Evidence-based education and the insegnante di sostegno: problematics, approaches and prospects

Abstract

Lately, the figure of the insegnante di sostegno, so characteristic of the Italian educational landscape, is going through a series of changes; to some, this figure is now obsolete and not able anymore to answer appropriately the needs and requests of inclusion in current day school, while, to others, it is still a vital part of the school system, and, although in great need of a rethinking from a methodological and educational standpoint, it needs to be preserved while updated.
This article wishes to explore the possibilities of implementing an evidence based research approach to the study on this figure, in order to achieve empirical data to start a process of deep renovation of the role of insegnante di sostegno, which, in turn, should also foster the renovation of the entire school system concerning inclusion, both methodologically and culturally.
Even though there is the awareness that such a research approach entails a carefully designed research framework, and that doubts and objection have been raised about it and about an active
teacher partecipation in the research process, thinking about implementing it to study the methods and impacts of school inclusion, through the figure of the insegnante di sostegno, should be thought about, also as a way to allow empirical research in schools.