"THE BEST MOTIVATION IS TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE LISTENED TO".

Ricardo Piñero, Full Professor of Aesthetics. University of Navarra

What advice would you give to a teacher who has just started his or her degree program?
I would say: congratulations, you have chosen the most beautiful official document ; prepare your classes well every day and don't stop enjoying learning with your students.

What has helped you as a teacher in the years you have been teaching?
Many days, before I joined classroom, I went to agreement and heard about some of the teachers who gave me class. They were so nice, so professional, they knew so much... that I say to myself: let's see if today you are a bit like Mr Albano in your intelligence, or Mr Germán in your kindness, or Mr Jaime in your know-how... Our references should not be the books, but the people who taught us how interesting the books were. The important thing is to be attentive at class. Yes, the teacher must be more attentive than the students, because that way he/she will know if they understand what he/she is saying, if the knowledge is getting through, if they are tired and need a break, if someone wants to ask you something but doesn't dare because he/she is afraid of interrupting.

What do you think is the secret of a good teacher's teaching ?
The secret is not to forget that his students are not "the enemy", but people who come to him with more or less desire, with more or less confidence, with more or less intelligence, with more or less willingness... But, by golly, we can't miss the opportunity they give us: every day young people come to our classes, and they come to listen to us, and they do it because they want to. The secret of a good teacher is, first of all, to train oneself very well, which means studying (a lot), reading (a lot), thinking (a lot)... and, secondly, to love, yes, to love the students. When we love, everything in life is better. If we take an interest in each student, if we are attentive to what they need, if we offer our partnership in those matters that make them curious... if they see that we are open to them, even if we keep the necessary distance, our classes will be good classes, and they will keep coming back every day, because they want to.

What experience professor do you think works well in your classes?
One of my primary objectives, regardless of the 'subject' is that they learn to think. I repeat to them like a mantra: "they may think they already know how to think because they have thoughts, but they don't. They think, but they don't know how to think. You think, but you don't know how to think. You must learn to think. And together we will succeed. I promise to teach you something new every day, if you help me to think with you...". This makes them lose their fear of intervening in the class, makes them feel that they are the protagonists of the learning process. And the truth: I think we all learn something new every day: I can certainly say that. I have learned more from my students than from many books by great authors.

Motivation from student. How do you think this is achieved?
Earlier I talked about the 'need' to love your students. Feeling loved is the most motivating thing in life. But there is another decisive factor: to approach the subjects you deal with in such a way that they do not see them as something 'archaeological' - with apologies to those at department of archaeology... -, dissected or immobile. We have to try to frame the questions and issues we teach in such a way that students, for themselves, see that they really affect them in their own lives and, therefore, affect other human beings like themselves. Of course, for that you have to study (a lot), read (a lot), think (a lot)... And something that is very interesting: 'take a risk'. Yes, taking the risk of listening to someone who, in theory, knows less than you do, but who can teach you so much...

In your experience staff, what is the best and the worst thing about being a teacher?
I'll start with the worst: that time flies by and that one day you realise that the student who arrived at your class mute and with eyes like saucers, and who was hiding behind a laptop screen, is already working at an important business , in an international organisation and/or has got married and is going to have her first child... The worst thing is to feel that life goes by so fast ... .

The best thing: feeling alive every day, going out on stage with the illusion of having prepared something interesting and important. The best thing: to experience the responsibility of transmitting with rigour and affection something more than the information that is in the books. The best thing: that those heads in front of you, let you pass 'inside' and that is why we should at least have the modesty to pass with topics and problems that are worthwhile, that are relevant to improve their lives and, incidentally, ours. The best thing: that some of my students are now teachers...

What importance do you attach to coordination with other course teachers?

If we do not educate as a team, our task will always be less powerful. We often only focus on not reiterating content unnecessarily. But what is really important is that among group teachers there are two things, in my opinion two basic things: respect and a high level of vision. Respect for other colleagues and for the students. A high view to be aware that what we are doing is not only transmitting knowledge but, above all, a way of seeing life, of being in the world, of essential values that will help them to transform the world. However, no one gives what they do not have: that is why we, who are supposed to be the ones who teach, should never stop learning... from our colleagues and from our students and also from the staff administration and services who facilitate our work so much.