Tirocinio Formativo e di Orientamento: riflessioni pedagogiche intorno a un percorso di tirocinio universitario per futuri professionisti educativi di secondo livello

The paper proposes a reflection about the “second level” education professionals’ training. These professionals are involved in activities such as designing, managing, and evaluating educational services. Developing such skills represents a challenge for university didactic because it entails strong connections between thinking and acting, theoretical and practical knowledge. The Master Degree Course in Pedagogical Sciences of Milano Bicocca University elaborated an experimental programme meant to enhance the learning potential for students, firstly carried out in A.Y. 2015-2016 and labelled Tirocinio Formativo e di Orientamento (TFO) or Traineeship and Guidance Programme. The path has been further refined year by year also referring to focus-group discussions conducted with the students. The traineeship will be presented, highlighting its pedagogical assumptions; furthermore, peculiar challenging aspects, emerging after 4 years from the beginning of the path, will be discussed.