video: Lucía Sánchez-Tarazaga, director of the Observatory of the Teaching Profession at the Universitat Jaume I of Castellón
Credit: Universitat Jaume I of Castellón
The Research Group on Innovation, Development and Competency Assessment in Education (IDOCE) at Universitat Jaume I in Castelló, coordinated by Professor Lucía Sánchez-Tarazaga, has promoted the creation of the Observatory of the Teaching Profession. This initiative emerged from the need to disseminate academic knowledge on teaching and the teaching profession and aims to become a co-creation space for sharing teaching experiences and fostering educational research among non-university teachers.
The purpose of this new structure is to add value to the teaching profession, to highlight the knowledge and educational practices developed in the province of Castelló—while also drawing on those generated elsewhere in Spain—and to build a collaborative learning community among teachers, institutions and researchers. According to Lucía Sánchez-Tarazaga, who will serve as director, the goal is “to become a living, dynamic and open space that encourages collective reflection, the exchange of experiences and stronger connections between schools and the University”.
The Observatory is open to educational centres and their teaching staff, research groups and researchers, associations and teacher-training institutions, as well as students linked to education. More than thirty profiles are currently registered, and joining simply requires completing this form.
There are many ways to participate: for instance, by presenting experiences developed in schools or by research groups; collaborating in studies or projects on teaching practice coordinated by the Observatory; organising training activities or meetings among teachers; participating in the training of future teachers through joint projects; or exchanging materials and resources prepared by teaching staff, among other possibilities.
The director of the Observatory of the Teaching Profession hopes that it “will become a meeting point for educators, researchers and teaching professionals, inspiring new initiatives, generating new knowledge and weaving networks of collaboration between different institutions and organisations”, because “its main value lies precisely in these connections between people, projects and diverse perspectives, which help generate knowledge and reinforce the social recognition of teachers and teaching staff”.
This initiative stems from the project CIGE/2023/61 “#TEACH2TEACH: Teacher training in schools and universities: roles and competencies to improve initial training and professional development”, funded by the Generalitat Valenciana. However, it has been conceived as a permanent structure in order to “establish a stable and committed relationship with the teaching profession beyond the funding of individual projects”, Sánchez-Tarazaga explains.
Website: https://observatorioprofesiondocente.uji.es/