La ricerca educativa in Italia. Il caso delle indagini sugli insegnanti (1960-2010)

This paper presents a systematic review on educational research in Italy. The analysis focuses on teacher and teaching research (1960-2010), one of the first and most important topic in educational research. 179 sociological, psychological and educational studies have been identified and analyzed focusing on methodological features. For each one of this studies: year, distribution channel, method or instrument, sample, geographical context, main topics and disciplinary area where considered. The survey shows that the number of searches increased significantly from the Sixties (8) till the first decade of 2000 (54). About the disciplinary area searches are distributed almost evenly between psychological (28,5%), sociological (30,7%) and pedagogical (36,3%). Educational research increased in the last decade, however, sociological research has a greater recognition. About the topic there is a substantial restatement of the issues addressed since the Sixties. Many researches focus on teachers status or investigate changes induced by the reforms and teacher training. However the goal is almost always to describe not to address decision and policy making. Educational research in Italy requires a new approach, especially considering new topics and a stronger connection to the international scientific community, in order to develop and stimulate communication and exchanges between research, practice and policy making.