Reflecting on teacher education, starting from the case of Italy

In this article I propose a discussion on teaching methods commonly used for teacher education, highlighting some main weaknesses generally recognized by educational researchers. In particular I discuss the wrong relationship between “theory” and "practice", dominating many practices in the field of teacher education. I pursue my rationale advocating some recommendations to improve the concrete practices of day-to-day courses for future teachers. Referring to a theoretical framework grounded on the “realistic approach” discussed by authors like Korthagen (2001, 2011), Loughran (2005; 2010) Roussel (Roussel et al. 2001) and their collaborators, I derive some recommendations from the experiences which I encounter in my path along my double academic role as a researcher with an extended interest in teacher education and an educator of prospective teachers. I conclude by a brief reflection aimed to put attention to teacher educators’education, claiming need to improve this field of research