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Two epistemological presuppositions are made explicit: the source sciences of didactics are psychology and pedagogy; Didactics uses empirical research methods. Two issues are discussed: under what conditions can the results of scientific research in the didactic field be combined? With what degree of certainty do the results of didactic research guide the actions of teachers? Arguments are made for the development of didactic knowledge and for the improvement of the social perception of didactic research in Italy. Deontological considerations for Didactics researchers are commented. Self-critical vigilance is recommended to teaching researchers.

In OECD member countries, primary school teachers form a minority of the teaching staff due to the low remuneration, the low social prestige and also due to the fact that it has been considered as a profession for women. As, for pedagogical reasons primary school students need to relate both with female and male teachers, measures have been taken in several countries to improve the image of the teaching profession among men. It was assumed that four training initiatives for university students enrolled in the primary education course (interviews with students, interviews with teachers, film club on the teacher, meetings with teachers) would have helped increasing students’ task awareness; strengthening their motivation for course attendance; providing arguments to dismantle the social prejudices and stereotypes about teaching profession. In this paper, the training activities and the data collection methods are being described. The results confirm the validity of the activities carried out which are to be integrated with new activities that could start even before the university studies. Maestri maschi nella scuola primaria. Nei Paesi membri dell’OECD i maestri di scuola primaria costituiscono una minoranza del corpo docente, per la scarsa remunerazione, lo scarso prestigio sociale e lo stereotipo di una professione ritenuta femminile. Siccome, per motivi pedagogici, i bambini e le bambine di scuola primaria hanno bisogno di relazionarsi sia con i maestri sia con le maestre, in diversi Paesi sono state prese delle misure per migliorare l’immagine della professione presso gli uomini. Si è ipotizzato che quattro iniziative formative per i giovani iscritti al corso universitario per l’insegnamento primario (interviste a studenti, interviste a maestri, cineforum sul maestro, incontri con maestri), avrebbero accresciuto negli studenti la consapevolezza dei compiti che si preparavano a svolgere; rafforzato la loro motivazione alla frequenza del corso universitario; fornito argomenti per smontare i pregiudizi e gli stereotipi sociali circa la professione di maestro. Sono descritte le attività formative svolte e le modalità di rilevazione dei dati. Al termine della discussione dei risultati è confermata la validità delle attività svolte, da integrare con nuove attività, che potrebbero iniziare anche prima degli studi universitari.

The Start of Empirical Research in Education in Italy: The Contribution of Calonghi and Visalberghi While the dominant philosophy in Italy at the end of World War II was not favourable to pedagogical experimentation, some initiatives aiming to innovate – in the activist sense – contents and methods of school teaching represented the remote causes of the start of educational studies with the positive method. These initiatives facilitated the action of empirical research pioneers in the field of education, which developed in Italy in the 1950s for three main reasons: 1) the influence of experiments conducted in US schools, 2) the spreading of Dewey’s thought, 3) the impetus given by the Institute of Pedagogy of the Salesians to the study of educational sciences. Calonghi and Visalberghi were the first to promote and organize two lines of empirical research on educational facts which contributed to the full scientific recognition of Experimental Pedagogy and Docimology in the mid-1970s. In order to avoid technicalities, the researchers who use the experimental method feel the need to frame their specialized studies within a vast pedagogical horizon.

Teaching and Gender Differences in 8-12 Year Old Students We present the first results of an extensive study concerning gender differences that are found in school learning. We illustrate them also in order to promote more adequate teaching methods. We analyse nine points of differences between boys and girls in learning and in school behaviour, that should be taken into account in the first cycle of education and that are derived from international studies carried out in Western countries: movement and physical activity within the regular classroom curriculum, cognitive skills, emotions and feelings, relationship with the authority, relationships with peers, metacognitive skills, commitment and perseverance in working, reaction to failure, self-esteem. To assess the results of these studies and to guide teachers firstly in designing and then in reporting their teaching practices that take gender differences into account, we analyse the spontaneous teaching actions of 44 teachers – with students aged between eight and twelve years – who claimed to be attentive to the enhancement of specific feminine and masculine traits in their teaching activities. We identified a total of 24 indicators of gender differences that teachers should consider, partially changing their teaching activities, if they want to give equal opportunities for school achievement to both boys and girls.

Si ritiene che la ricerca didattica in Italia si sia riavviata intorno al 1950 per il contatto con le scuole statunitensi, per la diffusione delle opere di Dewey e per la nascita dell’Istituto Superiore di Pedagogia della congregazione salesiana. Si ricostruisce il periodo pioneristico della ricerca empirica in campo didattico con il contributo di Calonghi e Visalberghi. Si segnalano alcuni eventi significativi che, intorno alla metà degli anni Settanta, contribuirono all’affermazione della Didattica come scienza dell’insegnamento-apprendimento. Si indicano le principali linee di ricerca empirica in Didattica presenti nell’attuale panorama scientifico italiano.

En Italia, desde 1999, la formación de los profesores de la escuela secundaria está dirigida a licenciados que hayan seguido antes una carrera universitaria de 4-6 años de duración. La formación post-universitaria es impartida en la Scuola Interuniversitaria di Specializzazione per l’Insegnamento nelle Scuole Secondarie [SSIS], una por cada región, durante dos años, mediante lecciones de ciencias de la educación y de didáctica de disciplinas particulares, laboratorios didácticos y prácticas profesionales en colegios.