The transformation of teachers’ training policy in Italy: tracing changes in the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis

Initial secondary school teachers’ training policy in Italy have been characterised since the early 2000s by continuous regime changes, independently of the political affiliation of the government in office. In particular, introduced in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the legislative decree n.36/2022 established the latest norms as part of the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience plan (PNRR), financed by the European Union: Italy was the highest beneficiary, and devoted almost 34 billion euros to the Education and Research mission. The current path prospective teachers have to follow, has come to be known as the “60 ECTS” regime, which in July 2022 overstepped the previous one, known as “24 ECTS” (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System). In order to start a secondary school teacher career, now one must hold a master level degree, acquire 60 extra ECTS either during the master degree studies or after its completion; pass a national competition; and undergo a 1 year trial period in a school where, after a final evaluation, one can get hired. Education policy-making dynamics under the Covid-19 pandemic have been described by commentators as being guided by logics of securitisation, but such explanation does not hold as we consider the transition period between the climax of the Covid-19 crisis and its gradual normalisation. Then, the paucity of the literature on the politics of education in the Italian context, especially in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, a period that is arguably still characterising our present, points at a gap that this research aims to address. Therefore, focussing on this intra-crisis and post crisis temporal period, this paper describes and understands the regime change answering the research question: “how and why were teachers’ training regulations transformed from the 24 ECTS regime, to the 60 ECTS one?” The major technological race that proved being a necessary condition to ensure continuity to the educational practice in the midst of the crisis, may have played a role in the definition of the new regime, alongside the intertwined aspect of pupils’ rapidly evolving curricula and their access to education. In order to answer the research question, the paper applies the method of comparative historical analysis and process tracing, upon this in-depth single case study. Document analysis is conducted upon primary and secondary legislation (such as ministerial decrees, ministerial circulars, departmental notes), parliaments’ sessions minutes and press releases. Understanding the factors that lie at the heart of such regime change would shed a light on the forces at play in the evolution of secondary teachers’ requirements at national system level.