Socialization, appropriation and adaptation of outstanding teaching competencies as an enhancement of curricular improvement : the creation of a Center for Innovation in Education

New educational paradigms, such as what the UNESCO identifies as “the dynamic networks and work spaces for the discussion, creation, diffusion and socialization of knowledge, integrating development strategies that enhance innovation in higher education” (Observatorio Mexicano de la Innovación en la Educación Superior [OMIES]; 2011: 5), force us, as a college, to start looking in different directions. The world in which we operate is looking forward to the creation of interdisciplinary curricular programs and the transformation of academic organizations, under the notion that professors should rethink their role –traditionally though of as lecturers and knowledge holders¬–, and recreate their teaching practice through personal and collegiate work, aligned with the academic training (mastery of their discipline) and pedagogical and didactic education (didactic instrumentation and curricular design) that all teachers need. Set in this scenario and as a response to the challenges that these paradigms entail, Universidad Panamericana [UP] has set the goal of developing interdisciplinary learning environments that encourage the development of professors and college students through dialogue and reflection, in order to achieve a solid academic formation. This is the reason why more than two years ago, the university firmly got interested in creating a space where its professors’ talent could be enhanced, a space that contributed to the improvement of the teaching and learning process and the promotion of innovative learning environments through academic and cross-disciplinary collaboration. This concern materialized since the 2010 Fall term as the Center for Innovation in Education [CIE], whose utmost goal is to enhance teaching talent through the innovation of learning environments, in order to have a positive effect on the students’ integral learning. The following paper aims to present the center’s efforts regarding curricular work and program development as a teaching practice, tasks in which educational innovation has been promoted, having as a foundation each professor’s outstanding teaching competencies and strengths, that is, their “best qualities” (Lopez and Louis; 2009: 2). ©2013 IATED Academy