Teaching excellence. An exploratory study in Spain and Italy

Titolo Rivista CADMO
Autori/Curatori Amparo Jiménez Vivas, Sandra Liliana Medina Cárdenas, Francesca Fioretti, Gabriella Agrusti
Anno di pubblicazione 2025 Fascicolo 2025/1
Lingua Inglese Numero pagine 17 P. 40-56 Dimensione file 222 KB
DOI 10.3280/CAD2025-001004
Il DOI è il codice a barre della proprietà intellettuale: per saperne di più clicca qui

Qui sotto puoi vedere in anteprima la prima pagina di questo articolo.

Se questo articolo ti interessa, lo puoi acquistare (e scaricare in formato pdf) seguendo le facili indicazioni per acquistare il download credit. Acquista Download Credits per scaricare questo Articolo in formato PDF

Anteprima articolo

FrancoAngeli è membro della Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA)associazione indipendente e non profit per facilitare (attraverso i servizi tecnologici implementati da CrossRef.org) l’accesso degli studiosi ai contenuti digitali nelle pubblicazioni professionali e scientifiche

The study investigates the perceptions of teachers in Spain and Italy concerning their practices associated with teaching excellence. Grounded in recent theoretical frameworks on teaching professional competence, the research adopts an exploratory cross­national design to analyze excellence in everyday teaching. A total of 235 teachers from both countries participated in the study by completing a structured questionnaire composed of a validated scale measuring teaching excellence. Statistical analyses, including descriptive statistics, t­tests, and exploratory factor analysis, were used to compare the results across national contexts. The findings reveal a strong shared commitment among teachers to participatory and reflective teaching practices, with notable differences in dimensions such as pedagogical innovation and subject­matter expertise. The study concludes by emphasizing the importance of designing both initial and in-service teacher education programs that support reflective practices and strengthen professional development pathways.

Parole chiave:teachers, teaching excellence, democratic teaching beliefs, professional development, teaching practices.

  1. Thornton, S. J. (2005), Teaching social studies that matter: Curriculum for active learning. New York: Teachers College Press.
  2. Abril Hervás, D. (2021), “The Use of autobiographical accounts in initial teacher education”, Profesorado, revista de currículum y formación del profesorado, 25 (3), pp. 29-48,
  3. Alonso­Sainz, T. (2021), “What characterizes a ‘good teacher’? Perceptions of its protagonists”, Profesorado, revista de currículum y formación del profesorado, 25 (2), pp. 165-191,
  4. Aravena Gaete, M. E., Gairín Sallán, J. (2021), “Evaluación del desempeño docente. A look from the certifying agencies”, Profesorado, revista de currículum y formación del profesorado, 25 (1), pp. 297-317.
  5. Ciani A., Vannini I. (2017), Insegnare a tutti nella scuola di tutti? Disegno e primi risultati di un’indagine sulle convinzioni democratiche dei futuri insegnanti. In Magnoler, P., Notti, A. M., Perla, L. (a cura di), La professionalità degli insegnanti. La ricerca e le pratiche. Lecce: Pensa MultiMedia, pp. 227-243.
  6. Ciani, A. (2019a), “Con intenzionalità, collegialità e determinazione. Validazione di una scala sulle convinzioni progettuali proattive degli educatori”, Lifelong Lifewide Learning, 15 (34), pp. 50-69,
  7. Ciani, A. (2019b), L’insegnante democratico. Una ricerca empirica sulle convinzioni degli studenti di Scienze della Formazione Primaria dell’Università di Bologna. Milano: FrancoAngeli.
  8. Clark, C. M. (1988), “Asking the right questions about teacher preparation: Contributions of research on teacher thinking”, Educational Researcher, 17 (2), pp. 5­12, DOI: 10.3102/0013189X017002005
  9. Cobano-Delgado Palma, V. C., Llorent Bedmar, V., Navarro Granados, M. (2020), “The initial training of Early Childhood Education professionals in England, France and Spain”, Profesorado, Journal of Curriculum and Teacher Education, 24 (2), pp. 436-460.
  10. Fives, H., Buehl, M. M. (2012), Spring cleaning for the “messy” construct of teachers’ beliefs: What are they? Which have been examined? What can they tell us?. In Harris, K. R. (Ed), APA educational psychology handbook, vol. 2: Individual differences and cultural and contextual factors. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, pp. 471-499.
  11. Guzmán, J. C. (2018), “Good teaching practices of higher education teachers”, REICE. Iberoamerican Journal on Quality, Effectiveness and Change in Education, 16 (2), pp. 133-149.
  12. Hargreaves, A. (2019), “Teacher collaboration: 30 years of research on its nature, forms, limitations and effects”, Teachers and Teaching, 25 (5), pp. 603-621, DOI: 10.1080/13540602.2019.1639499
  13. Hargreaves, A., Fullan, M. (2012), Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School. New York: Teachers College Press.
  14. International Commission on the Futures of Education (2021), Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education. Paris: UNESCO, https://unesdoc.
  15. Jerome, L., Hyder, F., Hilal, Y., Kisby, B. (2024), “A systematic literature review of research examining the impact of citizenship education on active citizenship outcomes”, Review of Education, 12 (2), e3472,
  16. Martín­Romera, A., García­Martínez, I. (2018), “Teacher professionalization today: contributions to professional development”, Profesorado, revista de currículum y formación del profesorado, 22 (1), pp. 7-23.
  17. Malak­Minkiewicz, B., Torney­Purta, J. (2021), Influences of the IEA civic and citizenship education studies: Practice, policy, and research across countries and regions. Cham: Springer Nature.
  18. Menéndez-Alvarez-Hevia, D., Urbina-Ramírez, S., Forteza-Forteza, D., & Rodríguez­Martín, A. (2022), “Contributions of futures studies to education: A systematic review”, Comunicar, 73, pp. 9-20,
  19. Monclús, A. (2020), Formación y empleo: enseñanza y competencias. Granada: Comares.
  20. Muijs, D., Reynolds, D. (2002), “Teachers’ beliefs and behaviors: What really matters?”, The Journal of Classroom Interaction, 37 (2), pp. 3-15.
  21. OECD (2019), TALIS 2018 Results, vol. I: Teachers and School Leaders as Lifelong Learners. Paris: OECD Publishing.
  22. OECD (2020), TALIS 2018 Results, vol. II: Teachers and School Leaders as Valued Professionals. Paris: OECD Publishing.
  23. OECD (2021), Education at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators. Paris: OECD Publishing,
  24. Pérez, L. R., Massón Cruz, R. M., Torres Miranda, T. (2020), “La formación profesional pedagogica del profesor universitario. Estudio comparado de experiencias universitarias”, Revista Cubana de Educación Superior, 39 (1), http://scielo. sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0257­43142020000100004&lng=es &tlng=es.
  25. Porter, A. C., Freeman, D. J. (1986), “Professional orientations: An essential domain for teacher testing”, The Journal of Negro Education, 55 (3), pp. 284-292, DOI: 10.2307/2295099
  26. Pratt, D. D. (2002), Good teaching: one size fits all?. In Jovita Ross Gordon, M. (Ed), An Up-date on Teaching Theory. San Francisco: Jossey­Bass.
  27. Reichert, F., Torney­Purta, J. (2019), “A cross­national comparison of teachers’ beliefs about the aims of civic education in 12 countries: A person­centered analysis”, Teaching and Teacher Education, 77, pp. 112-125,
  28. Robinson, V. (2017), “Reduce change to increase improvement”, Journal of Educational Change, 18 (4), pp. 441-455,
  29. Rokeach, M. (1968), Beliefs, Attitudes, and Values: A Theory of Organization and Change. San Francisco: Jossey­Bass.
  30. Sahlberg, P. (2015), Finnish Lessons 2.0. What can the world learn from the educational change in Finland, 2nd ed. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.
  31. Shechtman, Z. (2002), “Validation of the democratic teacher belief scale (DTBS)”, Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 9 (3), pp. 363-377, DOI: 10.1080/0969594022000027672
  32. Testani, T. (2022), “Cultura attesa e convinzioni democratiche dei futuri insegnanti di scuola primaria”, Cadmo. Giornale italiano di pedagogia sperimentale, 2, pp. 55-71, DOI: 10.3280/CAD2022-002004
  33. Trigueros, R., Navarro, N. (2019), “Teacher influence on motivation, learning strategies, critical thinking, and academic performance of high school students in the Physical Education Area”, Psychology, Society & Education, 11 (1), pp. 137-150.
  34. UNESCO (2022), Leave No Child Behind: Global Report on Boys’ Disengagement from Education. Paris: UNESCO, https://unesdoc.
  35. Vargas, L. Y. (2020), The performance of the university professor: a humanizing social construction. Mauritius: Editorial Académica Española.

Amparo Jiménez Vivas, Sandra Liliana Medina Cárdenas, Francesca Fioretti, Gabriella Agrusti, Teaching excellence. An exploratory study in Spain and Italy in "CADMO" 1/2025, pp 40-56, DOI: 10.3280/CAD2025-001004