TRAINING IN WORK-RELATED SKILLS: A VIEW FROM TEACHING PRACTICE

Abstract

This article presents a critical reflection on training in vocational skills from the perspective of teaching practice, based on a bibliographic review of pedagogical approaches, educational policies, and geographical experiences. It begins with the recognition that vocational skills should not be reduced to technical skills for productivity, but rather understood as comprehensive processes that articulate knowledge, values, and situated capabilities. In this sense, the role of the teacher is transformed: it ceases to be a transmitter of content to become an ethical, territorial, and reflective mediator, capable of designing didactic strategies that link learning with real-life performance contexts. The bibliographic review shows that, in Colombia, vocational training has been marked by a neoliberal logic that prioritizes economic efficiency over educational dignity. This vision has generated access gaps, exclusion of local knowledge, and a disconnect between training and employment opportunities. In response, a critical pedagogy is proposed that recognizes the student as an active subject, a builder of meaning, and the protagonist of their life project. The article concludes that the effectiveness of training in work-related competencies depends on the coherence between training objectives, pedagogical strategies, and territorial realities. Teaching practice, within this framework, must be situated, inclusive, and transformative, oriented not only toward job placement but also toward individual emancipation and community strengthening.