Conference Program

In recent years, the quality of university teaching has become a growing focus of attention, in response to the complexity of the contexts and issues that higher education is called upon to address: from the emergence of increasingly multifaceted training needs of new generations, to the challenges posed by online teaching and the use of technologies, to the internal and external pressures related to quality assessment procedures for academic processes (EHEA, 2020; Lewis, 2010; Harrison et al., 2022; Sorcinelli, 2020). These challenges also affect the Italian academic context, which is engaged in transformation and innovation in teaching/learning and, in an integrated manner, in organisational and institutional aspects (Lotti & Lampugnani, 2020; QUARC_Docente, 2017; Silva, 2022).

University lecturers assume an intermediate and strategic position between the design of the educational offer, on the one hand, and the learning processes of students, on the other (Cadei et al. 2024). Their professional development can thus represent a functional goal also for innovative processes in the field of teaching, bringing benefits not only to the individual teacher but also to various dimensions of the university, both operational and cultural (Sorcinelli, 2020; Steinert, 2014). In this perspective, faculty development tools that, in addressing and promoting the professionalism of the university teacher, are capable of producing impacts on the organizational arrangements of teaching and on the collegial climate stand out as particularly significant - even starting from “bottom-up” initiatives that can be recognized and valued in the institutional context (Cadei et al., 2025; Lampugnani & Picasso, 2025; Steinert, 2010).

This is the line taken by this paper, which aims to explore the potential of Peer Observation of Teaching (POT) as a professional development tool and, at the same time, as an opportunity to promote a collegial and collaborative approach to teaching (Bell, 2001; Hammersley-Fletcher & Orsmond, 2005; Martin & Double, 1998; Hendry et al., 2021). The subject of the study is a POT experiment carried out at an Italian university (Cadei et al., 2025), using a collaborative model in which pairs of teachers observe each other and exchange feedback for training purposes rather than evaluation (Gosling, 2002; Fletcher, 2018).

The qualitative methodology adopts an interpretative approach and focuses on the post-observation phase, dedicated to sharing observations among teachers. The analysis, through the examination of the transcripts of the sessions, develops progressively: first, the themes and points of attention that emerge with regard to teaching practice and teaching are identified; second, these elements are read to investigate whether and how the experience of participating in POT is distinguished by its educational value at an individual and peer level.

In light of the results that will be collected, the contribution aims to reflect on the potential value of professional support and discussion mechanisms in universities – such as POT – and, in this direction, contribute to enriching the ongoing debate on the mission of teaching in higher education (Harrison et al., 2022; Steinert, 2014), with particular reference to the Italian context (Silva, 2022; Lampugnani & Picasso, 2025).