Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate social workers' processes of informal learning, through their narration of their professional experience, in order to understand how social workers learn. Informal learning is any individual practice or activity that is able to produce continuous learning; it is often non-intentional and non-structured learning. Design/methodology/approach – The study employed qualitative research methods, according to specific epistemologies such as Grounded Theory, and Inquiry into Narrative. The tool used for data collection has been the narrative interview. The scientific software ATLAS.ti has facilitated the analysis of the contents and the narrative structure. Findings – The data classified throughout the analysis allow for observing and explaining possible interpretations of informal learning of the social workers. The informal learning process, depending on the level of intentionality, can be random and often appears as a learning process leading to change and improvement, resulting from reflection and awareness. Originality/value – The paper offers a methodological contribution for narrative data collection and analysis, through elaborating a network of all elements examined within each interview and defining some characteristics and meaning of informal learning in the workplace.

The Teaching Brain: Beyond the Science of Teaching and Educational Neuroscience

Le recenti acquisizioni che provengono dalla Evidence Based Education relative alleazioni proprie della didattica efficace e degli insegnanti esperti forniscono un quadrodi riferimento per nuovi modelli di formazione; esse mettono in evidenza in particolarecome le cornici mentali che guidano le scelte didattiche degli insegnanti rappresentinoun elemento fondamentale da cui deriva la differenza tra insegnanti espertie non esperti. Portare alla luce le cornici mentali degli insegnanti e le loro credenzedidattiche diventa di particolare importanza nell’intento di favorire una riflessione criticae un confronto con le azioni didattiche informate da evidenza. Il presente lavoroillustra uno strumento, l’Effective Teaching Questionnaire (ETQ), progettato per questoscopo. Significativo è il fatto che dalle applicazioni condotte sia su studenti all’iniziodel loro percorso in Scienze della Formazione Primaria sia su insegnanti in servizioemerga un substrato di misconcezioni, in ambiti rilevanti, che sembra mantenersi indennenegli anni, senza essere sostanzialmente modificato nemmeno dalla formazioneuniversitaria.

The conjoint use of multi-method techniques puts into action the methodological triangulation that can produce interesting results about the evaluation of textbook contents. In this perspective we analyze a random sample of fourth- and fifth-grade Italian primary mathematics general books. By using a mixed methods research approach, we conducted a content analysis of these textbooks, starting from an ex ante conceptual grid that allowed us to observe the contents of the pages dedicated to the subject. Initially, we used the computer software package ATLAS.ti to describe accurately the relationships between structural and content aspects. The codes obtained from the computerized content analysis were transformed into a matrix of statistical data, in which the cases and the variables (each category) were analyzed via the PASW Statistics package. The application of canonical non-linear correlation analysis to the set of these textbook characteristics (in particular statistical graphic representation) yielded a content typology.