The article presents theoretical conceptions about the teacher’s professional development. Then, an analysis is made of the teacher evaluation carried out in Colombia, with emphasis on its orientation, characteristics and purposes. Finally, the article makes a balance of the effective contribution of this kind of evaluation to the professional development of teachers. In regards to this last aspect, it is concluded that the performance evaluation applied to the teachers does not contribute to their professional development.

Throughout this text the author makes reference to the relation between society and education in the context of the crises and the presented social changes in the world at the end of the XX century. Firstly, it deals with the related aspects into the crises that affected the world and the facts that demonstrated the social change at the time; secondly, it approaches the relation between globalization and education; thirdly, it examines what is related to the ideal of the formed and required person by the global society; then it reviews the ideas of socialization and social bond, since they are influential criteria for the definition of the sense and the aims of education and, in the end it analyzes The Educational Project at La Salle University (PEUL) with the purpose of identifying its contribution to the reestablishment of the social bond in Colombia.

This article makes a critical analysis of public policy issued by the Colombian government to evaluate those teachers who work in State educational institutions in kindergarten, primary and high school. Referents for the analysis are, on the one hand, the model of educational administration adopted by the Colombian government which is based on the ideal type of legal domination with bureaucratic administration proposed by Weber (1977) in developing modern and rational ways of administrative organization and carrying out technical processes and procedures in order to get measurable results. On the other hand, Law 115 of 1994 or General Law on Education, Decrees 1278 of 2002, 2582 of 2003 and 3782 of 2007, which regulate teachers’ evaluation, and also main theoretical trends presented by teachers’ evaluation in the world which according to Niño (2001) include Evaluation as a Rendering of Accounts, Evaluation as a Payment for Merit, Evaluation as Professional Development and Evaluation for School Improvement.

The text presents a critical analysis of the policy formulated by the Colombian government in order to evaluate teachers assigned to the state educational institutions, engaged in provision of educational services in pre-school, primary and secondary. It also presents theoretical developments on the evaluation of teachers, especially the theoretical tendency that sees the teacher evaluation in the service of their professional development. It ends up with some conclusions and suggestions considering the need for a different type of teacher evaluation, which should promote an effective professional development for them.

This paper will expound a general and consistent overview of teaching architectural design through workshop methodology, which was carried out in an academic micro setting at the Universidad de La Salle. Workshops are educational strategies traditionally used in teaching architectural designers. It creates opportunities to learn kinesthetically, learn about one’s self and apply the basic components of knowledge: theory and practice. The first leads to knowing by reflecting on the very act of designing itself. The second leads to doing through guided actions in the design process. When the two are joined together, creativity is manifested which is the essence of an architect’s “savoir faire”. Given the fact that the teaching of architectural design has not been examined in a critical way as well as the technical training architects receive, most architects who go on to be educators adapt a vocational teaching style instead of creating a space for academic thought. Consequently, it is important to examine teaching practices in design, theory and practice and the creative process. These are all important in creating successful architectural designers. Through reflection, the reasons stated above help identify design as a discipline which requires thought process. These reasons contribute to the solution of complex issues arising from a traditional and predisposed environment. Therefore, it can be concluded that architectural design is a complex cultural process from a collective and social consciousness which teaches thinking. Educators should find the balance between theoretical totalitarian view points and the practical challenges of designing, demonstrating to their students the thought processes behind the creative activity.