Quale «formazione» professionale?. Una rilettura di Georg Kerschensteiner (1854-1932)

Why does Italy lack a widespread, stable, and valued system of vocational education and training? Furthermore, why does the "educational" apprenticeship at levels I and III struggle to gain traction? Additionally, how is it that in recent decades, despite the insistence of European institutions on the importance of VET, this country has still not succeeded in addressing this gap, to the point where it would be naïve to expect change in the near future? This text seeks to answer these questions by investigating the reasons that have led our educational system to marginalize the concept of "training" for the practice of a profession, while simultaneously illustrating how a different narrative could have been written. The example of Germany with its dual system serves as a demonstration. Although there is a desire and a need to make up for lost time, it would be simplistic to think we can import the German model as it is. Rather, we must understand its "spirit" and reinterpret it in an original manner within our context. This is not merely a matter of educational policy but entails a genuine pedagogical and cultural reorientation aimed at fundamentally reformulating our concept of "training," particularly in the VET sector. Where, then, should we seek inspiration for this rethinking, if not in the reflections of Georg Kerschensteiner, a pedagogist and reformer regarded as the "father" of the German dual system?