Abstract:

This contribution presents the structure of the Specialization Course for Support Activities organized by the Università degli Studi di Firenze (Italy), along with the results of the monitoring activity conducted at the end of the 9th cycle (June 2025). The objective is twofold: to support the redesign of the course with appropriate improvements within the Università degli Studi di Firenze, and to propose a model for continuous improvement in terms of quality that could be applied to other universities, in light of a national training plan for 90,000 support teachers in Italy over three years (ministerial source). The course is designed to train support teachers who will work in classrooms with one or more children / students with certified disabilities, across various school levels (from 3 to 19 years old). Ministerial regulations guide the definition of the profile for specialized support teachers, course duration, admission criteria, and the curriculum; however, each university independently determines the course content, teaching methods, and organization. The course is demanding, as participants are typically graduates who are already employed; almost all of the training hours are conducted in-person; and the classroom lessons are complemented by a school-based internship. Over the last six years, the Course Director (one of the authors of this contribution) has decided to implement the Plan-Do-Check-Act continuous improvement cycle, commonly used in Quality Management Systems. The focus of this paper is on the 'Check' phase, which in the 9th cycle included feedback from all participants (n=470). To identify potential improvements that are compatible with ministerial guidelines and sustainable for both the participants and the university, various tools were used. This contribution analyzes the results of an online questionnaire aimed at assessing satisfaction and perceived usefulness among the participants. Specifically, the dimensions considered include the syllabus, topics covered, available resources, adopted educational strategies, and perceived usefulness. The evaluations were cross-referenced with participant demographics and with the ratings provided by Course teachers for each exam. The analytical framework, using descriptive statistics, correlations and group-comparison tests (ANOVA) in SPSS, aims to explore whether perceptions differ based on factors such as age, gender, years of participants experience, academic background, and examination performance. In the case of the recently concluded course, the results already show a high level of satisfaction and perceived usefulness; a detailed analysis of the acquired knowledge will contribute to defining intervention priorities from a quality perspective.

Keywords:

Teacher education, Monitoring, Quality Management Cycle, Lifelong learning, Adult education, Disability, Inclusion.