11 training pills for excellence and equity

Mercedes García García |  Contact | Departament: Research and Psichology in Education | Faculty: Education – Teacher Training Centre

Versión en español English version

Brief description

A training resource is presented in the form of pills so that primary and secondary school teachers can improve their professional competencies in a simple and practical way.

The process begins with a self-assessment of the level of competence in the eleven teaching competencies evaluated by the ProficiencyIn+E® Rubric and, upon completion, each teacher receives a personalized report. From this moment on, taking into account the results of the self-assessment, each teacher chooses which competency or competencies he/she wants to improve with the support of the associated training pill.

The ProficiencyIn+Edu® Pills have been registered in the Intellectual Property Registry under No. M-005483/2020. They are published in book format, but can also be used in open format thanks to the support of the educational consultancy Habilmind, creator of an online training system with all the pills, so that any teacher interested in improving their professional skills can continue learning autonomously.

How does it work?

The ProficiencyIn+Edu® Pills self-training model is designed to encourage individual reflection and design viable improvement challenges for each of the eleven teaching competencies related to excellence and inclusion, with a practical approach.

The ProficiencyIn+Edu® Pills are structured in four sections (figure 1): a case study based on a real classroom situation, questions for reflection on the case, keys for improvement and short, medium and long term challenges. Finally, (the book version) presents a section with a careful selection of resources for further professional development (figure 2).

What problem does it solve?

The 11 training pills offer a self-training resource for teachers in key competencies for their professional work. They address the challenges of teaching practice, which represents a significant challenge for educators, by providing a tool for professional development. Likewise, their self-training format offers a flexible framework that adapts to each teacher’s availability, making it more accessible and reducing the difficulties of balancing daily work with continuous training.

What future products will it develop?

The 11 training pills can be generally applied to teacher training. On the one hand, they support the ongoing professional development of in-service teachers, both through individual self-training and in collaborative models where they can serve as a basis for discussion and the exchange of experiences. On the other hand, they can be used as a competency framework for the development of initial teacher training programs, given their versatility and practical approach.

Competitive advantages compared to other research

The Proficiency self-training system provides an innovative, flexible, accessible and novel resource that encourages reflection on one's own practice, networking and continuous improvement. The ease of having the materials in a free online platform allows each teacher to work at his or her own pace and according to his or her training needs. The convenience of having the book, designed in a notebook format, simple and practical, provides a resource to deepen, which invites reflection, classroom observation and continuous improvement. This work completes the ProficiencyIn+E® Rubric, providing a starting point for each teacher to develop his or her own professional development plan and implement it in the classroom. There are other competency frameworks for the teaching profession, such as the recently created framework by the Ministry of Education. However, the competency framework on which the training pills are based is more practical and, therefore, easier to apply in teaching practice.

Where has it been developed?

The work is the result of the work led by the Adaptive Pedagogy research group of the Complutense University of Madrid, which, accompanied by teaching teams from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, the National University of Distance Education, the University of León, La Rioja, Oviedo and Valencia have been working on improving teaching skills since 2015. Currently, we share the R&D&I project PROFICIENCyIn+EDU: COLLABORATIVE TRAINING IN TEACHING COMPETENCIES FOR INCLUSION AND EXCELLENCE (RTI2018-096761-B-I00 MCI/AEI/FEDER, EU), whose objective is the development of viable training tools that impact on the improvement of the professional competences of Primary and Secondary teachers. In the web page of the Adaptive Pedagogy research group you can find a wide variety of resources and tools, as well as information about the group and its members.

And moreover…

We encourage you to try it and send us all the suggestions for improvement that you think appropriate. The goal is to have an open, useful and practical tool for teachers, but also to promote a collaborative improvement network so that education is strengthened. We are at your disposal in the mail: proficiency@ucm.es