Perceptions of competencies among in-service socio-pedagogical professional educators: a nationwide exploratory survey

The definition of different professional roles and the competencies of professionals in educational care has been, and continues to be, a highly debated topic in the political, social, and academic realms on both national and international levels. The current socio-cultural context is marked by a proliferation of diverse and complex educational and training emergencies that encompass a wide range of special educational needs (ONU, 2015; ISTAT, 2018). The plurality of educational and training situations in the field requires functional pedagogical approaches and responses formulated through new knowledge, literacies, and competencies of educators (Gaspari, 2018) that adhere to the principles of inclusion and respect for diversity (UNESCO, 2009; ONU, 2015; ISTAT, 2018). Socio-pedagogical professional educators, in this sense, represent a necessary response to socio-cultural issues, and for this reason, a profound reflection on the role played by the essential set of competencies needed to address educational practice is essential (Sposetti et al., 2022; Boffo, 2021; Gaspari, 2018). Law No. 205 of 2017 establishes and defines the roles and functions of professional educators operating in socio-educational and training contexts. The direction set by the recognition of the professionalism and identity of socio-pedagogical educators brings to the forefront the issue of professional competencies that qualify educational and social interventions. The fields of intervention and educational design have highly complex and flexible characteristics, requiring competent professional figures attentive to the needs of the users. But what are the essential professional competencies for educational practice? And how do educators in service build their competencies? The exploratory investigation is aimed at socio-pedagogical professional educators in service throughout the national territory with the goal of exploring the theme of constructing professional profiles in real and diversified contexts. The study is formulated using mixed research methods and aims to understand which professional competencies educators recognize as fundamental for acting in socio-educational and training contexts, and to reflect on the formative experiences that contribute to the development of professionalism. The objective of this paper is to present the current state of research progress. In particular, will be presented the research design, the tools employed, and the initial results obtained, providing a comprehensive overview of the early stages of this study and anticipating the perspectives that emerge from analysis.