The article presents the results of a systematization carried out on the professional performance of the tutors and their improvement process. In it, the author assumes criteria of some scholars of the subject and defines both concepts: professional performance and improvement of professional performance. This systematization constitutes an important guideline for the modeling of the processes inherent in the universalization of pedagogical careers in Cuba.
In the bibliography studied, different definitions of professional performance were found. Scholars of this concept were consulted, among which stand out: Roca (1997,2002), Guzmán (1997), Chiavenato (1990), Añorga and others (1995,1998), Peña (2002), Valiente (2002), Otero (2003), Santiesteban (2003), Moreno (2003), Remedios (2005), Collective of Authors Central Institute of Pedagogical Sciences (2005, 2007), Chacón (2005), Añorga (2006), Ponce (2005), Miranda and Páez: (s / f) and Chirino, (s / f) and Ledo (2007).
To refer to the concept of professional performance, some authors use terms such as: teacher performance, teacher performance and educator performance interchangeably. Others state: professional pedagogical performance, professional pedagogical performance, professional performance of the educator and professional performance of the teacher; Although educator and pedagogical, they do not mean the same thing. It was also found that many times, the authors proceed to operationalize this concept, without offering a conceptual definition.
It can be assured, then, that the existing conceptions about this concept are broad. From this perspective, this article aims to systematize some of them and take a position on them. This becomes an important guideline to model the direction of the process that the directors of the microuniversities of Technical and Professional Education must carry out to improve the professional performance of the tutors.
The author of this research considers it appropriate to start from the analysis of some definitions of the concept of professional performance, to clarify its regularities and with it, offer one that conceptualizes the professional performance of the Technical and Professional Education tutor.
This concept is defined as:
- "Any action taken or executed, by an individual, in response to what has been designated as responsibility and which will be measured based on its execution." (1) (Peña, 2002). “The suitability of the director to carry out the actions proper to his functions, reflecting his political-ideological, technical-professional dominance and leadership, which allow him to know how to be, in accordance with the priorities of the work in the sector, according to the current demands and demonstrating it in the evaluation of the concrete results of its center ”. (2) (Santiesteban, 2003) “The action and effect of performing or being performed, which means fulfilling a responsibility, performing an action that has been accepted as an obligation, as a service for which satisfaction is obtained. (3)(Electronic Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, 2004). “It is the way work is done, it involves attitudes, knowledge and forms of relationship, which affect the overall quality of the task. In the practice of the evaluation of the educator, it is recognized that the educational action corresponds to the being, to the knowledge and to the reflexive thinking of the educator in the daily life of the context in which it is carried out and not only, to the fulfillment of some obligations agreed in relation with the profession and the position he occupies. ” (4)(Collective of Cuban Authors of the ICCP, 2005) “It is the capacity of an individual to carry out actions, duties and obligations of his position or professional functions that a job requires. This is expressed in the behavior or the actual conduct of the worker in relation to the other tasks to be carried out during the exercise of their profession. This term designates what the professional actually does and not only what he knows how to do. ” (5)(Añorga, 2006). "The ability to competently develop the functions inherent in the job title and the behavior maintained by the worker in the development of a task or activity during the exercise of the profession." (6) (Ledo, 2007). “It is the set of actions carried out by the teacher, during the development of his pedagogical activity, which are specified in the process of fulfilling his basic functions and in his results, to achieve the end and the training objectives of the educational level where you work.
These actions also have a conscious, individual and creative character ”. (7) (Collective of authors of the ICCP, 2007).
It is important, for the interests of this research, to have found a definition of the tutor's professional performance, in the context of the current educational transformations in Cuba, which reveals, with greater accuracy, the characteristics of the tutor's performance, which assume new responsibilities.
Ponce (2005) points out that: “the tutor's pedagogical professional performance is the real performance of the teacher, which expresses the dialectical interrelation of the pedagogical professional competences to guide, guide, control and evaluate the educational teaching process and the intellectual production of the teacher in training, which demonstrates mastery of the tasks and functions designed for that role, in the different contexts of action. ” (8)
The analysis of these definitions allowed us to offer the necessary answers to three questions related to professional performance, due to the variety in their content.
These questions are: What is professional performance? What are the factors that condition it and are therefore associated with it? And what are its essential characteristics?
In relation to the question regarding professional performance, the authors point out that they are: actions performed or performed, suitability, action and effect of performing, how the work is performed, capacity, set of actions, actual performance. Although there is no consensus among the authors when defining what professional performance is, it follows that this is associated with the activity carried out by people, in which they have to demonstrate whether they know how to perform it or if they are trained to do so.
It means that professional performance is closely related to the preparation of individuals and the way they carry out said activity, in their social interaction.
This author coincides with the Collective of Cuban Authors of the Central Institute of Pedagogical Sciences (2005), when they state that professional performance constitutes the way in which people carry out their work; This way is related to what they do or manifest in the context where they work.
Considering the previous idea, it can be stated that there are multiple factors that condition and are associated with it. Specifically, in the case of the professional performance of the tutors under study, these factors, in the opinion of this author, are associated with:
- The cognitive, which is expressed in the level of knowledge, skills and others, that influence the preparation to fulfill the assigned functions. The affective-volitional, which is revealed in the degree of motivation and significance that leads them to carry out their responsibilities: the organizational and environmental aspects, related to the characteristics of the context in which they operate (the organizational culture).
The characteristics attributed to professional performance are diverse, from the previous analysis the most significant are derived: a) it has a conscious nature, b) it is revealed through the fulfillment of certain functions, tasks and / or responsibilities that are inherent to the position, c) it is expressed through a certain quality, in correspondence with the state of the factors associated with it.
This author understands, then, the professional performance of the tutor, responsible for the training of teachers for Technical and Professional Education as: the way in which this professional reveals the development of their professional skills with a certain quality, which is associated with multiple factors, and implies the achievement of ways of acting in the teachers in training that tutors, related to the solution of the ideopolitical, pedagogical, methodological, scientific, investigative and technical problems of the specialty.
Improving professional performance
The recognition of the improvement of professional performance, as an important way to obtain superior quality results in education, has been raised by a variety of authors. The term improvement has been used to address some educational processes such as: improvement of educational quality, improvement of the teaching-learning process, improvement of educational management, human improvement, among others. In the bibliography, it is also appreciated that along with the term improvement, the improvement has sometimes been used.
The improvement of professional performance in the educational field was analyzed considering authors among which are: Añorga and others (1995-2006), Valiente (2002), Roca (2002), Pémberton and others (2006), Collective of authors of the Institute Central of Pedagogical Sciences (2007), Ponce (2007).
From the study carried out on the proposals of these authors, it could be corroborated that there are some trends in the approach to the improvement of professional performance, which are presented below:
- This is identified, related or interpreted as the preparation, improvement or training required by human resources. It is aimed at raising the quality of the professional performance of human resources. It is associated with the development of professional competences, which are inherent to the position or responsibility. of human resources.
Among the definitions found, the one offered by Roca (2002), in the opinion of this author, is the one that reveals, with greater precision, the content of this object: “Professional performance is the process that develops in the system of relationships and interrelationships, of a social nature, established between the subjects involved in it.
It must be oriented to promote a differentiated, continuous and committed learning, that takes care of the education of its labor competences, to achieve, in its performance, a superior result, in correspondence with the demands of the professional pedagogical activity that characterizes its labor context ”. (9)
It is deduced from the previous definition that the improvement of professional performance is a process that must be directed, since it has a conscious (not spontaneous) nature, which implies the performance of directive actions, which lead to its planning, organization, execution, control and evaluation. This management must consider the multifactorial nature of professional performance that was previously addressed in this section.
If professional performance depends on cognitive, affective, volitional, organizational and other factors, then the process of their improvement must affect these factors, so that the barriers that may impede or hinder their successful development are mitigated. This means that said process must be appreciated in a comprehensive manner and from a systemic perspective.
Taking into consideration the previous analyzes, this author understands the improvement of the professional performance of the tutor responsible for the training of teachers for Technical and Professional Education as: a directed and comprehensive process, aimed at reaching higher levels in their professional performance to achieve ways of performance in the training teachers that tutors, related to the solution of professional ideopolitical, pedagogical, methodological, scientific, investigative and technical problems of the specialty.
The content of the professional performance improvement management process must therefore consider the demands of the professional performance of these tutors and the factors that are associated with it. Likewise, the requirements regarding: the evaluation of the quality of performance improvement and the forecast of the factors associated with said process: the cognitive, affective-volitional and organizational must be taken into account.
Bibliographic references
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2. Santiesteban, Llerena, ML (2003). Educational Program for the Improvement of the Directors of the Elementary Schools of the Municipality of Playa. Thesis presented as an option to the scientific degree of Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences. Havana city.
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