Introduction
The training of animators has to respond to the demands that emerge at national and international level. At the same time, it must be adapted to the realities of our Latin American region and to the problems of the territories, schools, families and all the people participating in the educational process.
Training the tourist animation graduate in Cuba with the highest possible quality is an aspect of great interest for the FORMATUR school (Training for Tourism) and for the professionals who in one way or another are involved in this important social objective..
The mastery by students of the most outstanding achievements in terms of tourism in the areas of its universal, regional, national or local manifestation is a must for their free performance in this sector.
In the training and training courses for animators we try to train an animation professional. We intend that the student can understand the new trends and in turn reflect on the importance of values to offer this service.
In the current moments of the development of the tourist activity we must prepare the human resources so that they are able to manage, with guarantees of success, in strategic areas of the company. This has raised the need to create a way in which the student can learn about the work of Tourist Animation, its challenges and thus can contribute to the fundamental objective: Achieve a Tourist Animation that boasts a service with quality. In order to achieve a high competitive level within the sector.
Blended learning, which is the modality with which it is suggested to teach this subject, tries to reduce the student's teaching hours in front of a teacher, to favor self-learning and self-preparation activities, and their participation in tasks of economic and social impact such as part of their comprehensive training, with a concept of greater integration depending on the educational and instructional objectives pursued. For this we will have to guide the teaching-learning process, towards the search for new didactic tools, which allow the student to use the necessary criteria for their development. Adapt the material base to the new educational reality, to awaken the student's interest,favoring access to information through the use of new communication tools and new technological supports
Development
What participatory methods can we use to train tourist entertainers?
In this sense, it is necessary to know with the greatest possible degree of precision: the motivations and interests that students have for the activity that we have to carry out; but at the same time it is important to also recognize what are the physical and intellectual possibilities of that subject, together with other characteristics, among which the size of the group must also be considered, so that the learning activity can be conveniently conceived.
A group of students who are motivated by the profession they are studying, who are interested in preparing properly to carry out their career; You will be able to work much more appropriately in activities in which you feel as professionals; in comparison, for example, with a group that takes its first steps and is not totally convinced that it has chosen the profession correctly.
It is imperative to generate new pedagogical models supported by new didactic strategies where the teacher abandons the traditional role of mere transmitter of information and acquires more significant ones such as that of provider of resources, that of organizer, tutor, researcher or facilitator, while the The student reaches positions of active information processor playing a key role in their training process, which should not lead us to suppose that the teacher loses his role as director of the activity.
One of the fundamental ways that facilitate this conception in student training is Group Learning, because it achieves effectively and efficiently, in addition to the levels required by any teaching-learning process (knowing, knowing, knowing how to do or knowing how to create), a adequate contextual location such as knowing how to be or being, in accordance with the requirements of your time, now, what is group learning?
The essential ideas of these psychological theories are concretized in a new learning modality, Group Learning.
It is nothing more than the use of the group as a fundamental way for the construction and reconstruction of individual and collective knowledge and in the transformation of the personality of its members and the group.
“It is not working in a group, nor working with the group; is to work with the group. ”
Unlike other conceptions, group work with a Marxist orientation is aimed at the formation of a certain value system that supports individual and social improvement, at transforming the group into a true collective.
To achieve these ends, Group Learning requires a radical transformation of the teaching-learning process and of the functions that are conventionally assigned to teachers and students.
In the case of teachers, it requires the performance of their activity with a different role than the traditional one of transmitting knowledge; This role implies their status as an expert in an area of knowledge, but also in the dynamics and coordination of learning groups, in teaching tasks and techniques.
For their part, the students will have to be trained to assume a participatory and collaborative role in the process through activities that allow them to present and exchange ideas, contributions, opinions and experiences with their classmates, thus turning classroom life into a forum. open to reflection and the critical contrast of opinions and opinions.
Techniques to use for Group Work that contribute to facilitating training in Tourist Animation courses
Presentation techniques. Presentation by Couples. Subjective Presentation. Presentation Dance. Sayings.
Within group learning there are a set of methods and techniques to facilitate the assimilation of the contents, these are:
Discussions: Collective analysis on different topics, promoting exchange among the participants (the teacher or tutor generally as the moderator of the discussion, the students as active participants). It is used for the critical assimilation of knowledge. Achieve a comprehensive vision of the problems and their collective solution. Promote approaches from different points of view. Its most common types are; plenaries, small groups, panel, confrontation and round tables.
Situations: Facing students to situations that are real or very close to reality, in which there are specific problems related to their future professional activity. The teacher or tutor, acting as a guide and consultant, the students developing an intense collective work in the definition, clarification and solution of the situation. It is used in the consolidation of knowledge. Skills training. Development of oral expression and communication. Profession problem solving. The most common types are: situation, progressive familiarization, simple incidents, simple scheduled incidents.
Role plays: It consists of the representation by the participants of a specific situation or case, so that it becomes real, visible and lived. The teacher prepares and directs the activity; Students assume an identity different from their own to face real or hypothetical problems, in a realistic or informal way. It is used in the discussion of real problems of the profession with direct and generalized knowledge. These can be structured unstructured.
Simulations: Modeling of professional tasks that reproduce in a simplified way, the real conditions in which they take place. Students organized in teams solve tasks and make decisions that lead to measurable results, assuming certain attitudes and behaviors. It is used in activities in which it is intended to link theoretical content with professional practice, under the conditions of the teaching activity. The most common types Computer modeling Combined modeling, Participatory modeling.
Problematic teaching: Place students before tasks that motivate them to search for ways and means for their solution. The teacher organizes the process from the search of the problem tasks; which must be resolved by the students, either in the class itself or outside it. Its use can achieve the acquisition of new knowledge, skills and working methods of the sciences under study. The most common types are problem exposure, heuristic conversation, and partial search.
Interactive techniques: Learning activities that are characterized by a high degree of interaction between the participants. Active participation of students in an exchange of opinions and criteria about materials, concepts or propositions previously elaborated by the teacher is used to develop skills of an intellectual nature, in the study and summary of materials with different characteristics. Its most common types are; triangle, grids, keywords, agree disagree, discussion confrontation.
Creative techniques: Structure a work in groups generally of not more than 12-15 students in charge of solving relatively complex problems, within the framework of professional activity. The teacher's activity focuses on facilitating the process; Students actively participate in work, under strict group work rules. To identify critical variables of a problem or situation and to establish priorities; as well as to solve problems that require a creative group approach. Its most common types are; nominal groups, brainstorming, anti-success, bonus techniques.
The application of these techniques helps to stimulate the development of learning activities and at the same time contributes to creating a cooperative work climate that allows us to maintain the attention and systematic dedication of the group focused on the teaching task posed by the teacher.
It is also essential based on determining what type of learning activity to use; have clearly defined the level of learning achieved so far by students; not only from the point of view of the contents that are required as prerequisites for the assimilation of new ones, but also from the point of view of the capacities and skills necessary for a certain type of learning activity. That is why the introduction of such alternatives must go hand in hand with an institutional will that fosters the necessary change in this regard.
Conclusions
Participatory teaching methods undoubtedly constitute a fundamental instrument for the training of animators. This dynamic and innovative concept of education must correspond to increasingly dynamic and innovative ways, methods, approaches and proposals.
Thus, to enhance group work, the teacher must be able to:
- Determine and design teaching situations that stimulate collaborative work. Take care that these teaching situations are in correspondence with the interests and needs of their students. Promote teamwork and the assumption of various roles, so that responsibilities are shared in the group. Select and use appropriately the teaching means that favor an interactive, creative and collaborative environment. Listen carefully and respectfully, valuing the contribution and opinion of each student within the group. During the development of the process you must assume a role to accompany, guide, and stimulate student performance. You must create problem situations, questions, contradictions, in order to create the need for help. Provide your students with guidance and timely information,highlighting relevant concepts, stimulating interaction styles and practices. Facilitating metacognitive reflection on the work done. Generating spaces for interpersonal interaction outside of teaching hours.
Therefore, those in charge of conducting the process must be open to the search and experimentation that finally allows us to achieve a suitable graduate to face the increasingly professional challenges of today's world.
Bibliography
- Abreu Hernández, PP (2004). Animation is more than… Theoretical-practical manual of Tourist Animation. Ed. Region. Addine Hernández, Fátima. (1998). Didactics and optimization of the teaching-learning process. Havana: Latin American and Caribbean Pedagogical Institute, Área Moreira, Manuel. The teaching media: conceptualization and typology. 2009. Editorial Aerta. Argentina.Strategic Document. (2010). The Varadero Hotel and Tourism School is at the center of the problems of the sector in the territory. EHTV.Dr.C., MSc. Frías Jiménez Roberto A., González Arias MSc. Mahé, MSc. Jaquinet Espinosa Rebeca. Title: Theoretical aspects of the Tourist animation process. PDFLabollita, M. and Farré, M. (2005). Animation in the tourist field. Madrid: Pirámide.LG ARETIO Higher distance education in Spain 2010.M LOBO Distance teaching management from virtual perspective 2010.M. Nichols. 'A theory for eLearning' Formal Discussion Initiation. International Forum of Educational Technology & Society.
