Magistero

Magistero is an Italian noun that denotes the teaching profession or the practice of teaching. It derives from the Latin magister, meaning master or teacher, and is related to words such as maestro and docenza. In modern Italian, more common terms for teaching activity are insegnamento or docenza, while magistero persists as a historical or formal designation of the field of teacher education.

Historically, Italian universities established faculties known as Facoltà di Magistero to train teachers for elementary and secondary education. Through education reforms in the late 20th century, many of these faculties were reorganized into new departments or faculties of Scienze della Formazione, reflecting broader changes in teacher training and pedagogy. The term remains in historical and institutional contexts to describe the vocation of teaching.

In contemporary usage, magistero is less common in everyday speech and is more likely encountered in academic, historical, or ecclesiastical contexts. In Catholic usage, the Italian term magistero is sometimes used to refer to the Church's teaching authority, known in English as the Magisterium; the English term emphasizes the specific doctrinal office rather than the broader profession. In related Romance languages, analogous terms such as magisterio (Spanish) and magistério (Portuguese) carry similar meanings of teaching as a profession or vocation.