Continuing Professional Development (CDP) for teachers is the heart of the European strategy for improving instruction quality. A high-quality CPD is critical to warrant the effectiveness of relevant knowledge and competencies in today’s classrooms (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2015). In Italy, CPD is one of the weakest points of the educational system. In 2015, the Italian Parliament approved a law named “La Buona Scuola”, that contributed in making CPD compulsory, structural, and permanent (Parlamento e Presidenza della Repubblica, 2015). Consequently, the Ministry of Education, University and Research created a Teacher Education National Plan, that covered three years: from 2016 to 2019. This plan was created with the scope to reach, potentially, the whole population of 750.000 teachers acting in the schools. The Italian government invested 1,4 billion of euros: 1,1 billion in a yearly individual card worth 500 euro for buying books, supplies, and courses, and 325 euros for financing workshops and short courses usually structured in training units of 25 hours each performed by the schools in networks or individually (MIUR, 2016). The plan was designed around two general rules (MIUR, 2016). Firstly, the organization of schools in 319 network areas with a min/max number of schools for each network varying between 7 and 70. Each network organized these initiatives using the fundings provided by central administration. In each network, the Ministry delegated to one selected school the management of finances and the coordination of the training. The outline of a list of topics included three main priorities: a) competencies for school effectiveness; b) XXI century skills; c) competencies for inclusive education. The initiatives had to be consistent with these priority topics and planned accordingly to the School Curriculum Triennial Plan. INDIRE (2019) performed an impact evaluation on 64 network areas where the need for a quality framework for teacher professional learning and development (PLD) is a primary concern. In this line of reasoning, the new Teacher Education National Plan should mark the passage from a professional development paradigm (Joyce, Showers, 1980) to a professional learning paradigm (Lieberman, 1995). It should focus on how to help teachers to shape their learning before, during, and after teaching activity in the classroom (Lieberman, Pointer Mace, 2008). The individual system of learning professional knowledge can do the difference in the quality of teaching. But what is professional cognition and which individual and training factors can promote its construction?
