Born in Augusta (Syracuse) on 6th January 1961, Michele Caputo
graduated in Philosophy from the University of Catania (Faculty of
Arts and Humanities) on 10th November 1986. On 28th June 1994 he
was then awarded a doctoral degree (PhD) in Pedagogy (VI cycle)
from University Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC) - with a
dissertation on the integration of Maghreb population into the
French school system.
Between 1987 and 2005, he taught humanistic subjects in primary
and secondary schools.
On 1st September 1992 he was officially authorisedfor the A057
class, following the successful completion of the relevant open
competitive exam for state level employment (ord. D.M. 23.3.1990).
From 1992 to 2000, he taught Italian, History, Geography and Civil
Education in several secondary and high schools.
Upon successful completion of the relevant restricted
competitive exam (OM 153/99 CM 111/99), he was authorised to teach
A037 classes, and then nominated Philosophy and History teacher at
the “V. Bachelet†Scientific Gymnasium (Oggiono, Italy)
in 2000/2001.
Since 1st March 2005 he has been working as a Researcher
(confirmed in 2008) within the Faculty of Sciences of Formation at
the University of Bologna - disciplinary sector M Ped01, General
and Social Pedagogy. He is currently (academic year 2012/13)
assigned to the University of Bologna's department of visual,
performing, and media Arts.
From 2005/06 through 2011/12 he delivered lectures on a number
of General and Social Pedagogy subjects (Family Pedagogy,
Epistemology of sciences of education, Social Education) for
several degree courses within the Faculty of Sciences of Formation.
From 2005/06 to 2008/09 he also taught Laboratory of Science
Education Didactics (class A036) in the Bologna-based “Scuola
regionale interateneo di Specializzazione per l'Insegnamento
secondario†(SSIS).
Additionally, in 2009/10 and 2010/11 he taught General Didactics
within the University of Bologna's faculty of Humanities and
Philosophy.
He is affiliated with the SIRD (Società Italiana di
Ricerca Didattica) and CIRPED (Centro Italiano Ricerca Pedagogica),
board member of the SIPED (Società Italiana di Pedagogia) and
from 2010 to 2013 also editor of the scientific journal
"Education Today".
Research
Michele Caputo's research activity started from a
pedagogical/theoretical background - developed within the school of
Gino Corallo, on whose perspective he later returned at different
times (Il “sapere pedagogico†in Gino Corallo: fondamenti
epistemologici e problemi teoretici, 2005; Gino Corallo e
"Orientamenti Pedagogici, 2012). He has then moved along a path
of educational research characterized by social and anthropological
openings and interests - which mainly focused on interculturalism
and its consequences on education and didactics, particularly in
the Francophone cultural environment (La pedagogia
interculturale in Francia: paradigmi interpretativi e modelli di
ricerca, 1996; Immigrati nella scuola: problemi
pedagogici e linee di intervento, 1996; and above all the
volume Scuola laica e identità minoritarie. La via
francese all'interculturalità , 1998). From 1995
to 1997 he worked within an intercollegiate research team headed by
Professor Elio Damiano and focused on intercultural teaching
material in Europe. The outcome of such a research effort was a
study on the intercultural curricula used in the European
Francophone area (Pedagogia nazionale e universalismo laico: le
pratiche interculturali nella scuola francese, 1999) and an
overview of the research carried out on interculturalism in Italy
(Un approccio anticipato: la pedagogia italiana e la
riflessione interculturale, 1999).
He then further developed the research streak on
interculturalism both by shedding light on the relationship between
the culture of origin and the development of personal identity -
with primary reference to the family, deemed the privileged
environment where educational processes take place (M. CAPUTO, M.T.
MOSCATO, Le radici familiari del processo educativo, 2006)
and through more recent historic-epistemological studies
(L'approccio interculturale nelle scienze umane,
2007;Interculturalità , 2012).
A second research streak deals with the role of teachers and
their formation - topic which has strategic value and implies both
a renewed approach to the complex nature of the
pedagogical-didactic research and a critical foundation of a
renewed theory of the school (La ricerca nella scuola
dell'autonomia, 2002; La questione professionale
dell'insegnante, 2004). The topic of teachers' formation has
been the object of explorative studies examining the specific
competences related to the teacher profession (M. CAPUTO, R. GATTI,
M.T. MOSCATO, Qualità della comunicazione ed efficacia
didattica del docente: problemi metodologici in uno studio
esplorativo, 2006), their university formation (Formare
competenze nella SSIS: il lavoro di gruppo con il metodo di
caso, 2010) and aspects of didactics, both in secondary schools
(M. T. MOSCATO, R. GATTI, M. CAPUTO, Pratiche di educazione
stradale nella scuola. Esiti e problemi metodologici di una ricerca
sul campo in provincia di Bologna, 2009) and in universities
(M.CAPUTO, M. T. MOSCATO, G. PINELLI, Problemi di valutazione
della qualità di un corso universitario. Uno studio
esplorativo, 2012).
Next to the commitment to exploring the social aspects of the
educational process (from the educational processes in the family
environment, to civil life, to teachers' formation), he has
developed an interest in contemporary pedagogical research
(pedagogical epistemology; theory of teaching) through observations
and explorative empirical studies, as well as critical analysis of
the Italian and French scientific literature (La pedagogia e il
paradigma delle scienze dell'educazione: questioni
storico-epistemologiche, 2007; Ricerca scientifica e
responsabilità sociale: riflessioni deontologiche ed
epistemologiche sulla professione intellettuale, 2008: G.
PINELLI, M. T. MOSCATO, M. CAPUTO, Gli insegnamenti dell'area
pedagogica tra professionalizzazione e riflessione
epistemologica, 2011).
During the academic year 2008/09 he developed a research program
on the issue of citizenship (within a PRIN 2007), via an
explorative study on didactic experiences in different high schools
across three regions - using questionnaires and focus groups
for students (Moscato. Gatti, Caputo, Pinelli, Esperienze
didattiche e rappresentazioni della cittadinanza nella secondaria
superiore, in M. CORSI (edited by), Educazione alla
democrazia e alla cittadinanza, Lecce, 2011). A summary paper
on such a PRIN 2007 research is published (n. 01/2013) in the
Spanish scientific journal "Campo Abierto", University of
Extremadura (ES). Within, Michele Caputo is responsible for a
specific contribution (La paideia incompiuta: formare l'uomo e
il cittadino nella scuola della Repubblica, 2011) to the volume
which summarizes the researches onthe topic of education in the
school of the Bologna group (M. T. Moscato, Progetti di
cittadinanza. Esperienze di educazione stradale e convivenza
civile nella scuola secondaria, Milano, 2011).
Furthermore, since 2009 Michele Caputo has been member and
promoter of the “Centro Studi RES†(Centro Studi Religione,
Educazione e Società ), within the Department of Educational
Sciences "G. M. Bertin", University of Bologna. He has been
delivering a substantial contribution thanks to the scientific
interest developed through the investigation of the relationship
between education and religious sensibility and its particular
set-up in today's multicultural society (Educazione e senso
religioso: il modello iniziatico, 2008; Iniziazione,
2011).
The research efforts of the RES from 2010 through 2012 are
partially exposed in M. T. MOSCATO, R. GATTI, M. CAPUTO, (edited
by), Crescere tra vecchi e nuovi dei. L'esperienza religiosa in
prospettiva multidisciplinare, Roma, Armando, 2012. Within, the
authors bring forward a specific empirical exploration of the
process of religious identity formation, through the analysis of
university students' handwriting (L'esperienza religiosa nella
narrazione di sé. Scritture di studenti universitari,
2012).
The topic of education and religious identity formation among
new generations is also explored from a historic-epistemological
point of view.
