Examining Self-Determination and Professional Competences in Teacher Education From Both Normative and Pedagogical Perspectives

The quality of the education system also depends on the teachers professionalism and, therefore, on the training which constitutes one of its fundamental elements. The topic of training is considered a critical priority for meeting the diverse needs and expectations of today’s multicultural and technological student population. Professional training, both initial and ongoing, is a necessary path in order to promote continuous learning of teaching methodologies updated to an unstoppable social and digital evolution. The subject of training affects the professional and pedagogical level, has important effects on the evaluation of teachers and is governed by a plurality of sources, on a constitutional, legislative, regulatory-administrative and contractual-union level. In the Italian context, the art. 1, paragraph 124, of the law. n. 107/2015 provides that «as part of the obligations related to the teaching function, in-service training of tenured teachers is mandatory, permanent and structural»; the new National Collective Labor Agreement for staff in the Education and research sector for the period 2019-2021, in art. 36, recognizes training in terms of «fundamental strategic lever for the professional development of staff, for the necessary support for change objectives, for an effective human resources development policy» (paragraph 1) and, the continuous one in terms of right and duty «for school staff as it is functional to the full realization and development of their professionalism». From a purely pedagogical perspective, teachers believe that their ability to act based on the skills they possess and their professional values is increasingly limited in practice, also in light of the new provisions regarding the recruitment and continuous training of teachers. The sense of constraint derives precisely from the call to political responsibility, aimed at guaranteeing and improving educational quality. Although the Italian Constitution establishes the freedom of teaching and the ordinary legislation provides for the didactic autonomy of the teacher, precisely to guarantee the freedom of teaching and respect for the students (their personality and their learning times), recent provisions on the matter of compulsory continuous training seem to condition and limit the professional autonomy of teachers in carrying out teaching, scientific and research activities. These pressures, mainly perceived on a personal level, inevitably spill over into the professional level, with a strong impact on daily educational practice, as well as on the emotional-motivational framework of the teacher and, consequently, on the performance of the entire class group. Policies that «hetero-regulate» professional training encourage inauthentic teaching, centered on the teacher’s expertise, mainly focused on standardized technical-disciplinary skills and which strongly narrows the field of education, neglecting its emotional- relational and self-regulated dimension. What kind of teacher will the continuous research - at ever higher levels - of “professionalism” return to the school? Certainly, more experienced, more technological, but in fact less free to choose what he or she considers most in line with his or her professional identity, namely the vision he or she has of himself or herself in relation to the role he or she plays and how he or she “would like to do education and be an educator.” A teacher, perhaps, less motivated and passionate, more frustrated and controlled? Is it therefore a question of choosing between autonomy and professionalism? Between expertise and self-determination?