Teaching and Learning Based on a Different Model at the National University of Tucumán

Abstract

We present the results obtained from the analysis of the functioning of 60 groups, each composed of 25 students, after six years of work in the Social Psychology course. With approximately 300 students per year, the course has been taught since 1989 according to the theoretical line of the Argentine School of Social Psychology, designed by Dr. Enrique Pichon-Rivière. This theoretical position considers the subject as socially and historically determined and as configured in constant interplay with the context.

The didactic model of the course, which uses the operative group technique for group functioning, stands in open contrast to the predominant teaching model in the degree program: individualistic and competitive.

We present the results of this work through the different modes of articulation between theory and practice: group organizers, including mutual internal representation, needs, objectives, and task; fieldwork; and the evaluation system designed for the course.

We describe two roles: teacher and group coordinator, highlighting the importance of achieving coherence in the articulation of theory and practice as an epistemological and learning support.

Finally, we propose this methodology as necessary for the training of psychologists and educators connected with their social reality, especially considering the conditions under which universities operate in our country.