One of the key factors in the quality of education lies in its teachers. Becoming a good teacher is a long process and it is essential to attend teachers from their first years of professional practice to achieve this goal. Consequently, teacher professional development (TPD) is postulated as a key challenge for higher education systems as it is linked to educational improvement. TPD is a specific area, conceptualized around various phases, of which we highlight here initial teacher training, initiation to the profession and professional teaching practice. The approach taken in this project emphasizes the importance of addressing TPD in the university context, with a focus on the initiation to the profession, also called the induction period. To this end, different voices on this object of study will be taken into account, from supranational policies to the experiences of beginning teachers and other key actors. We will also explore professional competence frameworks, digital competence and reflective processes around induction. This would contribute to a missing and necessary diagnosis to answer why, what and how to achieve quality training for our university teachers.
Thus, the general objective is to investigate the professional development policies of university teachers in the induction phase, with special attention to the configuration of their competence profile in an increasingly digital world. This general objective is broken down into the following specific objectives, which will guide the work proposal: (1). Analyze educational policies on teacher professional development around the induction period. (2). To study the policies and processes for incorporating new teachers in Spanish universities and in some countries. (3). To describe the perceptions of the agents involved in the process of initiation to the university teaching profession. (4). To elaborate a proposal for university induction policies, within the framework of professional teaching development and in an increasingly digital world.
#UniDPD is a research project funded by the Universitat Jaume I (2021-2023), and carried out by researchers from the GREAT group and the IDOCE group (Code: UJI-A2020-18)