The learning-centered approach implies a different way of thinking and developing teaching practice; questions the paradigm focused on repetitive teaching, of a transmissive-receptive nature that prioritizes the acquisition of declarative, inert and decontextualized information; and its main reference is the constructivist and sociocultural conception of learning and teaching, according to which learning consists of an active and conscious process whose purpose is the construction of meanings and the attribution of meaning to the contents and experiences by The person that learns. This approach consists of an intellectual act but at the same time social, affective and of interaction within a community of sociocultural practices. The learning process takes place thanks to the pedagogical mediation actions that involve a coordinated activity of intention-action-reflection between the students and the teacher, around a diversity of objects of knowledge and with the intervention of certain languages ​​and instruments. Furthermore, it occurs in specific socio-cultural and historical contexts, from which it cannot be abstracted, that is, it has a situated character.

Among the characteristics of the approach, the following stand out:

• The knowledge and intellectual activity of the learner not only resides in the mind of the learner, but is also socially distributed.
• It attends to the integrality of the student, that is, the balanced development of their knowledge, where, although their knowledge of knowledge is of interest, their know-how and their knowledge of being are also considered relevant.
• The acquisition of knowledge, beliefs, values and forms of professional performance is possible to the extent that one participates in meaningful activities.
• The use of learning strategies and tools acquires greater importance given the traditional accumulation of knowledge. Likewise, it favors the design of different ways of integrating work inside and outside the classroom.
• It fosters the integration between theory and practice and allows the transfer of knowledge to situations beyond the moment in which they were learned.

Based on these characteristics, it is feasible to generate a teaching that focuses its interest on the promotion and mobilization of student learning. From the assumed constructivist and sociocultural perspective, the development of didactic situations that recover project learning, case-based learning, problem-based learning, service learning, collaborative work, as well as critical incident detection and analysis. Each of these modalities has a set of specific characteristics and purposes that are aimed at promoting authentic learning in the student.

• Project learning

  It is a teaching and learning strategy in which students are actively involved in the elaboration of a task-product (didactic material, investigation work, design of proposals and prototypes, artistic manifestations, exhibitions of diverse productions or experiments, etc. .) that responds to a problem or need raised by the social, educational or academic context of interest.

• Case-Based Learning

  This strategy exposes narratives or stories that constitute problematic situations, generally taken from real life, which suppose a series of attributes that show their complexity and multidimensionality and that are presented to the student to develop proposals leading to their analysis or solution.

• Problem-based learning (PBL)

  Teaching and learning strategy that raises a problem situation for analysis and / or solution, where the student is an active and responsible participant in their learning process, from which they search, select and use information to solve the situation that is presented to them. as you should in your professional field.

• Learning in service

  It is an experiential and situated teaching strategy that integrates training processes and community service, through organized and intentionally structured educational actions that transcend academic boundaries and promote learning based on collaborative relationships, reciprocity and respect for the diversity of the participants. (school, student and community). Its specificity lies in linking service and learning in a single educational activity that articulates the learning content with the real needs of a community.

• Collaborative learning

  Teaching and learning strategy in which students work together in small groups to maximize both their learning and that of their peers. The work is characterized by a positive interdependence, that is, by the understanding that the achievement of a task requires the equitable effort of each and every one of the members, for which they interact positively and mutually support each other. The teacher teaches learning within the framework of collective experiences through learning communities, as spaces that promote reflective practice through the negotiation of meanings and the solution of complex problems.

• Critical Incident Detection and Analysis (IC)

  It is defined as a spatially and temporally determined event or event, which significantly affects the emotional state of the teacher and consequently destabilizes his pedagogical action. The formative value of these incidents lies in the fact that their analysis enables profound changes in the conceptions, strategies and feelings of the teacher, which in turn promotes transformations in teaching practice.

In this way, the learning-centered approach suggests that learning is achieved to the extent that it is significant and transcendent for the student, insofar as it is linked to their context, previous experience and living conditions; Hence, the curricular contents, more than an end in themselves, are constituted in means that contribute to the student’s appropriation of a series of references for the conformation of a critical and reflective thought.