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In recent years, research on education systems has increasingly emphasized the role of teachers as key actors shaping learning environments and student outcomes. Within this perspective, understanding how teachers teach, and which professional and contextual factors support different instructional practices, is crucial for interpreting educational effectiveness. This paper investigates teaching practices in Italian schools, focusing on the diffusion of active methodologies, teachers’ professional representations, and the role of perceived self-efficacy and school context.
The analysis is based on data from a national survey (Fourth Italian Teachers' National Survey, Argentin, 2026) conducted in 2025 among teachers across school levels in Italy. The study examines the frequency of use of instructional practices, ranging from traditional lecturing to interactive approaches such as dialogic teaching, active learning strategies, laboratory-based activities, and cooperative learning. These approaches are widely discussed in the literature as important for improving instructional quality and promoting students’ engagement in learning (OECD, 2019; Strachan & Liyanage, 2015; Vergara et al., 2020). The analysis also considers teachers’ professional culture and perceptions of their work environment, including views on professional preparation, opportunities for in-service training, school capacity for innovation, and teachers’ self-efficacy in different domains of educational practice (Le Donné et al., 2016).
Descriptive results show that Italian teachers tend to adopt a hybrid teaching repertoire. Traditional lecturing remains widespread: 56.1% of teachers report using frontal lectures frequently, while 30.8% use them sometimes. However, dialogic teaching appears even more common, with 72% of teachers declaring that they use it frequently and 24% sometimes. Active methodologies are also widely present, although often used alongside traditional approaches: between 40% and 43% of teachers report frequent use of active learning strategies, laboratory activities, and cooperative learning, while a similar proportion report using them occasionally.
A comparison with data collected in 2008 reveals a substantial transformation in teaching practices over time. The frequent use of traditional lecturing has decreased significantly (from 75.3% in 2008 to 56.1% in 2025), while active and collaborative practices have expanded considerably. In particular, frequent use of cooperative learning has risen from 12.8% to 43.1%, active learning strategies from 23.9% to 40.9%, and laboratory-based teaching from 25.9% to 40.1%.
To better understand factors associated with these practices, principal component analysis identified underlying dimensions of teaching methodologies and professional competences. Results highlight two main dimensions: one related to active teaching practices, one associated with teachers’ perceived self-efficacy. Regression analyses indicate that adoption of active methodologies is strongly associated with higher levels of self-efficacy, particularly in student-oriented teaching tasks such as motivating students, supporting inclusion, and fostering critical thinking.
At the same time, teachers report lower perceived efficacy in influencing the organizational and cultural dimensions of their schools. This gap suggests that pedagogical innovation often remains linked to individual initiative rather than being embedded in collective professional cultures. Strengthening collaborative professional environments, opportunities for shared instructional planning, and supportive leadership therefore appears crucial to make innovative teaching practices more systematic and sustainable within schools.