Initial teacher education in Italy

The article is organised in three parts. The first one illustrates the historical features and the institutional and political background that have to be taken into account in order to understand how initial teacher education and training has developed in Italy. Presently, all teacher education is managed by Universities, but a considerable difference still remains between the organisation of courses for primary and pre-primary teachers, on one hand, and secondary teachers, on the other. The second part analyses the transition, between the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, from an education for primary teachers that took place at high school level (Istituto Magistrale) to a fully University one (Corso di laurea in Scienze della formazione primaria); and it also examines the crucial issue of the creation, in the same period, of the Post-Graduate Schools for Secondary Teachers (Scuole di Specializzazione per l'Insegnamento Secondario - SSIS), until they were abolished in 2009. The third part shows the present framework of initial teacher training in Italy, mainly related to teaching in lower and upper secondary schools. At this level of schooling the legislation was recently changed; the Scuole di Specializzazione per l'Insegnamento Secondario (SSIS) have been replaced with the Tirocinio Formativo Attivo (TFA), which at present is being implemented for the first time by the universities. In the final section of this part a provisional balance of the innovation is outlined and some critical issues are pointed out. The essay is essentially focused on initial teacher training, as in Italy in-service training, while not completely absent, has never been the object of specific regulation nor of systematic actions, but it exists when it exists - on the basis of the initiative of individual groups or associations.