The University Institute of Education Sciences at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid pursues the following objectives:
- Education research and innovation in their respective domains, with priority given to interdisciplinary research and innovation that involves participation of researchers across diverse areas of knowledge, and that does not interfere with or replicate the research and innovation undertaken by UAM faculty departments themselves.
- Course design and delivery in teacher training, across all educational phases and settings, that is linked to the IUCE’s strands of research and innovation.
- Consultancy and expertise support in education matters and continual professional development for teachers.
- Offering the education community a framework for promoting and undertaking research, innovation and education initiatives coming from a wide range of academic and professional backgrounds.
- Fostering collaboration between the University and the society in educational issues, with the particular involvement of non-academic career teachers, in the attempt to encourage their increased participation in both research and innovation programmes and teacher training programmes developed by the IUCE.
- Disseminate outputs from research and innovation and from expert reflecting on education issues, that have been carried out in the context of the IUCE.
To achieve such objectives, the IUCE’s activities are grouped into the following areas of action:
- Education research
- Education innovation
- Teacher education
- Knowledge dissemination and transfer
Within each of these areas, general strands of action are developed, that in recent years have prominently featured in the IUCE, as follows:
- Education and society.
- Knowledge acquisition and use in a range of educational settings.
- Development of learning models and design of practice-oriented specialised-subject materials.
- Teacher training and professional development for teachers.
- Linguistic and audiovisual communication and new technologies.
- Spaces and education, and environmental education
On the basis of these general strands, the existing working groups were set up for developing the current strands of research, innovation and teacher education:
- Arts and audiovisual culture in educational spaces. Lead: Dr María Luisa Ortega.
- Professional development for teachers. Lead: Dr María Rodríguez Moneo.
- Education in informal settings. Lead: Dr Mikel Asensio.
- Teaching and learning History. Lead: Dr Mario Carretero.
- Space and education. School of Educational Architecture. Lead: Dr Santiago Atrio.
- Let’s do philosophy and moral problem-solving (NIAIÁ). Lead: Dr Félix García Moriyón.
- New methodologies for education on literature, linguistics and transmedia. Lead: Dr Pedro Hilario.
- Landscape, Heritage and Education. Lead: Dr Alfonso García de la Vega.
- Science, Technology, Arts and Mathemathics (STEAM). Lead: Dr José Bernardo Álvarez and Dr Andrés García Ruiz.