The Italian Way to the Europeanisation of Teacher Education: An Analysis of Reforms and the Ongoing Experience of Digital Transformation

Abstract

The Covid-19 emergency compelled teachers to reshape their teaching approach. Teachers were able to better recognise technologies as a means of interaction and digital transformation as a driver for professional growth. The present paper addresses the Europeanisation of teacher education and professionalisation. This process, which recognises the specific histories and political cultures of national training systems while offering common categories of analysis, nowadays welcomes the challenge of the general digital transition. The aim of the paper is to focus on how the process of Europeanisation of teacher education in Italy is taking place. Two paths are proposed. The first is the presentation of a documentary review study of the latest ministerial reforms that interpret the European recommendations. The second is a description of the DidaSco continuous professional development programme at the University of Bari, which implements European recommendations and national directives through appropriate technological innovations, which have been made even more available since the pandemic. What emerges is the representation of a possible ‘Italian way’ to the Europeanisation of teacher training, as is being achieved through the opportunities of digital transformation.