SUMMARY:
The potential of companies as a means of university extension, of being a material support for promoting culture, in its broadest sense, is the benchmark that defends this work. A summary of the main epistemological conceptions about extension as a university process is included. The capacity of the companies, developed in teaching units, is argued to be a fundamental vehicle for the investigative-labor training of university students and it is reflected on the possibilities of being, in turn, a channel that the university has to extend its culture to the community.
INTRODUCTION.
The university is a social institution that is very actively involved in the economic, social and cultural development of society. In order to fulfill this social commission, it must work for the preservation, development and promotion of culture, conceived as functions that are specified in the execution of university processes: teaching, research and extension. These processes, when being dialectically related to each other, respond to the integration of the main functions of the university.
A measure of the degree of compliance with the university's social mandate is expressed in the social significance that its interrelation with society reaches. In this endeavor, university extension plays a main role, since it guarantees the broadest and most dynamic social bond, which favors the identification, communication and joint activity of the university and society, and narrows the essential unity of this dialectical pair.
La universidad del mundo occidental, desde sus orígenes y por casi ocho siglos, permaneció cerrada y aislada de la sociedad, y no fue hasta el siglo pasado, que comenzaron a realizar actividades de extensión, como consecuencia de un proceso histórico orientado a lograr la apertura y democratización de la universidad y la materialización de su proyección social; condicionada por las exigencias del desarrollo económico y social de la época. Este proceso comenzó primero en Inglaterra y después se generalizó rápidamente a Europa y los Estados Unidos.
In Latin America, “university extension” was first spoken of as an inherent and inseparable social function of the university, in the Reformation of Córdoba, Argentina (1918), in response to the crisis motivated by the confrontation between a society that was moving towards change and a university that clung to its obsolete schemes.
The Córdoba manifesto, among its demands, demanded: "University extension, strengthening of the university's social function, projection of the university culture to the people and concern for national problems"; ending the university's policy of isolation from the rest of society. This movement fostered the internal cultural development of the universities and the rapprochement of the advanced intelligentsia and the students to the working class, peasant sectors, and the rest of society. Likewise, the extension was recognized with a more comprehensive approach in the social function of the university. The university extension would join the university to become part of it.
THE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION AS A PROCESS.
According to the conceptions of González, G and González, M., (2001), about the extension as a process of irradiation of the university culture, one of the inertias that slow down the process of university extension is that the premise is not fulfilled that for it to develop and assume its true role, it is necessary to have a context that favors the social mission of the university, otherwise the relationship between university and society is limited to utilitarian market factors.
A sample of the previous statement is that the trends of the most important higher education institutions in North America, Spain, Japan, Germany, France and other developed countries, is to have a greater participation in the transfer of technology and put their services in function of the companies, that is to say that they define as the center of their social mission, the conception of university - company as a function of higher education at the service of technology transfer, economic development and financing route of the universities themselves, their Extensionist function is conditioned to the solution of this problem, without taking into account the needs of the surrounding community.
On the other hand, university extension continues to be associated with the dissemination of artistic and literary culture, as a consequence of an approach that identifies it with a specific organizational unit and not as a function of the university as a whole.
A confusion has been generated around the concept, on the one hand the university extension own actions that are carried out within the framework of other processes of higher education (teaching and research), are generally not considered as extension actions and on the other aspects of these processes are identified as a university extension activity.
A more advanced conception of extension is one that frames it in a formative process, the university extension process… in extension, the laws that govern conscious processes are complied with and the components that make them up are present, which allows us to affirm that You are in the presence of a formative university process and thus reach a more essential conception of university extension by defining it as: the process that aims to promote culture in the intra-university and extra-university community, to contribute to its cultural development… (González, G.; González, M., 2001). Here the concept of culture is taken in its broadest sense, it is not limited to artistic and literary culture. … Culture it is the set of material and spiritual values created by humanity in the process of historical-social practice and characterizes the level reached by society… (ÁLVAREZ DE ZAYAS, R: M; 1997, p. 34)
The relationship between society and its culture has the mission of preserving and developing the latter, as well as achieving elevation of the cultural development of the population. This coincides with a part of the university's social mission; but it is not solved only in the teaching processes (pre and postgraduate) and research. Here comes extension to play its role of promoting culture, while preserving and developing it.
The university extension is a manifestation of the dialectical relationship university - society that occurs in a link whose purpose is the promotion of culture, it is a function in which all the component factors of the institution of higher education must intervene and as a process it has its own methodology… The definition of promotion as a methodology for university extension constitutes an essential element to guarantee that the extension function can be fulfilled and contribute to the fulfillment of the mission of the university as a whole; from the development of actions aimed at the creation of cultural values, the conservation of created values, the dissemination and enjoyment… (González, G.; González, M., 2001)
As a process in universities, it has limitations, especially of an epistemological nature, due to not having sufficiently developed its theoretical base and its methodology. This would allow a better direction of the process, in other words, from the conception of its planning to its execution and evaluation. On this limitation, the first definitions of the process and its main components are worked on… Extension as a process of human interaction resizes its consideration as a result of activity and communication. Extension is activity insofar as it aims at the conscious transformation of the environment; This means that it not only aims to contribute to the transformation of the processes in which it participates in the university, and of the university itself,but also contributes to the transformation of society through its own participation in cultural development… (González, G; González, M., 2001)
One of the fundamental methods of the extension process is communication… it is communication as it is carried out through social interaction, through symbols and message systems that are produced immersed in human activity. This allows the exchange of information that makes the process aware, in this case of university extension. Cultural development is a consequence of the educational communication of man's ideas and achievements… (González, G.; González, M., 2001)
Communication needs channels for the transmission of information, they are material means that allow the promotion of culture, in this role companies, with their material possibilities and the highly qualified human component they possess, offer magnificent opportunities for extension of university culture, in its broadest sense.
A general characterization of the current university extension in Cuban higher education is summarized as follows:
- Greater acceptance of university extension as a function of higher education, it is defined as a university process, its theoretical-conceptual base begins to be established, determining the need to transform the management of extension into its new conception of a dynamic training process of relations university-society. An increase in extension actions and motivation for extension among students that stimulate the creative spirit. Extension continues to be associated with the promotion of artistic and literary culture and not as a more comprehensive function of the center of Higher education as a whole. Actions of university extension that are carried out within the framework of other processes of higher education (teaching and research), such as extension, are not considered.The comprehensive cultural preparation of the students and the faculty is insufficient to assume the promotion of the university culture. The current legislation does not respond to the current situation and requirements of the university extension. The members of the university community (managers, professors, students and workers) have limitations to manage university extension, since they do not know the theoretical and methodological references for their planning, implementation and systematic evaluation. The leading participation of students for the development of projects is not adequately promoted and encouraged, extension and intramural extension actions and tasks.Its contents and methods are not well determined and, finally, the institution's full potential is not used to its effective execution.
In other words, there are still insufficiencies in the execution of the extension process, but the tendency is to put it in its right place, because it is an increasingly pressing social need in the conditions and aspirations of the country in order to achieve a society of high cultural development.
THE TEACHING UNITS AS A MEANS OF THE EXTENSION PROCESS.
If the aforementioned difficulties were magically resolved in an instant, we would still have to find the necessary means so that the extension of the university culture would be sufficiently encompassing of the social environment, and there the teaching units come into play.
The media are the objects with the help of which the formative processes are developed, the medium is the vehicle through which the method manifests itself, that is, it is the material carrier of the method (Álvarez and González, 1998).
The extension process has communication as a fundamental method, which it uses in function of promoting culture. The fundamental means of communication is the information channel. How to promote the culture of the university to the physically distant community? Teaching units as material extensions of the development of university processes have the potential for this.
… The teaching units are companies linked to the university, which due to their objective and subjective conditions, allow joint work in the development of the curricular components: academic, labor-productive, investigative and self-preparation, and university teaching processes., investigation, extension, and management, that assure the formation of the professional of wide profile from the undergraduate, training and specialization, of one or several careers, by solving real technical problems - professionals of production or services… (Herrera, 2003).
The teaching units arose from the need to respond to one of the problems to be solved by Cuban higher education, detected since the five-year period 1986-90: The insufficient integration of the university with society, both in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, as in research. Today there is enough vision to notice that in this limitation is the insufficient execution of the extension process.
According to Torres and Álvarez (1993), among the aims to be achieved in these institutions, the following is proposed: “The university for society, for the community, will train progressive professionals who respond to the interests of their people and the best way of knowing reality is living with it, solving its problems, as a way to be a creator, researcher, develop thinking and form values and feelings. " In this conception of training the new generations in connection with the search for solutions to the problems of society, of the community, the extension process in the teaching unit is not excluded, because through it the culture of the university is promoted (academic and research) to the environment of the company and the community.
The teaching-educational process in the teaching unit has its own peculiarities and components, among which is its particular form… In the teaching units the teaching form called research-labor practice is developed.which is the organizational form of active participation of the students, teachers and professionals of production and services, by interacting with each other and the community (society) during the solution of the real problems that require the use of the scientific-investigative method of the professional way of acting, motivating multidisciplinary and team work and developing independence and creativity. It is the fundamental form of the law "university-society relationship" and is common to the fundamental university processes: teaching, research and extension… (Lazo, 1996). Note that this concept includes all university processes, without excepting the extension in this way of the training process.
For the company and the community where it is located, the possibility of owning a teaching unit and an inter-institutional agreement with the university should be a source of professional and social pride… The constitution of a Teaching Unit is a cultural event and the relations of the Professors, researchers and students with the inhabitants of the place are transmission channels of that culture, becoming a channel for the expression in the territory of the culture treasured in the University… (Estrada and Moreno, 2000). This concept reaffirms the idea of the teaching unit as a channel (medium) for the transmission of information (culture). … Today the teaching unit is conceived as a center that, in its scope, develops research, professional development and technical and cultural extension; that is to say that in that area,it has the social function entrusted to the University… (Estrada and Moreno, 2000)
In the teaching unit, as an extension of the university, the university processes of teaching, research and extension must necessarily be developed. University extension is perhaps the least favored part of the university processes that take place in the teaching unit, however this institution has the greatest potential to extend the culture of the university to all areas of the community.
One way to do this is to develop in students basic knowledge and skills that allow them during their stays in teaching units and at other times of their social bond, to carry out an extension of the culture and scientific-technical advances of their profession.
The need to promote, from the university extension, actions aimed at the professional improvement of university graduates and the general population, in correspondence with the advances in science, technique, art and sport, as well as with the needs spiritual of the society, constitutes a viable alternative for the permanent education of the community through the postgraduate education system and university extension courses and in this the teaching units constitute an ideal means, if they have a minimum infrastructure, devices and means that allow these purposes:
- Promote cultural improvement, through the postgraduate education system and university extension courses, aimed at the professionals of the territory and the general population, about scientific, technological, art and sports advances and economic development strategies, political, social and cultural of the territory and the country. Promote the incorporation of the university community and the population of the territory in projects aimed at their general cultural improvement. Promote the organization of courses on artistic appreciation, history, national and universal culture, focused on groups of children, adolescents, young people and older adults. Stimulate and encourage student participation and leadership in the development of activities aimed at cultural improvement of the population, in its highest sense.Well structured, the development of extension activities becomes a powerful instrument in the formation of values in the professional, ethical and social fields.
The university extension activity would be incomplete if it does not have as one of its most important goals, the promotion and development of the scientific culture of the community with which it interacts. In this sense, an important task is the dissemination of scientific and technological knowledge to all members of society through the different possibilities and options available to the teaching unit and the territory.
In accordance with the above, the projection of the teaching units can be oriented to:
- Extend and strengthen the planning and execution of community projects, as well as the evaluation of their impact. Promote the incorporation of teachers, practice students and workers, into community work through the formulation of projects aimed at various areas of the sociocultural work Encourage the development of community projects in priority areas of the territory.
METHODOLOGY FOR THE EXECUTION OF THE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION PROCESS IN THE TEACHING UNITS.
As a way to encourage the initiative to achieve an effective and efficient extension process in the teaching unit, the following ideas are included:
Extension through the teaching process
Undergraduate
- Use the organizational forms of the teaching process to develop extension projects associated with the humanistic culture and the profession. Spread the culture of the profession of university careers in the company and the community. Project the completion of optional courses in accordance with the needs of the general cultural training of the students. Incorporate for the purposes of the labor and research component activities and actions that contribute to the social and humanistic development of the students. Train the students with basic knowledge and skills that allow them, during their stays in the units teachers, carry out culture extension and technical scientific advances of their profession.Use of the computing means of the teaching unit to extend the computer culture to the environment of the company and the community, and through it, the other manifestations of the culture (professional, artistic, literary, etc.). of scientific-technical information of the teaching unit based on the dissemination of culture. Take advantage of the different channels (networking, email and CDs and DVDs), to have sufficient and up-to-date scientific information at very low cost. Associate professionals play an important role in bringing the company culture to the student.Use of the scientific-technical information sources of the teaching unit based on the dissemination of culture. Take advantage of the different channels (networking, email and CDs and DVDs) to have sufficient and up-to-date scientific information at very low cost. Associate professionals play an important role in bringing the company culture to the student.Use of the scientific-technical information sources of the teaching unit based on the dissemination of culture. Take advantage of the different channels (networking, email and CDs and DVDs) to have sufficient and up-to-date scientific information at very low cost. Associate professionals play an important role in bringing the company culture to the student.
Graduate
- Training and requalification of the professionals of the company and its territory of influence. The different forms of professional improvement and of the cadres must be included, such as: Specialties, diplomas, master's degrees, doctorates, short courses and training, improvement of cadres.
Extension through the research process
- Participation in territorial, national or branch projects, duly contracted and financed by the corresponding organizations, which will provide the results with the greatest social impact, as well as provide resources to the teaching units themselves. The best professors of the teaching units, high-achieving students, professors from the faculty or university, and specialists from the territory with the required qualification must work in these investigations. that are of interest to the teaching company and that has an impact on its efficiency and on its economic results, in which the professors of the teaching unit, the faculty or the university take part,Students through various courses or groups and linked to Science and Technical Units of the territory, which will allow the teaching unit to face postgraduate teaching and academic training and for professors to do doctorates in subjects where investigations are not lines prioritized by the university.
In bonding with the community.
One of the most important functions of the universities in a territory is the influence that emanates from it, in multiple aspects of culture, on the community. This is valid for teaching units, as an extension of the university in the area where it resides.
The influence of the teaching unit must manifest itself in its actions in:
- Vocational work in primary, secondary and pre-university or polytechnic schools in the territory where it is located.
- In collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health in health education in the territory.
- In cultural, political and recreational activities with the community.
- In the collaboration that, in general, it must establish with the local government in its various instances.
CONCLUSIONS.
The companies, converted into teaching units, constitute potentialities of the universities and of the country, in their desire to extend the culture to all corners of it, since they:
- They constitute an infrastructure outside the university, for the development of university processes: undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, research and production. They have a faculty of university and company professors (adjuncts), increasingly prepared for the management of university processes. They have strengths in the use of university students in the process of extension, technology transfer, socio-community work, training. They can respond to the growing demand for training of companies and territories. They can provide the necessary opening of extrabudgetary sources of financing for the development of university processes.
These potentials are still insufficiently exploited and the purpose of extending the university to all corners of the country, makes it necessary to review the role of these institutions and encourage their possibilities of extending all university processes to the social environment.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
- ÁLVAREZ DE ZAYAS, C and GONZÁLEZ, E. (1998) The Didactics: a conscious process of teaching and learning. Cintex (7). Medellin. Colombia. ISSN 0122-350 xÁLVAREZ DE ZAYAS, RM (1997) Towards a comprehensive and contextualized curriculum. Havana. Editorial Academia.ESTRADA, R and MORENO, O. (2000) Regulatory and financial frameworks of the relationship. Paper presented at the First National Workshop of Agricultural Teaching Units, UNAH, March 2000. University of Granma.GONZÁLEZ, G and GONZÁLEZ, M. (2001). National University Extension Program (Project, 1st Version). Edited by the University of Pinar del Río.HERRERA FUENTES, JL (2003). A model of the teaching - educational process in teaching units for the development of research - work practice. Doctoral thesis. University of Pinar del Río. CubaLAZO MACHADO, J.(1994) Epistemology of the development of the combination of study and work in the Cuban higher school. Cuban Journal of Higher Education. No. 3_______________ (1996) The university at the service of society. Sucre. Bolivia.TORRES, M and C. ÁLVAREZ DE ZAYAS. (1993) The improvement of Cuban Higher Education, its current trends. Cuban Journal of Higher Education. Vol. 13. (12). Havana.
