The present paper examines the reflections and opinions provided by a pedagogy expert team from six Spanish Universities on competency-based training and its impact on assessment procedures and on improvements in University teaching and learning processes. This is a narrative inquiry which focuses on the analysis of answers provided by participants through a survey, employing open-ended questions. The results provide evidence to suggest that the adoption of a competency-based approach may be a good opportunity to highlight the value of practical training components. However, experts are concerned that implementing such an approach may represent a return to more technical forms of training, which are somewhat questionable and show subordination to market demands. To avoid this, the experts propose improving the conditions in which the education is developed, focusing the attention on the teacher-training, and a widening the debate around competency-based training and on the assessment systems.

La adopción del enfoque basado en competencias comporta un cambio importante desde el punto de vista pedagógico y didáctico que afecta directamente a la formación universitaria y a la práctica docente. Sin embargo, los esfuerzos institucionales desplegados para favorecer los cambios estructurales han sido superiores a la atención deparada al cambio cultural y pedagógico que afecta al profesorado. Por esta razón, y con el propósito de ampliar los espacios de reflexión y valorar los progresos alcanzados en estos últimos años, hemos profundizado en las percepciones que tienen los docentes de distintas universidades españolas sobre el enfoque por competencias. El estudio, de corte cualitativo, se ha basado en grupos de discusión como técnica de recogida de datos. En él han participado 43 profesores de seis universidades españolas públicas. La información resultante de las grabaciones ha sido transcrita y categorizada siguiendo un proceso deductivo-inductivo. La información proporcionada ha sido estructurada en torno a 36 subcategorías, agrupadas en 5 categorías. El análisis de resultados permite concluir que el profesorado universitario tiene dificultades para incorporar las competencias transversales al currículum académico, tiende a mostrarse pesimista respecto al impacto del enfoque por competencias en la mejora de la práctica educativa y considera que la incorporación exitosa de este enfoque pasa por profundizar en la actual reforma educativa, adoptar perspectivas más holísticas y atender a los aspectos culturales del cambio.

The study evaluates the emotional intelligence and prosocial behavior of primary school students; analyses the relationship between both constructs and determines whether there are dimensions of emotional intelligence that can predict prosocial behavior. It is a quantitative investigation that responds to a descriptive, correlational and predictive design, in which 229 students have participated. The results show medium-high levels of emotional intelligence and prosocial behavior in students, the existence of a directly proportional relationship between emotional intelligence and prosocial behavior, and the relevance of the interpersonal dimension as a predictor of prosocial behavior.

The purpose of this study was to validate a questionnaire aimed at assessing, from the point of view of families, the degree to which school administrations foster inclusion in compulsory education. In order to determine the psychometric properties of the “Cuestionario liderando la educación inclusiva en centros de educación obligatoria-Familias” [Leading inclusive education in compulsory-education schools Questionnaire] (LEI-Q-Families), we carried out descriptive, exploratory, and confirmatory factor analysis. For the sample used in this study, 150 families participated. The results confirmed that it is a valid and reliable scale with a two-factor structure. One of these factors included the initiatives carried out by the school management teams to enhance the openness of each school to the community and the surrounding area. The second factor encompassed actions aimed at promoting participation in the school and turning it into an inclusive space. LEI-Q-Families proved to be an instrument of great theoretical and practical worth that has made it possible to expand our currently slender knowledge on the perceptions families have of the work done by school managers to encourage inclusion in their institutions. It facilitates family participation in processes of improvement and provides a useful self-assessment tool for school administrations that wish to improve their schools and turn them into inclusive environments.

The objective of this work is to create, and validate, a questionnaire aimed at assessing those actions undertaken by school management teams to promote inclusion in compulsory education sector in Spain. It is based on the perspective of teaching teams (members of management teams and teachers). To determine the psychometric properties of the questionnaire a descriptive, exploratory factorial and confirmatory factorial analysis was performed. In the pilot phase of the instrument, 243 members of teaching teams participated. The results obtained confirm that it is a valid and reliable scale with a bifactorial structure. The first of these factors includes actions carried out by the management teams to energise inclusive culture in their schools and thus turn them into inclusive communities. The other set of actions includes interventions with the aim of improving the training of students and creating professional learning communities.