Varona

Teacher training: innovative pedagogical approaches for strengthening professional competencies in the 21st century

2025-11-19T17:05:17-05:00

This document examines the results of novel methodologies in pedagogical training for educators, emphasizing the cultivation of essential professional competencies required to address the challenges of the 21st century: critical thinking, digitalization, adaptability, and interdisciplinary collaboration. The study primarily aimed to investigate and assess training methods incorporating active learning, technology integration, and metacognitive reflection within university environments and the continuous professional growth of educators. The study utilized a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, commencing with a quantitative phase involving a structured survey of 250 prospective teachers (convenience sample), subsequently enhanced by a qualitative phase comprising 20 semi-structured interviews and focus groups aimed at gaining a deeper insight into participants' perceptions and experiences. Descriptive statistics (exploratory factor analysis, multiple regression analysis) were employed to ascertain pedagogical variables that most effectively enhance the development of professional competencies, while thematic coding revealed emerging categories including "collaborative teaching," "critical use of ICT," and "professional self-regulation." The results demonstrated that programs utilizing tactics like flipped classrooms, digital laboratories, and concurrent team teaching led to a notable enhancement (p < 0.05) in self-assessed competence, especially in the digital and metacognitive areas. Moreover, educators who underwent training via practical projects or self-directed simulations exhibited enhanced confidence and professional independence. This study substantially enhances the current research on modern training methodologies by delivering robust and credible empirical evidence to advocate for curricular reform in higher education and wider educational policy, while presenting a replicable framework for institutional applications. Incorporating such techniques within core teacher education courses is advisable to promote reflective, adaptive, and pertinent professional practice for the 21st century.

Science fair: contribution to professional training for the promotion of scientific culture

2025-10-10T21:04:29-04:00

The article encourages reflection on the contribution of science fairs to professional training for the promotion of scientific culture among students pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry Education, who assume the role of promoters as part of their comprehensive and continuous formation. In response to the challenges posed by scientific and technological development and innovation, pedagogical programs in the basic sciences must foster the development of capacities and qualities in students to effectively engage with formal, non-formal, and informal educational settings in support of scientific culture promotion practices. The systematization of experiences from fifteen science fairs organized by the National Network of Scientific Culture Promoters at the Enrique José Varona University of Pedagogical Sciences between 2022 and 2024 demonstrated how these events strengthen students’ acquisition of knowledge, skills, and values. They also raise awareness of the importance of strengthening ties between universities and society to ensure the sustainability of scientific-technological professions and science education in the country. Furthermore, they highlight the social responsibility of students and educators in driving transformative actions across educational settings to democratize access to knowledge and its applications, enhance critical thinking, and support informed decision-making. The research conducted revealed that science fairs consolidate the role of students in pedagogical programs as promoters of scientific culture.

Collective meanings of professional identity among rural teachers in Chiapas

2025-10-20T21:50:41-04:00

Teachers' professional identity is shaped by their personal and professional training and by their actual practice. It is both an internal and external process, individual and collective. The aim of this study is to recognize this configuration from the perspective of others, that is, the collective recognition of identity, peer influence, and shared perceptions of what it means to be a rural teacher. To this end, two focus groups were conducted with six rural teachers in each. Among other things, it was found that family, training at different educational levels, and vocation have been decisive factors in becoming a teacher. Likewise, teaching in rural contexts means adapting to the environment, conditions, and needs of students. Teachers report that each school and community is unique and that commitment, responsibility, and love are necessary aspects of serving students in these spaces.

Interactive early stimulation strategy for learning Kichwa in infants with adolescent mediation

2025-10-20T21:40:12-04:00

In a context where Kichwa is facing a progressive disappearance, it is essential to develop innovative methodologies that facilitate their learning from early childhood. The objective consisted of an interactive early stimulation strategy for the learning of Kichwa, using Word Wall, for children from 2 to 4 years old, from the pedagogical approach of Glen Doman's memory bits. Under a quantitative approach, with a quasi-experimental and descriptive design, we worked on the interactive strategy with 12 children from the K1 Child Development Center, and 8 children from the K2 Child Development Center, with traditional language instruction. Structured questionnaires and interactive games were applied. The results were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with ANOVA, showing that the children exposed to the interactive strategy showed better performance compared to the traditional teaching group. The methodology favored meaningful, pragmatic and symbolic learning. Validation by expert judgment confirmed the effectiveness of the strategy, corroborating the hypothesis that teaching Kichwa through interactive tools significantly improves learning in young children. This study contributes to intercultural and bilingual education, providing a replicable model for the preservation of indigenous languages in early childhood.

The printing press as a source of contemporary historical knowledge

2025-10-20T23:55:16-04:00

The press, as a source of contemporary historical knowledge, has been, is, and will continue to be a mandatory theoretical topic in pedagogy because it constitutes a fundamental epistemological resource. Its multidimensional, multifaceted, and discursive nature stimulates motivation, energizes pedagogical practices, and promotes critical approaches from diverse perspectives in the Contemporary World History course at Cuban pre-university schools. This article, the result of a research project at the José Martí Pérez University of Sancti Spíritus: A Scientific-Methodological Conception to Contribute to the Improvement of Comprehensive Student Education, focuses on characterizing the press as a source of contemporary historical knowledge in the Contemporary World History course at Cuban pre-university schools. An essentially qualitative methodology was followed, employing theoretical methods: analysis-synthesis and inductive-deductive, and empirical methods: review of normative documents from Cuban pre-university schools, systematization of experiences, surveys, interviews, and methodological triangulation. Based on this, the theoretical and methodological assumptions regarding the use of the press as a source of contemporary historical knowledge were systematized.

Professional development of rural teachers for the construction of the text in complex multigrade schools

2025-10-20T22:41:16-04:00

In Cuba, the current concept for the professional development of the Ministry of Education's teaching staff is aimed at the ongoing training and systematic updating of university graduates for the performance of their professional and academic activities, as well as the enrichment of their cultural heritage. Although the Third Improvement of the Cuban National Education System includes among its orientations those directed towards the development of rural school teachers, documentary analysis and pedagogical practice allowed us to verify that there is no particularization or precision in the preparation of these in theoretical-didactic aspects for the treatment of linguistic content that, due to their limited knowledge, does not favor the development of communication, based on texts, in the students of this type of school. A qualitative study was conducted using interviews and classroom observations with a sample of 4 teachers and 32 students from the Antonio Álvarez school in the rural area of El Cobre, where limited theoretical knowledge about texts and theoretical-methodological inadequacies for their treatment and construction were found. A system of professional development activities was proposed through workshops and scientific debate. There was great acceptance and willingness to participate in the proposed activities, and significant suggestions were offered that contributed to their improvement.

Environmental education as a strategy to consolidate environmental values in the Angolan university context

2025-11-01T22:28:27-04:00

The topic of environmental education in the Angolan university context is addressed. This requires concrete actions by teachers to encourage student reflection on the problems it entails and their influence on performance after graduation. The research aims to reveal essential guidelines for a study of educational management in the initial training process, enabling a positive impact on teacher preparation to promote environmental education in the university context from the different components of the training process (academic, work-research, and outreach). The approach delved into the most recent literature on the topic and promoted a fact-perceptual diagnosis. Both revealed insufficient teacher preparation in their educational management and poor student knowledge of the subject. Qualitative research methods were employed, both theoretically and empirically, which allowed us to corroborate the relevance of the study. Its impact will contribute to the design of the study from the perspective of educational sciences and to improving the quality of environmental education in the training of teaching professionals in the Angolan university setting.

Pedagogical intervention for the professional guidance of adolescents towards specialties of Vocational Technical Education

2025-11-01T22:34:26-04:00

One of the purposes of basic secondary education is to provide students with polytechnic and vocational training. Therefore, it is necessary to provide vocational guidance to the professions the country requires, prioritizing science. Hence, these occupy a priority place in the National Education System. However, in practice, shortcomings are identified that limit the development of professional interests for continuing studies in technical specialties. Therefore, this article presents two alternative pedagogical interventions for the vocational guidance of adolescents toward Vocational Technical Education specialties, based on the subjects involved—students and teachers. In this sense, modeling is used to conceive both proposals, which in practice dynamize the theoretical-methodological articulation that establishes a pedagogical model and a strategy of the same nature, designed and structured according to the specifics of the object of study. The study was conducted at the basic secondary education level in Santiago de Cuba, promoting professional interests among adolescents in basic secondary education so they could continue their studies in technical and vocational education specialties.

The improvement of the professional pedagogic activing of the specialists of the educational production centers

2025-11-27T10:46:24-05:00

In the formation of the force of skilled work, the certification of the annexed classrooms as centers of educational production constitutes one of the priorities of the technical and professional education. In investigations carried out difficulties in the specialists of the production and the services for the orientation are can verify to the pupils in the labor trainings, that is to say, exist insufficiencies in the professional acting pedagogic of the specialists of the center of educational production. To contribute to solution of this situation, the objective of this article is to propose a theoretical-methodological conception that contributes to the professional pedagogic acting of the specialists in the center of educational products. They specify juridical elements that lays the foundations of the proposal as well as relating theoreticians that sustains the professional pedagogic acting of the specialists and it sketches, in general way the proposal of solution that is in process of construction. With it, tries to get improve the professional acting of the specialists in the center of educational production, as of the manufacture of a theoretical-methodological conception that, from the didactic, methodological and investigative viewpoint, it will reverberate in a positive way in the process of teaching-apprenticeship of the students during the development of the labor trainings.

Pedagogical strategy to enhance motivation for English learning in technological institute students

2025-11-19T16:48:32-05:00

This article constitutes a scientific outcome produced by the main author during the doctoral program together with the supervising tutors, who, from the standpoint of science, contributed to the appropriation of scientific knowledge to research persistent educational issues in the teaching–learning process of English in fourth‑year students at a technological institute in the Dominican Republic. The outcome presented is the design of a pedagogical strategy of an integrative, dialectical, collaborative, and disruptive‑innovative nature, whose overall objective is to raise intrinsic motives for learning this foreign language. The proposal is grounded in a theoretical framework and in the delineation of indicators to be considered for achieving the stated objective, and it includes actions aimed at both the institutional educational context and the family environment. Theoretical scientific methods such as systemic‑structural analysis and modelling were employed and proved useful in the design of the proposed intervention, along with analytic‑synthetic and inductive‑deductive methods.

The development of written production: a social need in the dominican educational context

2025-11-19T16:52:35-05:00

The document addresses written production as a social issue of science and technology within the Dominican educational context. Its objective is to characterize the written production of secondary school students in the context of the Dominican Republic on the references provided by science and technology. To carry it out, theoretical methods such as historical-logical, analytical-synthetic, inductive-deductive and the systems approach were used, directed toward the production of texts as a process and its development in the dominical context. The discussion and the development of the process in dominican students, of whom it in noted that, despite their importance for efective communication, cultural identity and sustainable show significant deficiencies in this skill. These stem from an overloaded curriculum, outdated teaching approaches, excessive focus on grammar over creative writing, and a disconnect from adolescents’ real needs. Writing is often reduced to mere reproduction, ignoring its cognitive and social dimensions.

Didactic model for using Cuaderno Martiano IV in Cuban History with an interdisciplinary approach

2025-11-19T17:13:29-05:00

This study focuses on the teaching-learning process of Cuban History in the first year of the Bachelor of Foreign Languages and English program at the University of Granma. It identifies shortcomings in the development of the interrelationship between the course content and the program's disciplines through the Cuaderno Martiano IV, which limits the interdisciplinary professional development of university students. To this end, is presented a didactic model for using the Cuaderno Martiano IV from an interdisciplinary perspective in Cuban History classes. The research process included the empirical and theoretical interpretation of the diagnosis of the formative reality, the determination of the historical evolution of the subject studied, and the development of a teaching model that presents the following dimensions: interdisciplinary projection of the content, interdisciplinary construction of the content, and interdisciplinary systematization of the content of Cuban History, through the Cuaderno Martiano IV, with the content of the program's disciplines. During the research, the lack of a system of didactic-methodological actions was identified that, in pedagogical theory, allows for the use of Martí's work as a means of establishing interdisciplinary relationships.

A Training Workshop to improve the knowledge about the Environmental Education in the Cuban Sports schools

2025-11-23T00:52:59-05:00

To achieve sustainable success in Environmental Education in an educational center, it is essential to guarantee a training process from the earliest to the most advanced ages. This is a premise to consider in Cuban sports-pedagogical schools, where an inextricable relationship prevails between sports practices and the environment. Therefore, the objective of this work is based on proposing a Training Workshop to improve the knowledge of directors and teachers at the country's sports-pedagogical schools. To conduct an initial diagnosis, empirical methods were applied: document review, surveys, and interviews. The study focused on determining the level of knowledge held by teachers, directors, and students as a starting point for achieving a change in environmental attitudes among student-athletes at these types of schools. The results generally revealed deficiencies in the terms, content, and methods that should be used to contextualize this necessary educational process at the diagnosed centers. A training workshop for principals and teachers is presented as a solution, aimed at providing the essential theoretical and practical frameworks for strengthening environmental education in these schools.

Foundations of education for bilingualism and interculturality in deaf communities

2025-11-28T09:34:58-05:00

This reflective article presents the authors' vision on how intercultural bilingual education for Deaf people should be approached. Above all, it must aim to be an education of excellence. It must start with a healthy strengthening of their Deaf identity and the consolidation of sign language as their first language, with special attention to the development of signacy and literacy, which will allow the Deaf to reach the highest levels of schooling, thereby providing them with better opportunities for social integration. It is necessary to assemble and train work teams committed to the task and willing to engage in interdisciplinary training to ensure success. The methods used include documentary analysis and the systematization of a variety of sources based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The theoretical foundations of the systematization carried out regarding education in Deaf communities are specified: cultural identity, from the perspective of the Deaf communities themselves; the two types of language use; the Common Underlying Proficiency model; sign language planning; and the relationship between the degree of bilingualism and cognition.

Preparation of sixth grade teachers for an interdisciplinary teaching-learning process

2025-12-04T05:20:56-05:00

The Third Improvement of the National Education System includes didactic elements linked to the components of comprehensive training and guiding programs, based on recognizing the integral, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary nature of education. These changes require an analysis that enables intersubject relationships, ideas that point to the need to concretize interdisciplinarity through the teaching of school subjects. At the Primary Level, this remains an outstanding aspiration due to the insufficient preparation of teachers, a clear contradiction between the current model and pedagogical practice. Therefore, a Methodological Strategy is designed to contribute to the preparation of sixth-grade teachers at the Primary Level for the development of an interdisciplinary teaching-learning process through the subject History of Cuba. Systematization and evolutionary analysis made it possible to determine trends, common and diverse elements, with the application of theoretical and empirical methods, processed through descriptive statistics. As a result, definitions of the interdisciplinary teaching-learning process and interdisciplinary performance are provided, as well as the foundation and operationalization of variables and the presentation of the methodological strategy, which is based on nodes of interdisciplinary articulation with methodological guidelines that will contribute to the quality of the process.

Improving the performance of family medicine specialists in Doppler interpretation during pregnancy

2025-12-04T05:36:42-05:00

Doppler ultrasound allows for the prediction of pregnancy complications by studying uterine and fetal circulation, thus contributing to reducing maternal morbidity and mortality, strengthening prenatal care, and optimizing perinatal outcomes. In this regard, a strategy is designed to improve the performance of family medicine specialists in interpreting Doppler ultrasound during pregnancy at the Hermanos Cruz polyclinic in Pinar del Río. The research was based on a Dialectical Materialist approach, which allowed for a deeper understanding of the process and its interrelationships within the historical and social conditions of postgraduate education in this context. It included theoretical methods: documentary analysis, historical-logical analysis, modeling, and empirical methods: surveys, interviews, expert judgment, and pre-experiments. The results are: a strategy for professional development contextualized in primary health care, based on foundations supported by different areas of knowledge. The structure, characteristics, components, and relationships for the process under study, as well as its theoretical validation, are proposed. The proposal outlined the goals for achieving efficient performance by family physicians in transforming the healthcare landscape at the Hermanos Cruz Polyclinic in Pinar del Río.

The integration of ICT resources by teachers in their teaching practice

2025-12-04T05:45:52-05:00

The rapid development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the current millennium has a direct impact on higher education, particularly on teaching practices. Consequently, these technologies have brought about significant changes in teaching methods, even leading to the development of new forms of education mediated by technology. This article, drawing on theoretical and technological frameworks, examines the integration of ICT resources by teachers in their teaching practice, with the aim of improving the quality of education, thus responding to societal and international demands. From this perspective, and within a dialectical-materialist framework, it begins with theoretical and methodological foundations to delve into specific aspects and to plan subsequent research stages in response to these societal needs. The study relies on theoretical methods: document analysis, analytical-synthetic reasoning, inductive-deductive reasoning, a systemic structural-functional approach, and the systematization of current perspectives, which facilitated understanding of the research object and the operational definition of integrating ICT resources into teaching practice.

SAFPI educational program in early childhood education: a look from pre-professional practices

2025-12-04T05:50:31-05:00

The Family Care Service for Early Childhood (SAFPI) for children aged 3 and 4 is a process that provides care to early childhood children who, for various reasons, are unable to attend the regular early childhood education system. The objective is to observe aspects developed within classroom teaching-learning, such as methodological actions and the resources used when adapting them to different environments; how to assess the scope of skills developed through their interrelationships; all of this, supported by the family, to achieve common learning objectives for children. The systematization methodology is based on the analysis of anecdotal records from researchers in pre-professional practices, who synthesized the relevant aspects of SAFPI education. The results show that both the methodological processes, the evaluation, and other aspects are guided by the regular system; however, the resources and dedication of the teacher are a plus that make the achievement of objectives and skills more flexible. Concluding that the activities in SAFPI classrooms provide the same quality and efficiency in children's learning as in regular institutions.

Talent and IQ

2025-12-04T05:29:35-05:00

One of the myths associated with intelligence and talent is a high IQ as a measure for identifying them. The project "Talent Focus in the New Plans and Programs of Cuban Education," run by the Central Institute of Pedagogical Sciences, has introduced talent detection using different sources of information as a first step in addressing talent development. This study, which is essentially descriptive and exploratory, shares the practice and results achieved in administering intelligence tests to students who have won competitions, using IQ estimates based on the exploration of their relationship with age, sex, skin color, subjects taken, grades, and provinces of origin. Historical and documentary analysis of the background on the topic, consultation with specialists from Diagnostic and Guidance Centers, and statistics point to significant numbers of young people who achieved the higher education evaluation. The experience confirmed that high intellectual ability is a component of talent, but not sufficient, and the need to resort to other methods to contrast intelligence tests, as well as revealing aspects worth studying in other samples and contexts.