-service secondary school teacher formation on
scientific topics evidenced formative needs on methodological and disciplinary plans
(Michelini 1997; Pugliese et al. 1999). In-service formation has to be able to face
specific educative and formative problems: the nature and role of interaction between
contents and the organization of the educational activity, the managing of curricula,
of the learning processes, of the methods of innovation and of the overcoming of the
conceptual knots (Dutto et al. 2003a, b; Michelini and Schiavi 2001).
The intuitive dimension drives teachers in developing a useful sensitivity for the
choice of strategies and methods to be adopted, according to their experiences, and
very often it remains their only reference for educational choices. Proposals coming
from didactical tradition, scholastic publishing, dispersed and differentiated forms of
in-service training are mostly disorienting because of their fragmented setting
regarding contents, methods, duration and offers (Dutto et al. 2003a, b) and lead
teachers to think that it is necessary to adapt their approach to a consolidate praxis
relying on textbooks or on the experience of older teachers (Eraut 1994).
The re-qualification of teachers of the profession of the teacher cannot be satisfied
with theoretical notions (Anderson 1995), but it has to be contextualized. The
situated dimension of contextualized analysis, of experimentation and of implementation in context of educational proposals allows the development of the reflection in
professional practice, which is an indispensable condition to master innovation
(Woolnough 2001).
As concern modern physics topics, recent reforms (Law 107/2015) re-designed
secondary school curriculum introducing modern physics, with the possibility for a
1 A new model for preservice teacher formation (F.I.T.) has been now adopted according to law
107/2015 consisting in a three-year formation and apprenticeship in tight cooperation with university reality.
176
D. Buongiorno et al.
education effectively started.
The problem of the specific disciplinary formation of secondary school teachers
arises from the fact that they have a degree obtained after four years at university,
resulting in good disciplinary formation, but without professional formation. Younger teachers can rely on preservice educational programs which is a bi-annual (S.S.I.
S., 1999–2009) or annual (T.F.A., 2011–2015) post-degree master consisting in 30%
antro/psico/pedagogical areas, 30% educational labs for analysis of didactical planning and review of class intervention and 40% apprenticeship with final thesis.
1 The
employment process took usually place through procedures ascertaining mainly
cultural preparation and transmission capacities (Dutto et al. 2003a, b). Sometimes
teachers attended fragmentary actions in their in-service training, but for the main
part they formed their professionalism through direct experience in the class
(Luzzato 1999; Dutto 2001). Despite in 2016 a law makes mandatory professional
development of in-service secondary school teachers, very often the total responsibility of their training is continued to be attributed to schools, resulting in a poor
organic unity of the activities. Most teachers thus continue to be self-trained on the
basis of their willingness.
Researches concerning pre- and in-service secondary school teacher formation on
scientific topics evidenced formative needs on methodological and disciplinary plans
(Michelini 1997; Pugliese et al. 1999). In-service formation has to be able to face
specific educative and formative problems: the nature and role of interaction between
contents and the organization of the educational activity, the managing of curricula,
of the learning processes, of the methods of innovation and of the overcoming of the
conceptual knots (Dutto et al. 2003a, b; Michelini and Schiavi 2001).
The intuitive dimension drives teachers in developing a useful sensitivity for the
choice of strategies and methods to be adopted, according to their experiences, and
very often it remains their only reference for educational choices. Proposals coming
from didactical tradition, scholastic publishing, dispersed and differentiated forms of
in-service training are mostly disorienting because of their fragmented setting
regarding contents, methods, duration and offers (Dutto et al. 2003a, b) and lead
teachers to think that it is necessary to adapt their approach to a consolidate praxis
relying on textbooks or on the experience of older teachers (Eraut 1994).
The re-qualification of teachers of the profession of the teacher cannot be satisfied
with theoretical notions (Anderson 1995), but it has to be contextualized. The
situated dimension of contextualized analysis, of experimentation and of implementation in context of educational proposals allows the development of the reflection in
professional practice, which is an indispensable condition to master innovation
(Woolnough 2001).
As concern modern physics topics, recent reforms (Law 107/2015) re-designed
secondary school curriculum introducing modern physics, with the possibility for a
1 A new model for preservice teacher formation (F.I.T.) has been now adopted according to law
107/2015 consisting in a three-year formation and apprenticeship in tight cooperation with university reality.
176
D. Buongiorno et al.