This research is part of a project led by the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil (Ecuador) and the National Distance Education University - UNED (Spain) aiming at designing a teaching/professional competences training model for teachers. The purpose of this study is to assess the meaning of professional competences and their significance within teachers' teaching and training processes. Using the mixed methods approach, an ad hoc questionnaire was designed and given to discussion groups, achieving participation of more than a hundred teachers. Quantitative data analysis was carried out using the Logit model while Atlas ti 23 allowed analysis of the qualitative data. The results evidenced high scores in the competences evaluated, being leadership and research the lowest. In general, the teachers value, preferably, planning, communication, evaluation, methodology, digital, and tutoring competences, with a lower value among teachers ranging from 25 to 30 years old; those older than 55 stressed the importance of digital and innovation competences. Thus, it is recommended that training programs for teachers should focus on the set of related competences, especially on the digital competence, considering the challenges represented by investigation and pedagogical leadership.

The present research is embedded in the professional development and research line, and in the needs of secondary education and first-year university teachers. Evidencing the importance of teachers’ professional training to include specific adaptations and skills on both the intercultural dialogue and understanding—often called Intercultural Competence—is fundamental because of the direct impact for the sustainable development of human beings, groups, and ecosystems. An extensive investigation of the role played by each of the main competencies linked to the following intercultural dimensions was performed: Professional Identity, Ethics and Axiology, Methodology, and Inclusive Education. The integrated methodology used was a cross-study of data, performed after the obtention of a three-cornered evaluation of results collected in focus groups, interviews, and questionnaires. Findings showed the impact of the intercultural dialogue and understanding in education patterns for the sustainable development of society. Other outputs also underlined the relevance of setting up a new ecology of forms, knowledge, attitudes, and educational meanings, further used to update teachers and students’ training in sustainable ecology and cultural diversity. Progress made in these complementary competencies—Professional Identity, Ethics and Axiology, Methodology—were appraised by teachers participating in the present study; the latter showing an increased interest and demand for the intercultural competence, after increasing their proficiency in the other complementary competencies.

El objetivo de este trabajo es descubrir las dimensiones del mapa conformado por las competencias, las creencias y las buenas prácticas docentes consideradas relevantes para la construcción de un modelo de formación inicial de profesionales de Educación Infantil. Se ha diseñado y aplicado un cuestionario ad hoc basado en una amplia muestra y estudios previos realizados, así como grupos de discusión llevados a cabo con profesionales con amplia experiencia en la Educación Infantil y expertos en la formación inicial de docentes. Las competencias más valoradas han sido la comunicación, empatía y emocional, junto a las creencias de reconocimiento al valor y potencialidades de cada ser humano. Estas competencias y creencias, apoyadas por las buenas prácticas docentes, realizadas con metodologías innovadoras, junto a las relaciones que los docentes universitarios establecen con sus estudiantes, son de vital importancia, debiendo marcar los futuros modelos de formación del profesorado de esta etapa.

There is a growing importance of competences as an essential curricular element in higher education since they allow for the transfer of knowledge to diverse academic and professional contexts. For the foundation, taxonomy and classification of this study, we obtained ratings from 543 students at two prestigious Spanish universities. The different competences were grouped by management and planning, higher cognitive skills, quality management and innovation, expression and communication and knowledge acquisition. We evaluated the attitudes of university students regarding competences in a pedagogical design; it was expected that students valued the importance of competencies in pedagogical contexts and the skill in these competences. Students highlighted the importance of management and planning, higher cognitive skills, quality management and innovation, expression and communication, knowledge society and teamwork. A correlation analysis between the importance of and skill in the studied competences was also included. Obtained data detail the importance that students give to competences. The participants also detailed the deficiencies in their skill on most competences. The lack of correlation between importance and skill is detailed, as well as the importance of management and planning competences in curricular design in higher education.

The present research is embedded in the professional development and research line and in the needs of secondary education and first-year university teachers. We focussed on evidencing the importance of teachers’ professional training to include some specific adaptation and skills in intercultural dialogue and understanding -often called Intercultural Competence- because of its direct impact on the sustainable development of human beings, groups, and ecosystems. We investigated the role played by each of the main competencies linked to the following intercultural dimensions: Professional Identity, Ethics and Axiology, Methodology, and Inclusive Education. We used an integrated methodology and a cross-study of data, performed after the obtention of a three-cornered evaluation of results collected in focus groups, interviews, and questionnaires. We were able to show the impact of intercultural dialogue and understanding in the education for a sustainable development pattern. This is fundamental to set up a new ecology of forms, knowledge, attitudes, and educational meanings, further used to update teachers and students’ training in sustainable ecology and cultural diversity. Progress made in these complementary competencies -Professional Identity, Ethics and Axiology, Methodology- were appraised by teachers participating in the present study; the latter showing an increased interest and demand for the intercultural competence, after increasing their proficiency in the other complementary competencies.

El principal objetivo de este estudio es valorar el impacto del programa de formación de docentes universitarios en la Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil-UCSG (Ecuador) y examinar su incidencia en la mejora de los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje. El programa se basa en el dominio de las siguientes competencias: comunicación, digital, innovación, investigación y liderazgo. Se utiliza una metodología mixta mediante la aplicación de un cuestionario y grupos de discusión. Los resultados muestran que el avance en cada competencia queda reflejado en la significatividad de las diferencias entre el pretest y el postest. Se evidencian mejoras entre el dominio expresado al inicio y al final de la aplicación del modelo de capacitación, ratificado en el análisis de contenido de los textos emergidos de los grupos de discusión. Se concluye que el programa ha aportado a los docentes un avance significativo en cada una de las competencias, singularmente en las de comunicación y digital.