After four decades in the classroom, I remain captivated by the profound transformation I've been witnessing in higher education. Today's students bring unprecedented diversity in their profiles, values, and learning strategies, and I embrace this as a dynamic evolution that continuously revitalizes my pedagogical practice while making it increasingly complex. My vision is both simple and demanding: good teaching must create environments where students feel intellectually challenged while gaining confidence in the enduring value of the competencies they're developing and the content they're mastering. This passionate commitment to educational excellence drives everything I do, even when the path becomes difficult—as I imagine it does for everyone.

Currently, I teach an undergraduate course on Education and the World of Work and a graduate course on Education Policies at Pompeu Fabra University. My teaching philosophy has been forged through diverse experiences across multiple university ecosystems, from traditional classrooms to pioneering online and hybrid environments. This evolution has unfolded alongside my dual trajectory as both a researcher and an educational leader. Through my roles as a full professor at Pompeu Fabra University, vice-rector at the Open University of Catalonia, and capacity-building specialist with international organizations, I've cultivated a pedagogical approach that integrates robust theoretical foundations, comparative international perspectives, and real-world applications, always leveraging technology to amplify learning experiences.

Teaching principles

My pedagogical practice rests on five interconnected principles:

  • Active, student-centered learning: I orchestrate meaningful learning experiences that enable students to become protagonists of their own intellectual journey. My role is to design these experiences using cutting-edge resources while providing continuous, constructive feedback through formative assessment cycles that drive the development of student capabilities.
  • Integration of theory and practice: I ensure students not only understand conceptual frameworks but also develop the agility to apply them to contemporary real-world challenges in educational policy and management. My fieldwork with international organizations enables me to present authentic cases and real-world examples that highlight the vital connection between academic theory and professional practice.
  • Comparative international perspective: I cultivate a global mindset in my students, encouraging them to analyze educational phenomena through multiple cultural and national lenses. This approach dismantles ethnocentric preconceptions while helping develop a sophisticated sensitivity to the rich diversity of educational contexts worldwide.
  • Critical and pedagogically grounded use of technology and AI: I believe digital tools should always serve clear pedagogical objectives rather than becoming ends in themselves. I strive to be a pioneer in using AI to create deeper, more personalized learning experiences, while simultaneously preparing future policymakers, researchers, and analysts to harness AI's transformative potential responsibly.
  • Fostering critical thinking and autonomy: I do everything possible to help students interrogate established paradigms, rigorously evaluate evidence, and construct sophisticated arguments about the complex interplay between technology, education, and sociocultural contexts. This intellectual independence becomes their most valuable asset.

Experience and teaching approaches
 

My teaching journey encompasses a rich tapestry of contexts and methodologies:

  • Face-to-face university teaching: At Pompeu Fabra University, I've created transformative learning experiences in undergraduate and graduate courses spanning comparative education policy, research methodology, and educational technology. This commitment to pedagogical excellence was recognized with the prestigious Vicens Vives Award for Teaching Quality in 1998, an honor that reinforced my dedication to continuous innovation.
  • Pioneer in online education: My tenure as vice-rector at UOC positioned me at the forefront of digital education, where I designed revolutionary virtual learning environments and experimented with pedagogies specifically adapted to digital media. This pioneering work has proven prophetic, providing invaluable insights into online teaching dynamics that have become globally indispensable.
  • University faculty development: I've designed and facilitated transformative professional development programs for faculty across diverse universities and international organizations, focusing on the seamless integration of technology with active learning methodologies. I currently chair the UNESCO Center for University Pedagogies (CPU), which is an international initiative dedicated to enhancing the pedagogical capacities of university instructors throughout the Global South.
  • Creating innovative teaching materials: My career has been marked by continuous innovation in learning materials, from developing pioneering multimedia modules at UOC to creating influential educational publications for UNESCO that reach policymakers worldwide.

Through these principles and reflection on both my colleagues' experiences and my own, I strive to prepare students not merely for professional careers but to take an active role in designing and improving public education policies. I would like my classroom to be a laboratory where students develop the critical thinking, global perspective, and technological fluency essential for navigating and transforming a rapidly evolving educational landscape. I leave it to the students to judge whether this commitment I express truly results in more and better learning for every one of them within the framework of a gratifying human experience.