Even if only implicitly, the desired profile of a higher education professor at private institutions of higher education is clearly defined and well known. We can describe it in terms of three dimensions: the political-institutional, the bureaucratic, and the technical.

From a political and institutional standpoint, higher education institutions seek faculty members who are committed to the institution’s values and attitudes. A faculty member who is aligned with the university’s beliefs and who reflects them in their speech and behavior. From an administrative standpoint, faculty members are expected to meet deadlines, develop objective plans, fill out forms correctly, produce coherent reports, and keep attendance records up to date.

The third dimension that rounds out the profile of the ideal teacher is the technical dimension—which, unfortunately, is generally the least considered. The technical dimension involves the teacher’s intellectual, pedagogical, and interpersonal skills and competencies for promoting meaningful learning, including the ability to facilitate learning.

The word “mediation” was first included in a dictionary in 1670 and means “the act of serving as an intermediary between people, groups, or parties in order to resolve differences or disputes”; “the process by which the mind generalizes data perceived by the senses.” In religion, to mediate means to intercede with a saint or deity to obtain protection or grace. In law, it refers to a procedure aimed at bringing interested parties together to resolve a contract, business matter, or dispute in a non-authoritarian manner through the involvement of an intermediary between the parties in conflict.

Mediating learning means intentionally placing oneself between the object of knowledge and the student, modifying, altering, organizing, emphasizing, and transforming the stimuli that come from the object so that the student can draw their own conclusions. When the teacher assumes the role of a mediator of learning, they present situations in which the student and the content interact, and the student gradually assimilates the concepts and characteristics of the content.

The mediating approach contrasts with the traditional teaching approach, in which the teacher conveys content that is supposedly in his or her own mind. It is a process of transferring something ready-made from the teacher’s mind to the student’s mind. In learning mediation, the situations presented spark an interaction that, when guided and supervised by the teacher, will enable the student to learn the content.

The process of mediating learning consists of two complementary forms of mediation: didactic mediation and relational mediation. Didactic mediation occurs when the teacher asks questions, provides feedback to students on their comments and work, poses challenges regarding the content to stimulate students’ thinking, and encourages students to discuss their activities with one another.

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By presenting real-life situations that incorporate the subject matter and encouraging students to analyze them, draw conclusions, and supplement their learning by reading texts on the topic—for example—the teacher will facilitate the learning process. In this process, the teacher’s role—in addition to planning and facilitating the activity—is to answer questions and provide additional information so that there are no gaps in learning.

Alongside the process of didactic mediation, relational mediation takes place, the main purpose of which is to motivate—that is, to prevent students from giving up on learning. To be a good relational mediator, teachers must believe in students’ ability to learn. They must view students through the lens of possibility and help them recognize that potential. We can say that while didactic mediation takes place on the technical level, relational mediation takes place on the human level.

For a teacher to effectively facilitate learning, they must have clear answers to some essential questions. The first is, “What is the role of my course in the program’s professional training?” By answering this question, the teacher defines the scope of their work when planning the activities to be offered.

The second is, “What professional skills and competencies are directly or indirectly linked to the subject I teach?” Through this question, the teacher further defines the context for planning problem-based activities, proposing challenges that are as closely aligned as possible with future professional practice.

The third question is, “What are the priority topics for learning the skills inherent to my subject?” By answering this question, the teacher gains clarity on which topics to focus on more frequently and intensively throughout the term, thereby increasing the chances of developing the skills necessary for professional training.

The fourth question is, “How will I know if they are developing these competencies?” This question ensures the objectivity of the assessment process and prevents the teacher from getting bogged down in questions that merely aim to assess whether the student knows the content in detail, allowing the teacher to focus instead on evaluating the extent to which the student has already developed the competencies inherent to the subject.

The fifth and final question is, “What are the students’ expectations regarding the classes and the course as a whole?” Although it is the last question, it should be one of the first to be answered, as it informs the teacher what efforts should be made to help students understand the true purpose of the course.

The process of facilitating learning requires teachers to have knowledge about their students, the social context in which they live, and, of course, the subject matter to be taught. Students’ culture, habits, and lived experiences are essential inputs for facilitating learning in a way that results in the training of competent professionals.

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