Training to Transform: Part 2: The teacher as a learner, key to a vibrant school culture
One of the most urgent transformations in education is that of our conception of the teacher's role. What does it mean to teach when knowledge changes at a dizzying pace? What does it mean to be a reference for students in times of uncertainty?
In this second installment I revisit two central questions posed to me in a recent interview: the need to assume the teacher as a learner and the essential skills required to support learning effectively. These reflections are not just theoretical, but appeal to a more conscious, critical and professional educational practice.
3.- What role does the teacher play as a learner within the educational system?
The teacher who assumes the role of a learner not only improves their own practice, but also transforms their role in the educational ecosystem. They model lifelong learning for their students, open up to new ideas, review their pedagogical beliefs, and become a generator of shared knowledge.
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This approach connects with the notion of a "learning school" (Senge, 2000), where the entire educational community is involved in continuous learning processes. When teachers recognize themselves as learners, they contribute to building a reflective, flexible, and resilient school culture.
4.- What are the key skills needed by a teacher today?
Among the most urgent skills for 21st-century teachers are:
- Pedagogical critical thinking, to make informed and context-adapted decisions.
- Emotional regulation and resilience, to sustain practice in complex situations.
- Empathetic communication and active listening, to build deep pedagogical relationships.
- Management of personalized learning, which allows for addressing classroom diversity.
- Digital competency with pedagogical sense, beyond technical mastery.
- Collaborative work, which allows sharing and co-creating educational solutions.
These skills do not develop spontaneously: they require significant formative experiences, protected time for reflection, and effective feedback, which is hard to generate in a traditional teacher training course (be it face-to-face, hybrid, or online). For this, it is necessary to develop work structures within the educational entities themselves that are designed to accommodate practice, reflection on practice, and peer learning, as a means to gradually implement what was learned in the course into the classrooms.
Conclusion
When the teacher recognizes themselves as a learner, not only does their practice improve, but their way of being in school is transformed. They model intellectual humility, openness to change, and commitment to lifelong learning. And in doing so, they also transform the school culture. In this context, developing socio-emotional, pedagogical and collaborative skills ceases to be a luxury and becomes a top-tier professional necessity. Training teachers in this manner is, without a doubt, one of the best educational investments we can make, but it requires creating a series of conditions for the educational entity to become a professional learning space. Outside, teachers inform themselves (in courses, workshops, webinars, etc.), but inside, among peers, is where they truly form.
References
Senge, P. M. (2000). Schools That Learn: A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone Who Cares About Education. New York: Doubleday.
This is a fundamental book for understanding the concept of a "learning organization". Senge adapts his ideas to the school environment and proposes the creation of learning communities where everyone -teachers, students and leaders- recognize themselves as lifelong learners. It is key to supporting the idea of the "teacher-learner".