On May 8th, 2023 the Master’s in Professional Training at the University of Valencia hosted Inmaculada Lillo Verdú, who taught a workshop/conference titled, “The Professional Development of Secondary Education Teachers of Spanish Language and Literature.”

Professor Lillo is a career civil servant, specializing in Spanish language and literature for the last fifteen years. She has worked at several Secondary schools and currently devotes her time to training adults in the CFPA Menicil in Manises (Valencia).

This workshop is part of the student training in the specialty of secondary school teaching directly related to the subject of Complements of Disciplinary Training in Spanish Language and Literature.

During this activity, the speaker presented on the most relevant topics in the development of teaching careers, starting with examination preparation--according to her experience as part of the selection board for secondary school examinations--and moving on to the various workplace realities one can expect after obtaining a teaching position.

With respect to her classroom experience, Professor Lillo spoke about reader encouragement, writing workshops, multilingualism, attention to diversity, team/group management, etc. She also presented materials produced by students in different courses from various innovation projects as well as instruments of evaluation for both the students and the teaching staff (according to her experience as head of the department).

During the workshop, the students had the opportunity to converse with the speaker in an interview style about the requirements of the Master’s in Complements of Disciplinary Training in Spanish Language and Literature, benefiting from her experience not only as the Head of the department, but also as a former student.  Students prepared their questions in work groups prior to the workshop after reflecting on the themes taught within the subject.