Earth science teaching in Italy and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), how is going?

In 2010 in Italy a major change in Upper secondary school guidelines have been implemented, and the topic "Natural Science" was strongly affected by this reform (MIUR, 2010). Thanks to the new guidelines Earth science topics were distributed along 5 years of curricula in some fields of study, while before the reform geology topics were studied only during one school year. The new guidelines promoted the use of an experimental and multidisciplinary approach in natural science teaching and outdoor activities. After this reform, Realdon et al (2016) investigated how teachers implemented the new Earth Sciences curriculum through the five teaching years by means of a survey. The aim of this research was to understand the implementation of the new guidelines after the end of the first cycle of studies. Realdon et al (2016) results showed that most of the teachers interviewed did not follow strictly the new guidelines, in fact, there was a tendency to follow old teaching habits and practices, and theoretical teaching was still prevailing as the scarce use of laboratory.

In 2022 the eighth cycle of students completed their upper secondary school studies according to MIUR (2010) guidelines, for this reason, we decided to distribute a new survey to natural science teachers to study the state of the art of earth science topics in Italian upper secondary school. The aim of the survey is to understand how to support Italian natural science teachers in their didactical activities with reference to Earth Science topics. This research is needed due to the major change that happened in Italian upper secondary schools after the Covid emergency and the remote learning experience, and evaluate the actual possibility for upper secondary school teachers to work multidisciplinary on civic education, and in particular on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the survey we investigated the use of digital and online line tools to support earth science teaching, and if there are other types of didactical support needed by teachers. In this poster, we will present the first result of the survey, in particular, the needs expressed by Italian teachers and how they can be supported by Earth Science Faculties and the Italian ministry of education.

MIUR , Indicazioni nazionali (D.M. n 211 del 7/10/2010) “Indicazioni nazionali riguardanti gli obiettivi specifici di apprendimento concernenti le attività e gli insegnamenti compresi nei piani degli studi previsti per i percorsi liceali”

Realdon, G., Paris, E., & Invernizzi, M. C. (2016). Teaching Earth Sciences in Italian liceo high schools following the 2010 reform: a survey. Rendiconti Online Società Geologica Italiana, 40, 71-79.