Primary teacher education

The internship is compulsory, starts from the second year of the programme and is completed in 600 hours equal to 24 ECTS, according to the progression shown in the table below.

Registration of the Internship
At the end of each year of internship, the approval of the ECTS attributed to each year of the programme is expected through the electronic recording system (EVS) for which the presence of the student is not required.

Final Report of the Internship
At the end of T4, the student prepares the Final Internship Report through which he/she critically analyzes three competences (in at least two areas of the Framework of outgoing competences), gained during the course of study and documentable starting from the evidence collected in the e-portfolio. The final internship report, in its operational and field experience parts, can offer inspiration for the application part (project, case study) of the degree dissertation, depending on the type of thesis itself. A maximum of 3 points out of the 10 required for four-year or integrated five-year/six-year degree programme can be assigned to the final internship report.

Internship activation procedure
The internship activation procedures can be found in the Information section, within the Courses of each year of the Internship.

Is it possible to be absent from university classroom days (indirect internship)?
The hours of absence not to be made up correspond to 10% (h 2.30) of the classroom activities (25h).
Beyond this percentage, the hours of absence must be made up through written remedial activities assigned by the university tutor of reference.
In the event that the hours of absence are more than 50% of the classroom activities, the Internship cannot be approved.

Is a direct internship compulsory for students working in the school?
The direct internship is also mandatory for students working in the school.

• If the student is currently in service (a.s. 2023-24) in the kindergarten/primary school, as a fixed-term substitute teacher until the end of the lessons and beyond on a common place/support/reinforcement (provided that the trainee works inclusively in the class), it is expected that the hours of direct internship may coincide with the working time (upon presentation of the required documentation and in agreement with the School Principal) T3 and T4 students are encouraged to carry out the Direct Internship in comprehensive institutes/school complexes other than those used as an Internship location in previous years. These situations are, however, to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis with the university tutor of reference who will assess the quality of the course.

• The student with temporary substitution or with the assignment of teacher of Catholic religion/alternative activity, L2 specialist, expert/laboratory worker, educator in kindergarten or primary school, can coincide up to 30 hours of direct internship with their service. The order of school in which the student has the assignment must coincide with that provided for in the general internship project. (See Table 1.) These situations are, however, to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis with the university tutor of reference who will assess the quality of the course. Other educational activities, such as before/after school workers, canteens and school buses, are not comparable to teaching.

Can the direct internship be carried out in the same school (complex) for several years?
It is not possible to carry out the internship in the same complex  for more than one year.
It is suggested to alternate/vary the choice between state public schools/private and/or parified/private schools, also with reference to the socio-economic and cultural context of the area and the complexity of the users. Different situations are to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis with the university tutor of reference who will assess the quality of the course.

Is it possible to interrupt and resume the internship?
Any interruptions or justified suspensions of the internship must be agreed with the coordinating tutor/organizer.

I have to carry out the internship for kindergarten and primary school in the same comprehensive school. How many training projects do I need to include?
If the address (street/square and house number) of the operational headquarters (i.e. where the internship takes place) is the same, it will be sufficient to enter a single training project indicating the school internship tutor of one of the two school levels considered. Subsequently, the trainee will send an email to stage-mi@unicatt.it indicating the name, surname, role, email address and telephone number of the school internship tutor of the other school level.
If, on the other hand, the addresses of the operational offices are different, it will be necessary to include two separate training projects.

In the instructions for the compilation of the training project it is said that:

"PLEASE NOTE THAT PREGNANT TRAINEES CANNOT CARRY OUT THE INTERNSHIP DURING THE PERIOD OF COMPULSORY ABSTENTION (2 months before and 3 months after childbirth or in any case for a total period of 5 months) AS ARTICLE 7 OF THE INTERNSHIP AGREEMENT SIGNED BY THE SCHOOL DIRECTOR ESTABLISHES THAT – IN TERMS OF HEALTH SURVEILLANCE – TRAINEES ARE EQUATED TO FEMALE WORKERS"

According to what is reported in the article of Law, I risk not being able to do the necessary hours for my year. How can I do this?
For trainees who carry out the activity in a kindergarten, it is NOT possible to carry out the internship for the entire duration of gestation and for the 3 months following childbirth.

For trainees working in a primary school, the following requirements must be met:

• The physical fitness to carry out work outside the period of compulsory abstention established by the occupational doctor of the school after consulting the attending physician;
• A certificate of fitness for work drawn up by the occupational physician;
• The favourable opinion of the Headmaster;
• In any case, it is necessary to agree on the activation period of the training project with your university tutor of reference, so that the duration of the internship allows the indirect internship of years to accompany the direct internship.

How long should I consider for the start of my internship?

• The earliest possible start date of the internship is 14 days after the start of the procedure
• The signing process (student side and host school side) must be completed two working days before the start (excluding Saturdays and Sundays, holidays are not counted)

What are the cases in which a new signature process is required for the activation of the Internship Training Project?
The cases in which a new signature process is required (both on the student side and on the host school side) are as follows:

• Change of start date
• Extension of the training project
• Change of school tutor
• Editing content

Suspensions do not require the training project to be re-signed
If the signature process is not completed in time, the Internship & Placement Service will enter a new start date (at least 7 days later than the initial one)

I have finished the scheduled hours before the end date of the internship indicated in the training project: what should I do?
In the event of early termination of the internship with respect to the end date set by the training project, please connect to step.unicatt.it, "internships and internships" section, position yourself on the name of the trainee and click on "request interruption".  

Is it possible to carry out the internship abroad?
The direct internship can be carried out abroad (starting from T2) after a preliminary motivational/orientation interview with the coordinator/organizer tutor functional to the preparation of a specific plan.

If the school abroad follows the Italian school system then the direct internship is fulfilled entirely with the experience abroad, otherwise the recognition will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis during the interview and cannot exceed 50%.
Language proficiency in the language of the host country (B2 level) is required as a requirement.