Toward an epistemology of Italian professional education

Abstract

This article reports the initial findings of a research that set out to contribute to the field of study, research and teaching of professional education.
With respect to this goal, no definitive answers have arrived. A structured path of research was gen-erated having as reference the model used to define the epistemology of pedagogy and didactics, with their respective theoretical and empirical alphabets. Constructing a framework of meaning open to participation was the guiding principle of the researchers. Initial results show that professional edu-cation has its epistemological roots in the sciences of education, social work, health promotion and psychosocial rehabilitation, and that there is a need to revive its own epistemic identity from the encounter between science and experience.