José Gimeno Sacristán, full university professor of the Universitat de València, has been awarded this Tuesday the ‘Premio Latinoamericano y Caribeño de Ciencias Sociales (CLACSO)’, linked to the UNESCO. He has been awarded by the ‘Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales (CLACSO), an institution linked to the UNESCO. The aim of the award is to recognise Gimeno Sacristán’s contribution to ‘the dialogue and the cooperation between Spain and Latin America’ in the education field. Esteban Morcillo, Principal of the Universitat de València and Pablo Gentili, executive secretary of the CLASO have attended the ceremony.
Ramón López, Vice-Principal for Training Policies and Educational Quality, has highlighted the deserved recognition to his former professor’s career, which places value on the public education. Besides, he has shown gratitude to the CLACSO and their sensitivity for choosing education for this social sciences prize and for placing value on it with the award.
On his behalf, Pablo Gentili has recalled that the Universitat de València is "a reference in the world within the thinking of critical education and pedagogy, within humanist and social thinking." Gentili has emphasized that the CLACSO award goes beyond the academic recognition, as the case of Gimeno shows. This institution has created the award to recognise the space of cooperation, exchange, academic mobility and dialogue. Gentili has recalled the importance of the work and the figure of Gimeno Sacristán in Latin those American countries that left the dictatorships. He is a reference to create a free, democratic, public and quality educational structure. The executive secretary of the CLACSO points out that Gimeno deserves this award for many reasons, but especially he emphasizes that “he helped to train many people. He is a symbol of international cooperation through the path of knowledge. In addition, he represents a model of public intellectual, who understands his thinking as a social transformation. His work is not a neutral work as he commits himself and defends the education. He also criticises the education field and expects it to improve’.
Carmen Rodríguez, professor of the University of Malaga, has been the one in charge of profiling Professor Gimeno Sacristán.
The ceremony took place at the Universitat de València’s assembly hall. Relatives, deans of several faculties, heads of services of the Universitat, former students and teaching staff have accompanied the professor in this ceremony.
Professor Gimeno Sacristán has expressed emotion for the honour. He has given a speech remembering the teaching staff that took up exile in Latin American countries running away from the Spanish Civil War as well as the generosity of those who offered shelter. Furthermore, he has talked about the cruel way in which the teaching staff was treated during some dictatorships. During his speech, he has shown a sour and critical personality but also generous and friendly.
Thus, he has lamented several aspects: on many occasions the teaching staff engaged to other tasks only receive the award of reducing it, the best teachers are not in the first university years in order to motivate the new students, or there are not mechanisms to know which teaching staff is capable of doing his job and which one needs to amend it. He has asked the quality concept in the education field to be revised or to educate selecting contents that always have a formative value. Besides, he has critisied lecturing in English and has pointed that it would be advisable to revise and correct the Bolonia plan.
The Principal Esteban Morcillo ha closed the ceremony highlighting professor Gimeno Sacristán’s career as well as his contribution to the education field.
The ‘Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales (CLACSO)’ is a non-governmental international institution linked to the UNESCO. It was created in 1967. Currently, it gathers 616 research and postgraduate centres in social sciences and humanities fields in 47 countries of Latin America, the United States, Canada, Germany, Spain, France and Portugal.
Last update: 5 de september de 2017 08:00.
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