The Faculty of Education of the University of Cundinamarca has its origins within the University Technological Institute of Cundinamarca ITUC during the second semester of 1971, when the Higher Council authorized the creation of the “Educational Sciences” program, to train teachers at the expert level in four (4) semesters and at the technician level in six (6) semesters, for the basic cycle of rural education.
Starting from the second semester of 1972, and given student preferences, the Educational Sciences Program has offered the Mathematics and Physics and Educational Administration programs in a technological modality in Fusagasugá.
In April 1973, work began at the Ubaté branch. The education program was offered with a Basic semester to make way for the Mathematics and Physics and Languages programs.
On March 4, 1974, work began at the Girardot branch, with the General Nursing programs, and the Bachelor's degrees in Biology and Chemistry and Social Sciences.
In February 1977, the Bachelor's degree program in Education with a major in Physical Education begins.
Formally, still within the Cundinamarca University Technical Institute, by means of Agreement 0006 of June 30, 1977, the Faculty of Education Sciences is created, to which the programs of Educational Administration, Mathematics and Physics, Biology and Chemistry, Social Sciences, and Physical Education are assigned.
By means of Agreement 0024 of 1982 of the Superior Council, the Bachelor's Degree program in Primary Education is created, with a distance learning modality.
On October 30, 1984, the UNIVERSIDAD DEL TOLIMA-ITUC agreement is signed, with the commitment to provide advisory services for the implementation and development of the Bachelor's Degree in Primary Education at said university.
On May 24, 1985, the UNIVERSIDAD DE LOS LLANOS-ITUC agreement is signed, in which the institution assumes responsibility for advising the Primary Basic Education program.
By means of Agreement 0044 of June 6, 1987, the agreement with the CEP (Pilot Experimental Center) of Cundinamarca was signed, with the purpose of carrying out the teaching practice of the Bachelor's Degree Program in Primary Basic Education by Distance Learning. Subsequently, and under the supervision of ICFES, the different programs of the Faculty were permanently visited and evaluated, and the corresponding operating renewal licenses were issued.
On September 24, 1987, the Higher Council of the ITUC, through Agreements 062, 063, 064, and 065, legalized the existence of the on-site campuses in Bogotá, Fusagasugá, Girardot, and Ubaté for the Bachelor's Degree program in On-Site and Distance Primary Basic Education; additionally, through Agreement 061 of September 24 of the same year, the Higher Council adopted and legalized the creation and operation of the zonal centers attached to the Girardot on-site campus in the municipalities of Villapinzón, Yacopí, Chocontá, Tocaima, and Machetá, as well as the zonal centers attached to the Ubaté on-site campus in the municipalities of Gachetá, Guasca, Pacho, Simijaca, and Zipaquirá.
Through Resolution 005 of April 13, 1992, issued by the Rector's Office, a service exchange agreement was signed between ITUC and TEXPINAL S.A. to develop courses, seminars, and forums, in order to improve the educational level of internships and supplementary knowledge.
By means of Resolution 0007 of 1992, admissions of new students to the Modern Languages and Mathematics and Physics programs at the Ubaté branch; Social Sciences and Biology and Chemistry at the Girardot branch; and Administration at the Fusagasugá campus are suspended for two (2) years.
Through Agreement 009-A of August 31, 1995, now within the University of Cundinamarca, the operation of the postgraduate program “Specialization in Physics Teaching” is authorized in the Ubaté branch and through the UNIVERSITY OF CUNDINAMARCA-PEDAGOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF COLOMBIA Tunja agreement.
Through Agreement 0010 of December 4, 1995, the “Specialization in Mathematics Teaching” program was created at the Fusagasugá campus.
By means of Agreement 0016 of July 4, 1996, the name of the Faculty of Sciences was changed to the Faculty of Education and Basic Sciences. For this year, the Department of Mathematics and Physics was assigned to the Faculty, and depending on it, the Specialization in Physics Teaching, the Social Sciences Program at the Fusagasugá campus, and the Modern Languages Program at the Girardot branch.
Through Agreement 0022 of July 12, 1996, the “Specialization in Environmental Education and Community Development” is created, attached to the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Education and Basic Sciences.
Over time, through their own dynamics and in accordance with the recommendations suggested by ICFES, each of the programs made the respective adjustments, adapting them to the advances of science and knowledge. The same occurred with the changes that took place in the pedagogical field.
With the opening of the programs in SOCIAL SCIENCES, CONSTITUTION, AND DEMOCRACY in Fusagasugá, and MODERN LANGUAGES in Girardot, a curricular structure was designed that clearly demonstrated interdisciplinarity, teaching practice from the experimental field, and the development of formative research.
As a result of the questions and analyses conducted within the Faculty Council of Education, it proposed to the Academic Council the change of the Faculty's name in order to qualify its development based on the guidelines offered by Decree 272 of 1998. Thus, the Academic Council issued a favorable opinion suggesting that the change of the name from Faculty of Education and Basic Sciences to the FACULTY OF EDUCATION be presented to the Superior Council, which was approved by Agreement 0019 of November 23, 1999.
The academic development of the Faculty's programs, like that of most teacher training institutions in the country, was influenced by North American thought which introduced curricular flexibility based on objectives, adopting the approach of Educational Technology with an emphasis on didactics as a mechanical process, the result of the application of curricular procedures; favoring disciplinarity, based on an instructionist and professionalist model.
These circumstances allowed, at the end of the 1970s, the initiation of a reflection and questioning of the behaviorist approach and the educational technology adopted up to that moment. In this way, the construction of a pedagogical discourse began from the perspective of sociological, anthropological, psychological, and economic analysis. As a result of this dynamic, diverse conceptions of the teacher training process emerge, which, framed within government policies, generate various conceptions of pedagogy with the appearance of new pedagogical models, which were appropriated without due reflection. Thus, there has been a shift from pedagogical currents and models of behaviorist, positivist, and structuralist tendencies in the 1970s; then in the 80s, pedagogical activism, instructional design, and the entrenchment of Piagetian psychology stand out; and in the 1990s, the use of constructivist pedagogy increased in its transition toward the constructivism of social consensus, accompanied by socio-criticism and conflict resolution.
