Training for university teachers an intellectual disabilities: an exploratory investigation

ItalyAbstractThe paper outlines the first results of an exploratory survey on Italian teachers’training needs for teaching learners with intellectual disabilities in higher education environments. The survey, conducted through a questionnaire called Questionnaire on formative needs of university teachers about educational resources for students with intellectual disabilities,is developed within the framework of the Erasmus+ project TUT4IND,which involves Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Serbia and Spain.The questionnaire was administered through an electronic work form, by means of the Google Drive storage service.The study involves a sample consisting of 150 Italian university teachers. This study aims at detecting three types of information. First, at a general level, it concerns the presence, within the universities involved in the survey, of training to educate teachers in the integration of students with intellectual disabilities, as well as teachers’perception of the relevance of these initiatives. The second type of information is related to the contents of the training which are perceived by teachers as relevant with respect to the development of their teaching skills. Finally, we intend to detect the perception of the relevance of the methodological-didactic contents and inclusive didactics. The detection tool consists of a closed-ended questionnaire, administered online. The results of the study constitute the prerequisite for the development and implementation of training courses geared towards the professional development of university teachers in the field of intellectual disabilities, with particular attention tothe following: the ability to set up inclusive learning environments, the selection and didactic transposition of knowledge, the identification and application of didactic strategies, with a view to ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all, as highlighted by Agenda 2030 (Goal 4).The paper is divided into three parts. The first part clarifies the focus of the research by placing it in the international context and describes the state of the art of Italian research in this field. The second part describes the methodology of the investigation: the instrument used in the survey, the methods of administration and the research sample. In the third part the results of the survey are presented and discussed.