Challenges faced by teachers when

guiding competitive learning in

areas outside their field

of expertise

Retos del profesorado al guiar aprendizajes

competitivos en saberes distintos

a su especialidad

187

Mayra Daniella Escobar Rivas

https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1163-4190

Santa Bárbara, Barinas state/ Venezuela

Revista Digital de Investigación y Postgrado, 6(12), 187-195

Electronic ISSN: 2665-038X

How to cite: Escobar, R. M. D. (2025). Challenges faced by teachers when guiding competitive learning

in areas outside their field of expertise. Revista Digital de Investigación y Postgrado, 6(12), 187-195.

https://doi.org/10.59654/0ycs4z44

* PhD Candidate in Education Master of Educational Sciences with specialization in University Teaching, Universidad

Nacional Experimental de los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora, Venezuela. Educational Assessment Specialist,

Universidad Valle del Momboy, Venezuela. Associate Professor, Universidad Nacional Experimental de los Llanos

Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora, Santa Bárbara Campus Department of Educational Sciences and Humanities Office

of the Vice Rector for Planning and Social Development: Email de contacto: mayradaniella.17@gmail.com

Received: may / 8 / 2025 Aceptad: may / 28 / 2025

https://doi.org/10.59654/0ycs4z44

Abstract

This essay examines the challenges faced by university educators when teaching subjects outside

their expertise, advocating for a competency-based approach that fosters critical thinking, au-

tonomy, and problem-solving skills. It critiques traditional, behaviorist teaching models for stifling

student creativity and proposes a transdisciplinary, humanistic framework integrating technology

(e.g., artificial intelligence). The text emphasizes the need for adaptable, ethically grounded

educators who create meaningful learning environments. Additionally, it addresses Venezuela’s

teacher shortage crisis, worsened by migration and poor working conditions, calling for policies

to train non-specialist faculty. The author argues that true competitive teaching transcends te-

chnical knowledge, requiring reflective educators committed to holistic student development

and societal transformation. Ultimately, the essay highlights the urgency of rethinking higher

education to produce professionals capable of addressing complex global challenges

Keywords: competency-based education, teacher adaptability transdisciplinary learning, edu-

cational crisis (Venezuela), critical pedagogy.

Resumen

El ensayo analiza los desafíos del profesorado al guiar aprendizajes en áreas fuera de su espe-

cialidad, destacando la necesidad de una enseñanza universitaria basada en competencias que

fomente el pensamiento crítico, la autonomía y la resolución de problemas complejos. Critica

los modelos tradicionales, conductistas y repetitivos, que limitan la creatividad estudiantil, y pro-

pone un enfoque transdisciplinario, humanista y ético, integrando tecnologías como la inteli-

gencia artificial. Subraya la importancia de docentes con habilidades pedagógicas, vocación y

adaptabilidad, capaces de crear entornos de aprendizaje significativo. Además, analiza la crisis

de especialistas en Venezuela, exacerbada por migración docente y condiciones laborales ad-

versas, exigiendo políticas de capacitación para suplir estas carencias. El texto concluye que la

verdadera enseñanza competitiva trasciende lo técnico, requiriendo docentes reflexivos, com-

prometidos con la formación integral y la transformación social..

Palabras clave: Educación basada en competencias, adaptabilidad docente, aprendizaje trans-

disciplinario, crisis educativa (Venezuela), pedagogía crítica.

Challenges for educators in guiding competitive

learning outside their core expertise

Contemporary university students demand competitive teaching approaches that foster self-

discovery, awakening, and activation of their identity – including their skills, virtues, talents, ca-

pacities, ideas, potential, and thought processes developed through life and academic

experiences. They require this competitive learning model to identify novel problem-solving

approaches for daily tasks and to understand social, professional, political, economic, and cul-

tural challenges.

188 Mayra Daniella Escobar Rivas

Revista Digital de Investigación y Postgrado, 6(12), 187-195

Electronic ISSSN: 2665-038X

189

Challenges faced by teachers when guiding competitive

learning in areas outside their field of expertise

Global, national, local, and institutional realities now demand transformative university education

that enhances personal development as thinking, rational beings while preparing technically skilled

professionals. We must move beyond traditional models toward critical reflection on teaching-

learning processes that recognize students' competencies, skills, talents, aptitudes, and virtues.

Regarding this, Zhizhko (2017) states that at the university level, competency-based education

demands that these competencies be articulated with experience. However, the task is not easy

to achieve; it requires incorporating experience into the educational process itself without di-

minishing the student's way of seeing and explaining the world or realities.

Nevertheless, it is necessary to highlight the need to promote this methodology because clas-

srooms continue to show academically developing students working under an advising, men-

toring, and guidance model that leads to developing an archaic, behaviorist, repetitive, and

unproductive learning system; one that neither helps them think nor understand nor resolve si-

tuations required of university students. In other words, a discriminatory form of teaching is

being developed, as it restricts students from producing knowledge from their own perspective,

instead making them reproduce others' thinking, isolating them from critical, eclectic, and holistic

knowledge.

In this sense, it is a priority to promote this methodological approach, given that classrooms

still maintain advising and mentoring models based on archaic, behaviorist, repetitive, and un-

productive learning schemes. These models do not foster reflection or understanding, let alone

autonomous problem-solving. Consequently, they continue to promote limited and discrimi-

natory teaching that inhibits students from producing knowledge from their own perspective,

subjecting them to reproduce others' thinking and distancing them from critical, eclectic, and

holistic knowledge.

In other words, it is necessary to materialize a university education focused on understanding

what and how the student learns, so that they consolidate into a living resource, opportunity,

or tool that serves all actors in the educational process, and so that the full development of

everyone's capacities, gifts, potential, skills, competencies, and virtues is achieved, while simul-

taneously promoting a professional future that is competent to make decisions based on the

achievements and aspirations of the very protagonist who seeks to develop it. In this way, as

Lora (2020, p. 84) states, competencies should focus on "what one can do, what one knows

how to do, and what one has the will to do (Being, Doing, Knowing-How)." Without neglecting

what Rodríguez (2003, p. 82) pointed out: "to stay up to date on relevant topics and provide

criteria for validating knowledge."

In this line of thought, a university professor with competitive qualities who teaches within their

area of training expertise is required. Ideally, they should begin by manifesting themselves in

doing, being, seeking, coexisting, and feeling as a competent professor. That is to say, they

should promote, practice, and demonstrate competency-based teaching. This call has been

made for several years. Thus, Ortega y Gasset (1976, p. 49) said: "...one should only teach what

190 Mayra Daniella Escobar Rivas

can be taught; that is, what can be learned...". Here, the focus turns to the curriculum and the

objectives that should be designed. But the matter goes further; attention must be paid to the

human condition and its role in the earth homeland, as Morin (1999) affirms.

Many global challenges are occurring across various topics, phenomena, and events that emp-

hasize, demand, and urgently require university teaching that truly prepares competent indivi-

duals who can understand, explain, and guide from their area and beyond regarding what is

happening. It is necessary to educate and instruct without neglecting the ethical, environmental,

technological, scientific, and psychological aspects, but above all without losing sight of the

sense of the common good.

It is time for university professors to firmly assume the epistemological challenges they face,

commit to their formative work, and develop the ability to express themselves with versatility

on any topic, in a secure, reflective, critical, and profoundly human manner. Competency-based

training for future professionals represents a valuable opportunity to also educate in values. It

should not be forgotten that the university professor is the fundamental pillar in the processes

of training, mentoring, advising, guidance, and instruction. Teaching to be competent is not re-

duced solely to the transmission of content or the fulfillment of curricular aspects defined by

the academic profile; nor is it limited to analyzing an event or social phenomenon from a single

perspective. Training in competencies demands putting the totality of the human being into

action, which implies integrating cognitive processes, emotions, socialization, and experience

as fundamental axes of meaningful learning.

It is a matter of weltanschauung, cosmovision or worldview to study reality from both an internal

and external gaze (visible and non-visible), to seek new paradigms, to rethink a genuine un-

derstanding and explanation of the event that attracts the student's interest, concerns them or

constitutes a challenge for the student. However, this is only achieved if the university professor

makes their debut with agility, versatility and curricular eclecticism or interactive strategies such

as debates, conversations or discussions in the classrooms.

From this perspective, one must not neglect techniques, methods, resources, learning contexts,

or didactic strategies and new technologies like artificial intelligence; which implies re-examining

epistemological, ontological, axiological theories and the critical and interpretative capacities

of all participants in the process. Meanwhile, the more ideas emerge, the more knowledge is

nourished and everyone's intelligence improves. We must leave aside that blind intelligence

proposed by Morin.

To the extent that a university professor self-disciplines and projects themselves through their

own interest to develop competency-based teaching without fearing the risks, challenges or

demands of this approach, society, businesses, families and other institutions will have profes-

sionals capable of making proposals, taking initiatives, responding to individual or collective de-

mands; there will also be dynamic, critical, autonomous professionals, emancipated from

knowledge and managers of solutions to the problems of their entire environment.

Revista Digital de Investigación y Postgrado, 6(12), 187-195

Electronic ISSSN: 2665-038X

191

For this reason, it is necessary for the professor to have attitudes, competencies and skills among

which stand out, according to Santiago and Fonseca (2016, p. 193) "professionalism, discipline,

responsibility, ethics, values or mental and emotional stability", Freire (2004) and Dewey (1998)

mention that they should be stimulating and critical. For his part, Escámez (2013, p. 17) indicates

that a competitive professor seeks the "creation of favorable environments for learning where

their students achieve the highest levels of development".

However, truly competitive teaching is not limited to specialized or technical instruction. There

are many teachers with this professional qualification who struggle to make others understand

what they attempt to convey and demonstrate, and this is due to their daily expressed personal

disposition or condition. What is needed is a good attitude, feeling, thinking, having vocation,

researching, consulting, knowing how to evaluate, having experience, analyzing, and confronting

theories.

It should be noted that truly competitive teaching is not confined to the specialized or technical.

Even teachers with solid training in their discipline may face difficulties in effectively communi-

cating and demonstrating their knowledge, often due to personal attitudes or unreflective prac-

tices. Therefore, it is essential to cultivate a proactive attitude, authentic vocation, critical thinking,

and openness to dialogue between theories.

Likewise, it is crucial to integrate constant research, formative evaluation, and context analysis,

as required by the competency-based approach to train emancipated professionals capable of

solving complex problems. Only in this way can we overcome "blind intelligence" —warning as

Morin (1999) does— and consolidate learning that, through ethics, self-discipline, and pedago-

gical creativity, transforms both the participants in the process and their environments.

To the extent that these conditions are understood and valued, university teaching will improve,

and we will cease to rely on academic prestige that often produces rejection and academic iso-

lation because there is no logical or reflective meaning to what is taught in universities.

A truly competitive teacher who sets challenges in teaching reflects that, whether a specialist or

not, the importance of teaching for students lies in their actions, the role, the function, the con-

tributions, the satisfaction of benefits, and the meaningful, constructive, humanistic, critical,

eclectic, and holistic learning that it provides them to create or rethink new experiences, testi-

monies, and knowledge that are linked to their daily lives. Only then do they understand that

they are moving beyond a traditional and receptive teaching approach to a competency-based

approach that allows them to unite the qualitative with the quantitative in the same formative

encounter, valuing their full multidimensional potential as a person and not merely as a simple

student.

Of course, this new teaching stance urges the teacher to demonstrate greater commitment,

responsibility, vocation, skills, abilities, and love for what they "do." That is to say, to be more

self-taught, unprecedented, ingenious, motivational, humanistic—in short; to express a complex,

Challenges faced by teachers when guiding competitive

learning in areas outside their field of expertise

192 Mayra Daniella Escobar Rivas

transdisciplinary, and global epistemology about what they teach to help them self-understand,

discover, and recognize how the student learns most effectively in these times of universal

change, whether through competencies or through the duplication off others' ideas and know-

ledge.

Indeed, it requires reflection to avoid ending up educating merely for learning's sake, or simply

to fulfill the curricular objectives and goals of the teaching area being imparted. For the ideal is

to ultimately offer society first and foremost a person of great humanism, and then a multidi-

mensional professional - secure, versed, eclectic, and complex - capable of operating with au-

tonomy and self-mastery, without imitating others' thoughts. Rico and Ponce (2022, p. 80) add

regarding this that "competent teachers are capable of resolving diverse situations across dif-

ferent contexts, for which knowledge viewed from a purely conceptual or disciplinary perspective

proves insufficient."

In this sense, a teacher with competitive particularities is one who manifests themselves - even

without being an expert in their teaching area - as a tutor, companion, and guide from human,

ethical, epistemological, social, cultural, empirical, scientific, and technical perspectives. Thus,

they are the professional who expresses and acts as a complete whole in the development of

both teaching and student learning.

This teacher explains, does, and evaluates both what they master and what they don't, without

fear of making mistakes, because they reflect that from error can emerge a desire to seek know-

ledge to verify, demonstrate ignored realities, and improve concepts or skills previously lacking.

For through trial and experimentation, one also learns and postulates new knowledge theories

that emerge from doing, coexisting, and interpreting - becoming meaningful for the knowledge

producer.

On the other hand, what matters in competency-based teaching is not whether the teacher

specializes in the academic area they develop, nor whether they are an excellent learning pro-

cess companion, nor a responsible tutor in achieving specific objectives within a curricular dis-

cipline. Hence, the fundamental challenge lies in understanding and considering what particular

actions merit application, activation, and promotion so that students deploy or unveil the skills,

abilities, capacities, virtues, and gifts that were underutilized at other study levels and that should

become specific competencies to provide contextualized responses and meaning to analyzing

concerns, questions, doubts, or curiosities emerging in the educational act.

However, it's necessary to mention that currently in Venezuela, regarding basic education tea-

chers, as reported by the Ministry of People's Power for Education (2025), there is a deficit of

fifteen thousand specialists. Likewise, Venezuelan universities are experiencing a teacher exodus

as indicated by Linarez and Linarez (2019). According to the United Nations Educational, Scien-

tific and Cultural Organization (1999), there is a brain drain occurring. Parallel to this, teaching

loads are being increased for teachers with different academic profiles, consequently facing

greater challenges, questions, and criticisms of teaching praxis.

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193

Certainly, the specialized teacher deficit won't diminish if the current salary and economic reality,

treatment, and educational indoctrination persisting in universities continue - and this will lead

to various studies and profound reviews of professionals wishing to remain engaged in the tea-

ching process, so they may self-train, become aware, discipline, and align themselves with edu-

cational approaches that truly satisfy student needs and the world's intellectual demands -

whether or not they are competent in what they guide.

Likewise, it is required that university authorities and the State reflect on this problem of profes-

sional deficit and mitigate specialized migration, or propose mechanisms that transcend to train,

advise, and educate the non-specialized teacher, so that they become competent in what they

teach. This is because some are struggling to meet the multidimensional and epistemological

demands of today's students, or to continue demonstrating that academic and competent qua-

lity responds more to human principles than to the curricular fulfillment of a number of deve-

loped objectives.

There is recognition and concern even from the United Nations and competent entities regar-

ding the teaching challenges faced by educators when guiding and directing non-specialized

learning. Therefore, from our perspective, it is necessary to halt university-level teacher migra-

tion through national and international policies and to massively implement, through universities,

training for non-specialist teachers that satisfies the technical needs not being received by stu-

dents in training.

As final ideas of this essay, it must be noted that the obsolescence of traditional methods based

on memorization is evident, as they nullify students' critical capacity. In response, it calls for ap-

plying a competency-based model that integrates knowing, doing, and being, articulating

theory with real experience. This approach demands teachers who facilitate meaningful learning

linked to social and professional problems, overcoming the mechanical reproduction of know-

ledge. The transition requires rethinking curricula and pedagogical practices toward autonomy

and innovation.

It is also concluded that a competitive teacher is not limited to mastering content but combines

professionalism, ethics, and socioemotional skills to guide multidimensional learning. Even wit-

hout specialization, they must act as facilitators, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and adapting

to diverse contexts. Their success lies in vocation, self-criticism, and the ability to learn alongside

their students, transforming limitations into opportunities for collective growth.

In Venezuela, the teacher exodus and lack of specialists exacerbate educational challenges. Low

salaries and precarious working conditions discourage the retention of qualified professionals.

Public policies are urgently needed to halt this migration and train non-specialized teachers,

ensuring educational quality. The solution is not merely technical but structural, requiring in-

vestment in continuous training and recognition of teaching work.

Modern teaching demands the incorporation of technologies (such as AI) and interactive stra-

Challenges faced by teachers when guiding competitive

learning in areas outside their field of expertise

194 Mayra Daniella Escobar Rivas

tegies (debates, case studies) to develop analytical skills. According to Morin, this involves over-

coming "blind intelligence" through holistic approaches that link knowledge with ethics and glo-

bal context. The teacher must master digital tools and foster a critical worldview, preparing

students for changing realities.

Finally, it is concluded that competitive training must prioritize values such as the common

good, empathy, and social responsibility. Freire and Dewey emphasize that the teacher should

be a critical stimulator, not a mere transmitter of information. This implies balancing the technical

with the human, training professionals who solve problems from a comprehensive, ethical, and

emancipatory perspective, transcending traditional curricular demands.

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Challenges faced by teachers when guiding competitive

learning in areas outside their field of expertise