Competence-based Education in the Italian Context: State of Affairs and Overcoming Difficulties

Introducing competence-based education in a school, which has traditionally been based on the knowledge transmission paradigm, is a difficult task. National governments play an important role in pushing and facilitating such transition, and they are requested to do so by the European Parliament recommendation about the provision of ‘key competences for all’ as part of lifelong learning strategies. However, the government’s indications are not always clear and effective. This chapter examines the case of Italy, where important contradictions can be spotted. The chapter briefly recounts the evolution of the Italian school system over the last two decades, examining in detail how the notion of competence has been formally introduced in the Italian schools and, at the same time, avoided and delayed. It presents the current organisation of the Italian school system and the hurdles and ambiguities which make it difficult to achieve a widespread adoption of competence-based educational strategies. The impact of school evaluation on the introduction of competence-based education is also presented. Special attention is given to vocational education and training, but also the state of nonvocational instruction in Italy is discussed. The last section presents some efforts aimed at facilitating the introduction of teaching by competence in high schools.