IMPROVEMENT IN THE TEACHING OF THE INTERNATIONAL PRACTICUM IN COOPERATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

This project is related to the international projection and professionalization subjects in order to improve the quality in their teaching and generate materials that allow contributing to the education for the development, counting with three subjects from two degrees. We have worked with two groups from Universitat Jaume I (Spain) and Technological University of Chile (UTEM), the professors of the subjects, the sutdents of the first and second edition and specialists.

The overseas practicum are developed in lots of universities, but most of them are in a lower level or are linked to private master, without too much learning material, as has been reviewed in the Conferences of Development Cooperation. In the University Jaume I a team of lecturers have been working in order to offer a subject adapted to the European Space of Higher Education that facilitates the objectives of professionalization and internationalization. From the Academic Coordination it has been remarked the importance of this phase of the training to support the future cooperants and the local development actors in the middle and low rent countries.

There are lots of instruments that create a frame for this kind of actions inside the training in the universitarian cooperation for the development, for example, the University Jaume I approved in 2006 the Code of Conduct of the University for the Cooperation for the Development. During the 2008 year, the Spanish Secretary for the Cooperation for the Development has published different strategies; the two more linked to the subject are the Strategy for the Education for the Development and the Strategy for the Humanitarian Help. In 2001 the Spanish Principal Conference approved the document of the Strategy of the Universitarian Cooperation for the Development, where there are strategic lines for the universitarian cooperation and where the overseas practicum has an important role.

The present project makes possible to generate different synergies in order to improve the quality in the practicum subjects and create a learning community in this area that creates benefices to all the participants and the communities that receive the action in the different countries.