The over one hundred event attendees were welcomed by the Dean of the Faculty, Esther Jiménez, after which they had the opportunity listen to lecturer Maite Fuertes, work experience coordinator of the Bachelor’s Degree in Education.

In her presentation about the Faculty of Education’s placement model, Professor Fuertes talked about how important work placement is for the entire faculty when it comes to training teachers, pointing out that, “curricular work placement in the Faculty of Education at UIC Barcelona is cross-disciplinary and helps students incorporate theory and hands-on experience”. In this regard, Fuertes stressed that, “the training potential of work experience is linked to the level of preparedness of the educators who share the task of tutoring the students at both the university and schools”.

Right after, Jaume Cela, a retired teacher, ex-headmaster at Escuela Bellaterra and author of books such as Amb veu de mestre [With a Teacher’s Voice] and Va de mestres. Carta als mestres que comencen [About Teachers: A Letter to New Teachers], gave a lecture entitled “De maestro a maestros: La importancia de las prácticas en la formación inicial del profesorado” [From a Teacher to Teachers: The Importance of Work Placement in the Initial Training of Teachers]. He explained that, in order to be a placement tutor, one has to have a sense of vocation and always keep in mind that training is for life: “Good teachers know how to listen and make sure their students learn a great deal”. In this regard, he noted that, “the disciples are the ones that actually bestow the title of teacher”. He also spoke about how fast knowledge chances.

After the talk, the tutors and coordinators took part in workshops in which they were divided between four moderators and asked to respond and reflect on three questions: “What do you expect of your students, what do you need to be an effective placement tutor and what do you get from being a placement tutor?”