Conference Program

The increasing attention devoted by educational research to school leaders—now widely recognised as strategic actors in the functioning and innovation of educational systems—suggests the importance of a historical re-examination of their role. From this perspective, a diachronic approach invites us to consider how, even prior to the full establishment of school autonomy, certain leadership figures exerted a significant influence on the organisational and managerial structures of educational institutions, on the construction of teachers’ professional identity, and on the development of democratic teaching practices. Reinterpreting these experiences from a historical-educational perspective therefore means not only reconstructing past organisational models, but also understanding how particular pedagogical visions, leadership styles and forms of coordination have contributed over time to the shaping of democratic professional cultures within a dialogical relationship between past and present.For these reasons, this paper focuses on the figure of Giancarlo Cerini, who served as a primary school teacher, headteacher, researcher at the Regional Institute for Educational Research, Experimentation and In-Service Training (IRRSAE) of Emilia-Romagna, technical inspector at the Italian Ministry of Education, and was undoubtedly among the key protagonists of the season of school reforms from the 1980s onwards. Among his most notable contributions are the drafting of the National Guidelines for the Curriculum (2012) and the Pedagogical Guidelines for the Integrated 0–6 Education System (2021). In the current national context, characterised by an intense debate on democratic schooling, analysing Cerini’s contribution may prove particularly relevant. This study aims to provide a historical and theoretical overview of the formative role played by Cerini during his tenure as headteacher between 1979 and 1984, a period during which he developed democratic operational practices characterised by a deeply open and participatory leadership style, fostering cooperation among teachers, families and local institutions. Through the analysis of printed and archival sources—many of which have so far remained unexplored—the paper examines several specific experiences that highlight the democratic practices implemented during Cerini’s leadership. Although the role and professional identity of school leadership have evolved over time, these experiences may still represent a valuable point of reference today, as they embody an anticipatory and innovative conception of school governance.

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.

Schools face growing pressures to deliver on learning, inclusion, equity, and innovation with constrained resources (European Commission, 2008). As teachers’ work expands beyond instruction, administrative and compliance demands contribute to time poverty and limited recovery (Creagh et al., 2025; OECD, 2025). Teachers’ occupational health is central to promoting wellbeing across the whole school community (World Health Organization, 2022), and school-based relational conditions (e.g., supportive leadership and collegial relationships) are key protective resources in high-demand contexts (Schaufeli et al., 2006; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2009; Velasco et al., 2013). This study aims to describe teachers’ burnout, engagement, and perceived need for psychological support across sociodemographic and professional groups, and to examine how these outcomes vary by satisfaction with relationships with school leaders and colleagues.

This study is part of the Quarta Indagine sulle Condizioni di Vita e di Lavoro degli Insegnanti Italiani, which aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the living and working conditions of the Italian school system. The survey involved a representative sample of 9,671 teachers, based on a stratified sampling design. The analyses presented here focus on a random subsample (N = 4,699) who completed a dedicated battery on teachers’ occupational wellbeing. Self-report measures of burnout (BAT-12) and engagement (UWES-9) were administered. Teachers were also asked whether they considered a dedicated psychological support service at school useful for supporting teachers’ wellbeing. In addition, teachers’ satisfaction with perceived support from school leaders and colleagues was examined. To further contextualise these national findings, additional analyses will benchmark results against the HBSC Teachers Survey 2022 (Lombardy, Italy), which involved 5,847 teachers from lower and upper secondary schools.

Overall, Italian teachers reported low-to-moderate burnout (M = 1.95; SD = 0.53), with 18.3% in the high range and 1.5% in the very high range. Exhaustion was the highest burnout component (M = 2.54; SD = 0.82), and 60.2% reported scepticism about the meaning and value their work has for others. Engagement was high (M = 3.98; SD = 0.62): 77.5% reported feeling enthusiastic often/always and 83.6% feeling immersed often/always. Group differences were modest: burnout was lower and engagement higher in Central/Southern Italy than in the North, and primary teachers reported lower burnout and higher engagement than secondary teachers. Regarding support needs, 59.9% considered a school-based psychological support service useful for themselves. Finally, greater satisfaction with support from school leaders and colleagues was associated with lower burnout and higher engagement, most strongly for school leadership, consistent with HBSC Teachers evidence linking higher principal support to lower burnout.

Findings indicate that, alongside generally high engagement, a non-negligible share of teachers experience elevated burnout and report concerns about the meaning and value their work has for others. Reported needs for psychological support are widespread. Satisfaction with school-based relational support, especially from school leaders, shows the clearest and most consistent association with both lower burnout and higher engagement, highlighting the relevance of strengthening supportive leadership and collegial environments in efforts to promote teachers’ occupational health.

Over the past decades, the teaching profession has become increasingly complex. Classrooms are more heterogeneous in terms of educational needs and migrant backgrounds; digital technologies have become pervasive; and opportunities for professional development remain limited. In this context, teachers’ self-efficacy represents a crucial professional resource. In line with Bandura’s (1991) social cognitive theory, teacher self-efficacy refers to teachers’ beliefs in their capability to teach effectively, engage students, and foster learning (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001). International research shows that higher teacher self-efficacy is associated with greater job satisfaction, stronger professional commitment, lower burnout, and improved student outcomes. In the Italian context, data from the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (2025) indicate levels of self-efficacy above the OECD average, despite limited mentoring, career pathways, and professional feedback mechanisms. It is therefore important to better understand how perceived self-efficacy is distributed among Italian teachers in order to design effective organizational interventions.
Using data from the Fourth Survey on the Living and Working Conditions of Italian Teachers, this study analyzes a representative sample of teachers across all educational levels (n = 9680) through latent profile analysis. Self-efficacy is measured through a 20-item four-point Likert scale articulated into four subdimensions: efficacy in student engagement, instructional strategies, classroom management, and influencing the school context. The study has a twofold objective: first, to examine which teacher characteristics (socio-demographics, working conditions, and teaching level) are associated with the four profiles identified; second, to investigate the relationship between self-efficacy and organizational resources within schools—such as professional development opportunities, peer relations, organizational hierarchies, and teachers’ inclusion in decision-making processes—as well as outcomes highlighted in the literature, including work-related stress, job satisfaction, and other indicators of professional well-being. This framework helps identify resources “within reach” of schools that may improve teachers’ working conditions and the quality of teaching.
Four distinct profiles of teachers’ perceived self-efficacy emerged from the latent profile analysis. The first profile (management-struggling teachers) was characterized by very low classroom management efficacy alongside slightly above-average levels of instructional strategies and student engagement. This group included relatively more younger and substitute teachers, as well as teachers working in upper secondary education and support roles. The second profile (moderately confident teachers) showed balanced levels of self-efficacy across all domains, generally close to the sample average, and a composition similar to that of the overall sample. The third profile (highly confident teachers) reported above-average self-efficacy across all dimensions and included relatively more experienced teachers, teachers working in primary education, and a higher proportion from southern regions. Finally, the fourth profile (management-oriented teachers) showed very high classroom management efficacy but lower levels in the other domains, particularly in influencing the school context, and included more tenured and older teachers working in upper secondary schools.
Regression analyses based on the proposed framework provide further insights into the organizational and professional factors associated with different patterns of teacher self-efficacy.

Over the past two decades, digitalization has been regarded across OECD countries as the primary vehicle for school modernization (Selwyn, 2021). This has translated into growing public investment in digital innovation in schools, alongside increasing pressure on teachers to become active participants in the digital re-infrastructuring of learning environments and to embrace a radical vision of pedagogical innovation through digital technologies (OECD, 2025). Against this policy backdrop, research efforts have multiplied to understand how the integration of digital technologies into teaching practices is evolving, and how teachers' opinions and attitudes toward both established and emerging digital tools are changing (Sarra et al., 2025; Wijnen et al., 2023).

This paper examines the evolution of digital technology use and related attitudes among Italian teachers, drawing on data from the IV Italian national teachers’ survey conducted on a national sample of teachers during 2025. The analysis takes place against the backdrop of a profound transformation in the technological landscape since the previous wave of data collection (dated 2008).

This survey provides a rich set of questions devoted to investigate the use of ed-tech in classroom activities, the agency of students in managing digital devices during school hours, and attitudes towards the impact of the technological trasformation undergone by the school system in the last 20 years.

Findings reveal that certain teaching practices — particularly those involving the use of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) under direct teacher control — have become fully mainstream, no longer showing significant differences related to teacher age and only marginal disciplinary variation. By contrast, practices that require continuous, active technology use by students, such as collaborative tasks or content creation activities, remain less widespread, albeit growing.

The paper also highlights a shift in teachers' attitudes toward the defining technological innovation of the current moment — artificial intelligence — which, compared to the reception once given to the Internet in the previous survey (Gui, 2010), appears markedly more cautious and reflective. This measured stance suggests a greater awareness of both the potential and the risks associated with the rapid integration of new tools into educational settings.

To explore whether technology users can be grouped into meaningful profiles, the paper employs cluster analysis, aiming to identify distinct types of teachers based on their patterns of use and their underlying attitudes.

Overall, teachers express a broadly positive view of the role that digital technologies have come to play in their professional lives. At the same time, they voice considerable concern about students' use of social media and its potential effects on their wellbeing.

Across Europe, democracies are facing increasing pressure from radical right-wing and anti-democratic forces. In recent years, young people in particular have become a key target group for anti-democratic actors, especially in the digital sphere. Social science research now encompasses numerous studies on radicalization and extremism, including development-oriented models of radicalization processes (e.g., McCauley & Moskalenko, 2017, Kruglanski et al., 2019, Borum, 2011), research on individual risk and protective factors (e.g., Borum, 2014), and analyses of the ideological foundations of radical-right and anti-democratic movements and their societal effects (e.g., Mudde, 2014, Mudde & Kaltwasser, 2017). In the field of radicalization prevention and education for democracy (CoE, 2018), studies indicate that interventions can promote resilience, foster democratic values, and enhance participants’ self-efficacy and empathy (e.g., Feddes et al., 2015, 2019). However, methodologically sound evaluation studies are still rare (Wolfowicz et al., 2022). While teacher training is seen as key for radicalization prevention and democracy education at schools, there is a lack of empirical studies regarding the effects of training courses for democracy education in the civics classroom.

To address these research deficits, we present the results of a scientific evaluation of multi-module training courses for civics teachers and related teaching units, implemented in Lower Saxony, Germany. Both were developed, piloted, and implemented in the project “Empowering Civics Teachers to Prevent Radicalization” (2022-2025) at University of Goettingen and Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany (funded by the Ministry of Justice of Lower Saxony).

The teacher training courses were designed to enable educators to address the foundations and challenges of liberal democracy in civic education. They aimed to support teachers in using topics such as conflicts between fundamental rights, the state’s monopoly on the use of force, civil disobedience, and the question of legitimate limits of tolerance as meaningful teaching and learning opportunities, and in addressing these issues in a cognitively activating, action- and student-oriented way in the classroom.

Using semi-standardized questionnaires, a total of N=65 civics teachers, who participated in three multi-module training courses, were surveyed at two measurement points (pre-test, post-test). Furthermore, N=61 students from grammar schools and vocational schools were surveyed at pre- and post-test in order to assess changes resulting from the specially designed teaching units. For teachers, the evaluation focused on subjective (pedagogical) content knowledge regarding education of democracy and on their perceived self-efficacy in addressing and countering anti-democratic positions in the classroom. For students, the evaluation focused on their attitudes and motivations towards pluralistic democracy.

The empirical results indicate that the teacher trainings had a positive impact on teachers’ self-efficacy regarding the integration of democracy education into their civics lessons and fostered their willingness to address anti-democratic views in the classroom. The classroom interventions resulted in significant changes in students` democratic orientations, showing positive effects on their attitudes toward fundamental features of pluralistic democracy and a stronger rejection of authoritarian positions.

The presentation concludes with a discussion of methodological limitations of the study and offers an outlook for civic education practice and future research on democracy education in schools.