Disorientation, diversity and dialogue: initial findings from a study on graduates in educational master’s degree

Abstract

Over the past three decades, educational and pedagogical professions in Italy have undergone a profound process of normative and identity redefinition, culminating in Law 55/2024, which formally distinguishes the roles of educator and pedagogist. This study, framed within a systemic and post-qualitative perspective, investigates the transitions of master’s graduates in pedagogical disciplines through interviews and cooperative research processes involving employers, professionals, academics, and students. Findings reveal a marked discontinuity between university education and occupational contexts, with non-linear career paths and widespread disorientation that, rather than a deficit, emerges as a generative and transformative potential. The pedagogist appears as a profession still in the making—positioned between reflective knowledge and situated practice—while universities are called to rethink their role in the co-construction of critical, dialogical, and socially engaged professional identities.