Le competenze di ricerca degli insegnanti. Promuovere una didattica fondata sull’evidenza empirica1

Abstract Starting from the Bologna Process of 1999, where teacher training becomes part of the European area of higher education, a basic condition is considered necessary: teachers must have an in-depth knowledge of the most recent research results in the disciplines they teach and they need to be aware of new investigations, which scientific evidence has shown to be effective, into the ways in which a subject can be taught and learned. The article concerns the results of an empirical research aimed at investigating teachers’ practices and opinions on research activities in schools. In order to collect the information, a structured questionnaire was prepared and administered to 296 teachers of all grades and levels. From the data, subjected to the relevant statistical analyzes, a picture emerges in which there are interesting elements, such as the ability declared by teachers to obtain information on the most recent results of educational research and the conviction of the need to share empirical surveys aimed at didactic experimentation with colleagues, but there are also some critical issues, such as the difficulty in implementing the results of academic research in one’s teaching activity, the knowledge of research methodologies and the low participation in research projects networked with universities and research institutions.