Social competences in university teachers

Abstract

The objective of this article is to reflect upon the professional competences that university teachers require in order to respond appropriately to the demands of contemporary society.This is a specialized documentary review that seeks to lay a thematic foundation and theoretically define analysis categories. It was found that when the issue of teaching competences is addressed, usually priority is given to disciplinary and pedagogical skills, while social competences are neglected. However, since teaching is a collective social practice, the relationships and interactions between individuals are essential; hence, it is concluded that teachers should develop social competences that will prevent the limitation of their performance during the educational process, a limitation that can severely damage the comprehensive training of their students.Regarding the methodology, the criteria for the inclusion of the bibliography were mainly based on the relevance of the reviewed sources related to the topic under study (the search found that social competences are generally not considered when referring to the professional skills of university teachers) and on the theoretical perspective shared by several cited authors. Their current validation or the language in which they were published were considered, although, some recent studies in English were included.