Used Sources of Spiritual Growth for Spanish University Students

Although some research has suggested means of promoting spiritual development in higher education, no systematic studies or literature reviews have been conducted to know what sources are most used for the spiritual growth of university students. This aspect was studied in a sample of 309 Spanish university students (Mean age = 21.40, range 18–25). The used sources were (in descending order) as follows: the practice of a virtuous behavior, cognitive-reflexive, nature-based, cultural, and religious sources. Women showed a higher use of cognitive-reflective and virtuous behavior-based sources. Age was related only and negatively to the use of religious sources. These results are consistent with previous studies indicating a greater religiosity in women and a lesser importance of religion in contemporary society and, particularly, in the life of young adults. However, taken as a whole, they indicate the importance of sociological and cultural aspects, in particular of the movement from traditional religiosity to religious indifference and dissatisfaction with institutional religion and/or toward spiritual movements linked to humanistic religions and spiritualities of life. It also points out the need to use a variety of strategies to foster the spiritual development of students

The Centre Counselling Unit as a University Guidance instrument

[ES] La Universidad española viene experimentando cambios profundos en todos sus ámbitos y facetas que cuestionan las formas habituales de abordar la docencia y el aprendizaje, y también la tutoría y orientación universitarias, haciendo de éstas últimas una necesidad incapaz de ser atendida desde fórmulas tradicionales. La creación de unidades de orientación a nivel de centro universitario constituye una iniciativa todavía no muy extendida. Éstas implican una planificación, diseño y posterior ejecución de acciones de orientación dirigidas a todos los estudiantes y profesores de un centro universitario. El apoyo al profesorado, la coordinación entre los distintos agentes universitarios que pueden estar relacionados con un mismo tipo de acciones, y el aprovechamiento óptimo de los recursos disponibles caracterizan este modo particular de organizar la orientación. En el presente artículo se describe la Unidad de Orientación de Centro de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación de la Universidad de Granada, el contexto legal, político, conceptual/ideológico e institucional en el que surge, su estructura organizativa y las acciones llevadas a cabo mediante un modelo de funcionamiento por programas. Por último, se realiza una valoración de las limitaciones y potencialidades encontradas durante los dos primeros años de su implantación concluyendo la importancia de la dinamización de la orientación en el centro, del trabajo coordinado del profesorado y la satisfacción de necesidades emergentes del alumnado, la necesidad afrontar resistencias diversas propias de la vida universitaria, y el valor de las unidades de orientación de centro como elemento de calidad de la educación superior.[EN] Spanish universities are experiencing profound changes in every sphere and aspect, which call into question their customary approaches to teaching and learning, as well as university tutoring and guidance, making these a need which cannot be met by traditional methods. Creating guidance units at a specific centre or faculty within a particular University is an initiative which is not yet widespread. These units require a planning, a design and a subsequent execution of guidance activities for all the students and teachers of a specific university centre. This particular way of counselling organising is characterised by the support for the teaching staff, the coordination among the different university actors who may be involved in a given type of actions, and optimum leverage of all the available resources. This paper describes the Guidance Unit of the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the University of Granada, the legal, political, conceptual/ideological and institutional context in which it emerges, its organisational structure and the actions carried out through a model of functioning by programmes. Finally, there is an evaluation of the limitations and potentials found in the first two years of implementation, concluding in favour of the importance of increasing the dynamism of guidance in the centre, coordinated work by the teaching staff, and the meeting of the needs which arise among students, the need to deal with different types of resistance which are natural to university life, and the value of centre guidance units as a quality element in Higher education.Villena Martínez, MD.; Muñoz García, A.; Polo Sánchez, MT. (2013). La Unidad de Orientación de Centro como instrumento para la Orientación Universitaria. REDU. Revista de Docencia Universitaria. 11(2):43-62. https://doi.org/10.4995/redu.2013.5566OJS436211

Qué interés tiene la inteligencia emocional del docente universitario como objeto de estudio

Emotional intelligence is a widely researched construct, as well as its connection with different areas of human development, such as personal, social, academic or professional. In the work area, it plays an important role for those who perform jobs that involve a high interpersonal relationship and high emotional activation, such as teachers. However, the emotional intelligence of university professors seems to have received little attention. The purpose of this paper is to explore the scientific publications related to the emotional intelligence of university teachers in order to know the state of research and to detect trends and future lines of work. and to detect trends and future lines of work. To this end, a systematized review of the scientific literature contained in the WOS, SCOPUS and ERIC databases has been carried out by adopting the SALSA framework (Codina, 2018) and criteria of the PRISMA protocol for systematic reviews (Page et al., 2020). The results show a scarce scientific production and with an incipient character, where a wide field remains to be discovered and investigated, not only for the sake of the quality of education offered to students but also for the positive impact it can have on the life of the teacher and on that of the university institution itself.Proyecto de investigación I+D+i con fondos PAIDI 2020 Junta de Andalucía, titulado “El desarrollo personal en la formación inicial del docente: la empatía del estudiantado y del profesorado” (Ref. P20_00698)

Is the smart mobile phone transforming university educational reality?

International audienceSmartphones (SMPs) play a vital role in the lives of young people and in the university classroom. There are few studies of the use of SMPs by university students, and the existing knowledge is inconsistent and lacking consensus. This article shows the validity of a theoretical model of the use of SMPs in higher education, in the context of the theory of uses and gratifications, and the knowledge gained from previous studies on the use of SMPs by adolescents. The results suggest the existence of a specific educational function for the use of SMPs in university classrooms. Despite the emergent nature of this function, the educational use of SMPs in higher education presents potential consolidation as a source of gratification and satisfaction of educational needs. Their inclusion in the everyday activity of university classrooms will require considerable effort to adapt the educational system, and the training of students and teaching staff must be improved in order to reduce possible interference in learning the communicative and expressive play functions of SMPs