Italian legislation requires that all pupils with special needs be integrated in regular classes through cooperation between the class and special education teachers. After school closure in February 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, teachers had to work together to arrange online inclusive activities for all the pupils in their classes. The Department of Education at the University of Genoa (Italy) designed a qualitative study aimed at investigating the factors affecting e-inclusion through a questionnaire composed of six open-ended questions. A total of 785 teachers filled out the instrument in April 2020. The responses were analysed by combining qualitative content analysis with statistical textual analysis. The findings indicate that effective e-inclusion depends on technologies, relationships with families, collaboration among teachers and online teaching strategies; in particular, teachers had to create personalised activities through asynchronous and synchronous interactive ways for students to engage in, preferably in small groups and individually.

Global competence is an increasingly important disposition for today’s society. Prospective teachers will have to be able to teach effectively in multicultural classrooms as well as develop dispositions of global competence in their future students. This pilot study was aimed at investigating what aspects of global competence should be integrated into initial teacher education programmes. Twenty-four teacher educators from fifteen European countries were involved in a qualitative study to underscore the topics, the contexts, the actors and the methodologies that can support the integration of global competence into programmes for preservice teachers. The findings indicate that global competence is a multidimensional concept associated with aspects directly related with the teaching profession such as cooperation, inclusion, social engagement, multicultural dialogue. The results also identify the methods and the contexts for an educational pathway for preservice teachers where the idea of global competence can emerge more easily.

This study explores how prospective professionals in higher education can learn about and apply formative assessment methods relevant to their future educational workplaces. In the academic year 2022–23, 156 pre-service teachers, social workers, and heads of social services took part in a three-stage mixed-method study on university learning experiences involving formative assessment practices. They were exposed to self-, peer-, and group-assessment strategies. Data collected after each stage revealed participants’ perspectives on each method. Findings show that students who engaged in formative assessment comprehended assessment complexity and were motivated to use diverse assessment forms. Formative assessment proves effective for both evaluation and development, supporting higher education students in honing assessment competencies for future professional roles in educational and social sectors.

In today’s world, Global Competence represents a fundamental disposition for teachers who must be able to teach effectively in classrooms with students from diverse backgrounds and manage multiple learning contexts. For these reasons, it is necessary to set up educational activities during initial teacher education programs aimed at developing and assessing preservice teachers’ ability to be Global Competent. This study was aimed at designing and creating a set of rubrics that can be used by either teacher educators or preservice teachers, in this case, as a self-assessment instrument. The research design was based on a modified Delphi method composed of five rounds to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. A panel of 31 experts was involved in an iterative process until a consensus among the experts was reached. The rubrics can be employed in several contexts and situations such as: before and after an international experience, during or after a simulation or a workshop based on intercultural and real-world situations.

Higher education institutions are increasingly arranging international programmes to allow trainee teachers to spend periods abroad. In this way, teachers can compare diverse school systems and have the opportunity to reflect on their own teaching identity. This article focuses on trainee teachers’ ideas and opinions that emerged during international mobility, underscoring their reflections on personal and professional aspects involved in their participation in internships at schools abroad. To investigate these reflections, the Department of Education at the University of Genoa designed a scoping study administering a questionnaire to 35 Italian trainee teachers who had an international teaching experience. The questionnaire was composed of closed- and open-ended questions to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. The findings emphasise that international experiences gave trainee teachers many opportunities to reflect deeply on several aspects of their personal and professional identities mainly related to their linguistic skills, teaching competencies and self-reflection attitudes.