The DidaSco Project: a training program for the teachers’ professional development

Continuing professional development is the perspective from which policy makers promote the quality of teaching today. The development of teachers’ professional identity requires different approaches and models of teacher’ training: self-awareness, reflection on/in action, devices for improvement of different kinds of professional skills (disciplinary skills; pedagogical and transversal skills; soft skills; organizational and management skills etc.). In the last few years the Italian National Plan of Teachers Training (PNF) had to deal with continuing professional development providing a univocal governance model and standards of teachers’ training quality. The paper describes the pedagogical model, methodologies (of organization) and specific devices of DidaSco Project, a Continuing professional development teachers’ training program developed at the University of Bari. DidaSco Project is based on a collaborative approach that arises from the importance of a partnership between researchers and teachers and it is carried out with regard to PNF: the course catalogue is linked to the PNF teacher’s training priorities; the structure of each course holds together theoretical knowledge, documentation and action research; the ‘prototype’ device is tested into/inside teaching practice at school. As an example of ‘multi-level’ training program, the rationale of DidaSco Project could be a specific object of continuing professional development studies.