Introduction. OECD Review in England on Educational Research and Development What is an OECD Review?There exist two types of reviews the OECD is conducting, country reviews and thematic reviews. Although all country reviews are also thematic by nature, the focus lies more on one country and the analysis serves the specific needs of the country under review and the other member states as a reliable, standardised source of information. So-called thematic reviews treat one theme over many countries -at least five or six -and end in a comparative study that shows differences between countries, best practice in particular countries, tendencies, etpara. and should give an insight into the general mechanics of the chosen topic and be a guideline for all member states.The review of the educational research policy in England is somewhere in between the two types of reviews. It is a distinct country review as it has been done on the request of the English Government and resulted in a country report on England but it was also intended as part of a larger thematic review on the same topic as other countries should have participated in the same type at University-Ulster at Belfast on June 25, 2015 eer.sagepub.com Downloaded from

This special issue offers a critical overview of the Southern Europe construction of comparative education and the different sets of philosophical and historical framings, including university cultures, in which it is embedded and developed. One of the main aims is to examine the contribution to theorisation which comes from a comparison of 'comparative educations' from an historical, cultural, linguistic point of view, and to show how this analysis may illuminate the underlining links between comparative studies in education and political and power issues. The special issue, focusing on an area loosely indicated as 'Southern Europe', including Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece 1 , fills a somewhat paradoxical 'void'. This is an area with a peculiar geopolitical position: not really 'peripheral' in relation to European cultural tradition (rather, in a sense, it is its 'cradle'), but pushed towards the periphery politically and economically, as well as in the main international debate, from the twentieth century on, not least for language reasons. This obviously applies in differing degrees to the different countries in the area, that have some cultural affinities and long-lasting historical and cultural interactions between them, but very different positions in 'world dynamics', which have an obvious influence on comparative education and other fields of study and on the dialectics that individual traditions have maintained with the prevailing international discourse. In this framework, important questions arise: what have been and are the cultural consequences of this position? Can we identify one or more characteristics of this position in the comparative education(s) developed up to now in these countries? And what developments are foreseeable under present conditions, giving a new, albeit at times dramatic, centrality to South and Mediterranean countries in Europe, involving alsoindeed perhaps mainlythe cultural and educational aspect? One of the aims of the issue is to discuss the ratio 2 of the 'south' with the intertwining of similar traits and country-specific aspects among the countries considered. Whatever criterion one may choose, there never is a perfect overlapping: Italy, Spain and Portugal are Latin, but Greece is not; Greece is Mediterranean, but not Latin; and of course Portugal is not Mediterranean. It has recently been suggested, however, that one significant point of affinity between all of these countries (and France as well) is the role of the state in its relationship with the administrative system, which influences at least the formal systems of education (Argyropoulou 2015); while at the same time significant affinities can also be found regarding the approach to less formal educational provisions (Guimaraes, Villeguas, and Mayo 2018). More generally, however problematic the issue, identifying Southern Europe as one of the European regions is well supported by recent research, as will be discussed later. Discussing the ratio of the South implies also putting under examination the notionto...

RESUMENL'articolo è diviso in tre parti. La prima presenta gli elementi storici e di sfondo che occorre tenere presenti per comprendere l'evoluzione della formazione iniziale degli insegnanti verso gli attuali modelli, che pur essendo oggi tutti gestiti dalle università conservano una sensibile diversità a seconda che si tratti di formare maestri per la scuola dell'infanzia e primaria oppure professori di scuola secondaria di primo e secondo grado. La seconda parte analizza il passaggio, maturato tra la fine del secolo scorso e l'inizio del XXI secolo, della formazione dei maestri dalla scuola secondaria (Istituto magistrale) all'università (Corso di laurea in Scienze della formazione primaria), e l'istituzione delle Scuole di Specializzazione per l'Insegnamento Secondario (SSIS) fino alla soppressione di queste ultime, avvenuta nel 2009. La terza parte presenta il quadro attuale della formazione iniziale dei docenti in Italia con riguardo soprattutto agli insegnanti della scuola secondaria, per i quali -a differenza che per i maestri -sono intervenute dal 2010 importanti innovazioni legislative. Le SSIS sono state infatti sostituite con il Tirocinio Formativo Attivo (TFA), attualmente in fase di attuazione da parte delle università. Nella parte finale dell'articolo si traccia un primo bilancio dell'esperienza del TFA e si indicano alcuni problemi aperti. Il focus rimane sostanzialmente sulla formazione iniziale, in quanto in Italia la formazione in servizio, che pure non è del tutto assente, non è mai stata oggetto di una normativa né di una azione organica, ma avviene, quando avviene, sulla base di iniziative di specifici gruppi o associazioni.* Università degli Studi di Roma "Tor Vergata" (Italy).

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