Beyond the “do it yourself”. Evidence-based training to improve teachers’ didactic action

Abstract

What are the suggestions that educational research can give to teacher training? Understanding what are the elements that make the action of teachers more effective is an important guide for designing initial and in-service training courses, capable of providing tools to improve not only the action of individuals but also the quality of the education system. The article reports the main results of the research on Teacher effectiveness integrating them with the evidence produced by the Evidence Informed Education strand, with a view to directing teacher training courses useful for improving the didactic action in the classroom, overcoming the improvisation and the “do it yourself” that has often characterized both the initial training and the in-service training of Italian teachers, through the clarification of principles capable of guiding the choice of training offers and intervention strategies.