Rethinking teacher education: a critical look at academic quality in higher education

Abstract

This essay proposes a critical reflection on teacher training as a fundamental axis for quality education and university transformation, since a primary function of the university is teaching, which comprises academic activities focused on cultivating critical thinking and the dissemination of knowledge. The analysis emerges from the assumption observed from practice where traditionally the teacher training model was centered on disciplinary knowledge and specific areas, which are insufficient to respond to the complexities of university education, which is why the interest arises in rethinking teacher training in universities. Framed in a qualitative approach and a socio-critical stance, it reflects on university academic quality, assuming teaching as the backbone for this purpose; the findings show a persistent tension between the discourse of academic quality (associated with efficiency and productivity indicators) and the real needs of a teacher training that promotes critical thinking, pedagogical innovation and social relevance. It is considered that rethinking teacher training requires overcoming the instrumentalist vision of quality to adopt a comprehensive approach that establishes: the institutionalization of training as a strategic university policy and the development of pedagogical-didactic competencies for the teaching-learning process; valuing the teaching role as an agent of educational transformation. The critical model of "resignification of teacher training" is proposed, which places ethical reflection and the practice of teaching as transversal axes to guarantee genuine and contextualized university academic quality.