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About this research

This report is based on desk research and in-depth interviews. The following persons (listed in alphabetical order by surname) participated in the interview programme:

• Johanna Behrens, Manager of Project Formulation and Evaluation, Fundación Empresas Polar.
• Claudio Bifano, President of the Academy of Physical, Mathematical and Natural Sciences.
• Anne-Gaëlle Dartiguepeyrou, sociologist at the Sorbonne Nouvelle – University Paris 3.
• Nelson Falcón, Professor at the Experimental Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Carabobo.
• Hermes Iturriza, Head of the Physics Department at the Instituto Pedagógico de Maracay.
• Klaus Jaffé, Director of the Sartenejas Technology Park.
• José Ruiz, Director of the Laboratory Unit of the Universidad Simón Bolívar.
• José Javier Salas, Coordinator of the Physics and Mathematics programme at the School of Education of the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello.
• Gioconda San Blas, Director of the Directorate of Science and Technology of the Government of Miranda.
• Jean-Pierre Wyssenbach, S.J., member of the Editorial Board of SIC magazine.

Well-trained teachers: the first necessity

Education, like any other area, requires prepared people, well-trained teachers. Good teachers, according to the findings of educational researchers, are those who know how to harness and apply three types of knowledge¹ : “content knowledge” or, in other words, knowledge about the subject being taught; “pedagogical knowledge”, i.e. knowledge about teaching strategies in general; and “didactic content knowledge”, i.e. knowledge about how to transform knowledge about the subject being taught into didactic representations and actions that can be assimilated by students.