Transdisciplinary attitudes in teaching practice: the case of a university in the Mexican Republic

Transdisciplinarity is the simultaneous interrelation between scientific disciplines to understand the present world and from a vision of unity of knowledge. It arises from the need to solve complex problems and opposes the segregation of knowledge caused by disciplinary training. The objective of this study is to identify transdisciplinary attitudes in university teaching practice in a higher education institution in the Mexican Republic. For this, a quantitative, cross-sectional study was developed, with an exploratory and descriptive scope, in which 422 teachers from the three campuses of the insti-tution participated, who were administered an instrument to measure transdisciplinary attitudes. The analysis of the data revealed that attitudes related to epistemological openness, dialogue, permanent learning, and respect predominate in the teaching team, and the most incipient attitudes were related to reflection, organization, and complex thinking. A significantly higher development was observed in women regarding attitudes related to organization and dialogue, as well as greater intellectual rigor in teachers who work in undergraduate and postgraduate courses, than those who only work in one of those levels. These results are inputs for generating attraction strategies and teacher training that enables education.