Within the studies of educational science, the management of educational processes and the economics of education play a role of great importance.
Bearing this in mind, the studies carried out on the role of the teacher and the tutor in higher education will contribute to perfecting their work in all senses, taking into account the mission of the university at the present time. In this work we will refer to the role that this plays in higher education to understand the educator-educator performance and to outline actions aimed at the formation of a professional capable of understanding the convulsive processes that the world is going through today. These simple lines are addressed to them who are the standard bearers of this process.
Introduction
Leadership studies today take on an extraordinary importance for what it means to carry out the management of the educational teaching process in the university with effectiveness and efficiency. Much has been studied about the role that the director should play in a company and in this work we will refer to the role of the leadership of the teacher and the tutor in conducting the process to meet the requirements of higher education and with the social mission that The university has at the present time, in it some reflections will be made on the role that the teacher and the tutor can play as leaders capable of carrying out the goals set.
Development
The 21st century demands teachers with a technical scientific preparation who can respond as many authors have pointed out to knowledge management.
The new university that has opened its doors to thousands of students in different careers, a product of the universalization process, requires each time people who are capable not only of receiving information for decision-making, but also of knowledge, intellectual capacities., human and cultural values, skills, experiences that can become a powerful support that allows helping others.
The process of universalization in the new concrete historical conditions therefore requires the right decisions to be taken to give impetus to a project that has come to gain full access to all.
In this, the leadership not only of those who direct the process, but of those who carry it forward, plays an extraordinary role. The direction that is a variety of processes that takes place in the framework of living nature, of society, in the university, in the SUM, this must ensure the normal process, its balance and be at the same time a creator of constant innovations that ensure its improvement and the introduction of the best techniques, technologies.
Leadership is an important aspect of management. The ability to lead effectively is one of the fundamental aspects to be an efficient director, teacher or tutor, with the objective of combining material and human resources.
By carrying out their planning, organization and control functions, they obtain results according to what they expect. An effective leadership in the university by professors and tutors responding not only to the motivations of their subordinates, but also increasing or reducing them through the organizational climate they develop.
As the universalization process develops, the complexity of its structure and its tasks, the role of the teacher and the tutor as the main subject to carry out the educational teaching process increases, which expresses the quantitative changes that have occurred. in the content of the functions of the university.
José Manuel Ruiz Calleja points out (1998)
“The direction of the educational teaching process is a shared direction between the students and the teacher. The teacher is the representative of social aspirations, but those who are going to be the object of transformation are the students and this is a process that is not only conscious but also motivated. For this reason, students have to actively participate in the direction of their training. "
Hence it is derived that it is to efficiently organize the direction of the SUM and carry out an efficient educational teaching process, so it is of special importance to determine exactly the level of competence of its leaders. The teacher and the tutor must be a competent person, which thus determines the sphere in which he executes and carries out his activities.
The responsibility that he shows in the fulfillment of his functions, this is not delegated, it is maintained The more educated, prepared, able to use the latest advances of the Scientific-Technical Revolution, the more he will be in a position to respond to the concerns and doubts that his disciples may present, to make educational management a way to fulfill the objectives and mission that the university proposes at the beginning of this century.
It is indicated by psychology that leadership is defined as influence, that is, the art or process of influencing people so that they try with good will and enthusiasm to achieve the goals of the organization
According to the author already cited, he states:
“Consequently, the authority, the power of the educator, must be understood as a basic energy and the capacity to serve others, students and society in general; understand it as the moral authority necessary to promote and develop educational action that allows translating the intentions and purposes of the teaching-learning or educational teaching process into concrete realities that improve and enhance human existence and nature ".
Taking into account the importance that leadership acquires in university processes, Ruiz Callejas (1998) points out:
"Leadership is not something impossible or very difficult to achieve by the teacher or professor, social psychology explains, that leadership capacity is formed by a set of behavioral skills that most people can learn."
The teacher through efficient leadership manages to create a positive situation and a favorable environment where it is easier for him and his students to achieve the following:
- Understand the mission and functions of the educational process Unity of action oriented to the common purposes or objectives of the educational process Defend the cultural identity, sense of belonging and social cohesion of the school Promote participation, communication and cooperation between students in the group to overcome internal conflicts Preserve the integrity of the group and the school through the development of values, adherence to rules and the improvement of interpersonal, public and social relationships Generate changes in mentality and attitude in students, depending on the development of the school and their personality, both from the point of view of their instruction and their educationConsolidate the changes achieved in students through the creation of scenarios of creative, formative and productive interaction, in the curricular and extracurricular dimensions with an extensionist sense, for their continuous and sustained improvement.
It is important to bear in mind that the leader, unlike the traditional teacher, recognizes the need for change, innovates, creates, concentrates on students, inspires confidence, motivates and promotes the participation of students in different tasks, exercising control over them. with optimism the challenges of the future, he is disciplined, he promotes knowledge, he listens, he makes people speak, he evaluates together with the group, he stimulates, in a word he does the things that have to be done.
The educator is expected, in his role as teacher guide or tutor, to be able to orient the learner in a particular, personalized way, allowing in turn that, in accordance with the stage of development in which he is, reach greater autonomy in the educational and self-training process in general. On the other hand, the student is expected, as a result of these influences, a series of transformations that translate into an enriched human being, with new skills and personal resources that allow him a better performance to take on the challenges that await him in the future and to become a designer, maker of his own life project.
It has been guided by the MES that “Tutors must become academic leaders, exerting a decisive influence on educational work by advising each student in the search for the best options to fulfill the subjects selected from the Study Plan. This process allows rescuing the condition of disciple of his tutor, recognizing the latter, not only for his professional qualities, but also for his leadership as an educator ”(MES Document: New components of the comprehensive approach to educational and ideological political work in the university. 2003/2004 academic year)
Professors and tutors at the university act to help a group achieve goals. There is no human activity that is not directed to the realization of some objective or group of objectives. In complying with these, objective laws, the requirements of the laws of economic and social development, are reflected above all.
Engels wrote that in the history of society there are people endowed with conscience, who can deliberately or under the influence of emotions that aspire to certain goals.
Regarding the leadership of the teacher and the tutor in the management of the educational process, we can point out that this is characterized by a fairly large mobility due to the development of the management object itself, degree of complexity, technical and technological level, forms of organization attending to the fulfillment of the key result areas.
Raised by SERGIO H. ALONSO RODRIGUEZ and PEDRO R. SANCHEZ CARMONA. (1994);
“It is not enough to meet the necessary requirements for the position, or to accumulate long teaching and management experience. The possibilities of success today find their fundamental roots in the capacity of the leader to consolidate the best values of humanity and project them into the future, with the help of the most advanced scientific management. It depends on what is done today thinking about the future. And this is so for a not new reason, but of extraordinary validity ”:
The functions of the teacher and the tutor according to these reflections can be summarized in a set of actions that are part of the educational management itself, among which it is worth mentioning: control and location of the basic and complementary bibliography, of the videos, diagrams logical and other means, results of the diagnosis of the subject, all of which refers to the academic tutor in this case just to mention some of his functions, in terms of the pedagogical tutor, characterization of each student and group, diagnosis of each student and group, plan of personalized educational group work, control of the comprehensive results of students and groups, control of the work developed by students and groups and the impact tasks of each student and group.
All of this derives that:
"The aspiration to turn all of Cuba into a great university implies that every professional must be, potentially, a university professor" (1)
It follows that the leadership role of the teacher and the tutor constitutes a basic element for success in educational work with university students in the new educational model of universalization.
Tutor as you have indicated is anyone who interacts with their students, it is also necessary to know the modes of action of this, their professional profile in the accompaniment and the orientation that they must carry out during the university studies of the students.
1. Month: "Report of the National Assembly of People's Power, July 2004"
In the preparation of these tutors to exercise their leadership, the system of actions that have been developed at the university and SUM level has played a fundamental role in order to raise their preparation to higher levels, within which the postgraduate degree in Pedagogy and didactics and personalized psycho-pedagogical guidance where he receives a preparation capable of supporting the different programs of the subjects and a characterization according to the model in which it is inserted and is capable of guiding his students in educational work.
Therefore, it is inferred that it is capable of:
- Direct and control the planning process and guarantee the fulfillment of the approved objectives Promote the participation of students in the different tasks Ensure the ideological political development of students during the development of their career Develop creative activities Raise effectiveness of the educational teaching process.It prints a desirable degree of stability.It acts as a factor that forms new relationships.It enables the best conditions for the development of the educational teaching process.Create effective opportunities for intellectual development.
If the management style that is nothing more than the personal form that the teacher and the tutor imprints, whether academic or pedagogical, to their work and that marks their way of guiding the students and leading them to the fulfillment of the objectives, they adopt another position could fall into the:
- Autocracy: exaggerated tendency towards direct methods, "command and command." Worship of absolute obedience, weakening of the participation of the collective. Technocracy: consists of making the management rest on the technical superiority of the subject of management over subordinates. This implies ignoring the ideological, psychological, political and sociological factors that intervene in the management process. Paternalism: parent-child style relationship. The subject of leadership is the protector of the group. Democratism: deformed way of applying the principle of democratic centralism. The leader subordinates his decisions to the criteria of the majority, wears himself out trying to achieve that majority and consults again and again without deciding to act.
Based on these considerations, the professor and the tutor, before this, increasingly higher requirements are raised that allow them to successfully fulfill the social mandate of our universities.
In order to successfully fulfill the tasks set to the teacher and the tutor, they must first have a clear vision of the objectives pursued by our educational policy, good pedagogical preparation and also a high general culture.
Directing for the teacher and the tutor means organizing, guiding, helping, directing, guiding, teaching how to do something in the best way, observing, penetrating the essence of the matter, advising, finding the deficiencies and looking for ways to eradicate them, take control of the best experience, interest your students, consult with others, review, check, supervise, evaluate, stimulate. In these ideas is the essence of the role of the leadership of the teacher and the tutor in the current process of universalization.
Naturally, you are not born being a leader, love for students and interest in teaching work are the result of training.
AS MaKarenko noted:
"That the mastery of the educator is not just any art that requires talent, but is a specialty that must be studied."
All this results in a better and more efficient work of this in the management of educational processes in the University of the XXI century.
Conclusions
With the present work it is concluded that within the university the direction of the educational processes plays an extraordinary role the leadership of the teacher and the tutor. To the extent that he applies his leadership in a correct way, he will obtain results capable of reflecting the institutional changes that have been taking place as shown in the work carried out. The leader, unlike the traditional teacher, has a more adequate preparation in accordance with the quantitative and qualitative changes that occur as a result of the universalization process that is currently being carried out. As long as it applies its functions in a correct way.
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