Tutoring across the Borders of the European Union. How Initial Teacher Education Work Placement Can Be Supported: The Case of Italy and Spain.

Resumo

Is tutoring changing the way European students of Scienze della Formazione (Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación) are facing their rst impact with a real job in a school setting? Is it the same all over the European Union? This article aims to oer an overview of the scenario behind the Italian and the Spanish university placement systems. In recent years both countries have enacted deep reform of placement in schools, with better attention to the role of practice in context as part of the preparation to start a career in education. For student teachers, placements are considered periods of “meaningful learning” in real scenarios. Whilst during their rst placement experience student teachers must observe, analyse and help teachers in charge of the classroom, during the second one, student teachers must design and implement an innovative curricular proposal. This can be stressful if the trainees are not well prepared for the challenge. Collaboration between European countries has proved to be a support for trainees in developing innovative projects in a classroom. In particular, the eTwinning Teacher Training Institution (TTI) initiative has oered European universities a powerful network to support future teacher placement in schools.