Articles

Didactic strategy for the development of aesthetic preferences in the university reader

0000-0001-8750-5076Raúl Enrique Pérez Portelles^{1  *}  , 0000-0001-5297-6652Salma Díaz Berenguer

¹Universidad de Oriente. Cuba.

ABSTRACT

The present work has like objective, designing didactic actions to the university developmental teachers of the esthetic pleasure toward the reading in the students. A didactic strategy, that it allow designing a set of actions to contribute to the development of the esthetic pleasure in the university reader is intended to it; That you stimulate the desire to possess, to use and to interchange books and to learn to enjoy the reading. Of there than, a didactic resource that can be orchestrated by university teachers to promote in the students the pleasure and interest for the reading constitutes this strategy.

Key words: University reader; Promotion; Motivation; I am desirable Esthetic, Strategy

Introduction

The Cuban school as an educational institution has among its challenges the development of a pedagogy aimed at the integral preparation of the individual for life, by promoting his adaptation to the new scenarios of the contemporary world. Based on Marti's, Marxist and Leninist thought, education in Cuba aims to train man to be able to face new situations and transform them, with a multilateral and harmonious formation, where reading becomes a valuable source of knowledge.

Reading occupies today a relevant place in learning as a way of acquiring knowledge and forming the personality of the individual. Likewise, it favors contact with written language, especially with literary works, by allowing the systematization of the linguistic knowledge acquired by the student, so that he/she can use it efficiently in his/her communication with other people.

The exercise of reading makes possible the emission of judgments, criteria; the analysis of diverse situations, approaches, the valuation of the conduct of the characters; reflections these that must revert then in positive patterns when being incorporated to the individual conduct of each reader; there is the formative role that is attributed to all reading like tool for the learning, because it also develops abilities that guarantee the reach of the aesthetic preferences and of the linguistic competition, manifested in the use of the more and more correct, cultured and expressive language.

Several authors have addressed the subject such as: (^{Gómez Palacios, 1996}); (^{Álvarez Zapata, 2003}); (^{López Díaz, 2009}); (^{Cháves Salgado, 2013}); among others. However, there is insufficient research that has focused attention on the development of aesthetic taste in the university reader, who must carry out scientific work as part of their academic, labor, research and extension training. Hence, the importance of the subject under investigation.

It has been found that, in the pedagogical practice, the correct reading habit is still insufficient in students, which is evidenced in the different contexts of action. There are several factors that affect this process, i.e., the texts that are oriented in the different subjects do not always constitute a preference for the student; they do not use reading as a source of information and enjoyment, so their understanding is insufficient and does not satisfy their needs as readers; insufficient attention to the reading component from the subjects; insufficient teaching and extra-teaching activities related to the habit and interest in reading.

The objective of this work is to design didactic actions for university teachers for the development of the aesthetic preferences for reading in students, in order to form educated citizens capable of transforming the world around them.

Development

Reading is an interactive process of communication in which a relationship is established between the text and the reader, who, by processing it as language and internalizing it, constructs his or her own meaning. In this context, reading is a constructive process as it is recognized that meaning is not a property of the text, but that the reader constructs it through a process of flexible transaction in which, as he/she reads, he/she gives particular meaning to the text according to his/her knowledge and experiences in a given context (^{Gómez Palacio, 1996}, p. 19); all this provides the student with new meanings that he/she eventually applies in different contexts of action, which allows him/her to analyze and understand the environment from different points of complexity.

Considering the above, reading is a practice that involves the implementation of intellectual capacities, subjectivity and criticism. When the act of reading takes place, not only is what is read endowed with meaning, but the reader in turn constructs himself, acquires knowledge and generates his own ideas. However, the way in which this occurs depends on the reader's prior knowledge and personal experiences, so the decoding and meaning of a text will not be the same for all readers (Gómez, 2014, p. 21).

The authors of this paper consider that reading is:

• A cultural practice.

• To seek answers, but essentially, it is to open questions.

• To build the bridge between the tangible and the intangible, between the lived and the dreamed.

• An instrument to create living conditions that give us more opportunities to be happy.

• A way of being in the world.

• Understanding, feeling and creating new concepts for life.

• Inseparable act of writing.

• To grow internally.

It is for this reason that the teacher as the conductor of the teaching process must promote reading as a social practice that seeks the positive transformation of the way in which people in an environment can come to feel, see, disseminate, use and conceive reading.

The promotion of reading encompasses a broader field and integrates different factors such as sociocultural, educational, economic and political factors, being the government the entity in charge of designing and applying public policies for reading and writing, formulating plans, programs and projects to guarantee access to information and the production of reading materials (^{Álvarez, 2003}, p.18). This is why it is based on sociocultural intervention with the aim of increasing reading education and motivation, and increasing the reading level of a society; but this is not possible without first emphasizing motivation as a mental psychic process that leads to action, that drives it, that activates it, that gives it a goal, a direction. If needs constitute the essence of the mechanism of all forms of human activity, motives are distinguished as concrete manifestations of this essence (^{González, 2008}, p. 53).

From the above it follows that, when the student is motivated, his greatest satisfaction lies in the assimilation of the content and the mastery of the skill becomes a need, i.e., he enjoys and understands with greater quality what he has read; thus revealing the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation of each individual.

All these elements point to the development of aesthetic taste in university students towards reading, for this it is necessary that teachers apply didactic strategies, in order to achieve that reading becomes voluntary and its systematic practice, that is to say, that it becomes a habit.

The analysis of multiple criteria and interpretations that appear in the specialized literature consulted has allowed us to discern and assume in this work that the term strategy is used to refer to the intentionality of the actions aimed at improving student learning, and the design of flexible action plans that guide the selection of the most appropriate ways to promote developmental learning, taking into account the diversity of the protagonists of the teaching-learning process and the diversity of the contents, processes and conditions in which it takes place (^{Castellanos, 2002}, p. 20).

Therefore, these authors consider that a didactic strategy is designed to solve a didactic problem of the educational practice, which implies the projection of actions interrelated with the objectives to be achieved that must be fulfilled in the short, medium or long term; and that allows the qualitative and quantitative evolution in the teaching-learning process, from eliminating the contradictions that are noticed between the current state and the desired state.

The didactic strategy presented, containing actions, contributes to the development of aesthetic preferences in the university reader. Its character is viable, flexible, participatory and developmental.

Didactic strategy for the development of aesthetic preferences in the university reader.

The didactic strategy presents four stages: diagnosis, planning, execution and evaluation.

General objective of the didactic strategy: To offer ways for the preparation of university teachers, through actions for the development of the aesthetic preferences for reading in students, based on scientific-methodological and teaching-methodological work.

Stage I: Diagnosis.

Objective: To determine from the methodological and scientific-methodological work, the insufficiencies and potentialities that teachers present, in the adequate orientation of teaching and extra-teaching activities for the habit and interest for reading in students.

Actions of the stage

• Define the characteristics of the agents involved in the process and the limitations or potential of the material resources.

• To review the normative documents to verify how the teaching of the reading component is treated and how it is worked.

• Determine the limitations and cognitive and metacognitive capacities that students present in order to develop correct reading habits.

• To objectively determine the causes that limit the development of the aesthetic preferences for reading in students.

The in-depth analysis of the results of the diagnosis will provide favorable conditions to organize and plan the work from the scientific-methodological and teaching-methodological point of view, which will contribute to the development of reading habits and interest in reading in students.

Stage II: Planning.

Objective: To plan the actions that will contribute to the development of the aesthetic preferences in the university reader.

Actions of the stage

• To conceive the actions oriented to assist the teaching-methodological and scientific-methodological work of the teachers, in the execution of the actions proposed in the didactic strategy, for the development of the aesthetic preferences in the university reader.

• Organize workshops for the development of the teaching and extra-teaching activities proposed in the strategy, according to the characteristics of each career, type of course and academic year.

• Determine the indicators to evaluate the teaching and extracurricular activities proposed in the strategy, according to the characteristics of each course, type of course and academic year.

• Promote the use of ICTs in the development of teaching-methodological and scientific-methodological activities.

• To control the development of the workshops, where the didactic-professional preparation reached by the teachers is evidenced, in the adequate implementation of the actions for the development of the aesthetic preferences in the university reader.

Proposed teaching and extracurricular activities:

1. Creation of a book corner, reading corner or mini-library. 2.

2. Creation of the student's personal library.

3. Spontaneous visits to the school library.

4. Visits to local bookstores.

5. Visits to fairs, exhibitions and book presentations.

6. Meetings with illustrators.

7. Establishment of literary correspondence.

8. Commemoration of Cuban Book Day, Children's Book Day and World Book Day.

9. Showing of films, documentaries and animated films related to children's and young people's literature.

10. Story Graffiti.

11. Activities with the press.

12. Book exhibition.

13. Dramatization of significant excerpts from books of world literature.

This stage favors the motivation for the execution of the actions of the didactic strategy and dynamizes the didactic-professional modes of action of the teachers involved in the teaching-learning process in the different university careers, for the development of the aesthetic preferences for reading, from the use of alternative solutions to the difficulties.

Stage III: Execution.

Objective: To execute the actions that will contribute to the development of the aesthetic preferences for reading in students.

Actions of the stage

Scientific-methodological stage:

• To investigate all the information related to the thematic object of study, in order to project new actions that allow the effective development of the teaching-learning process in the different university careers.

• To elaborate teaching materials containing the theoretical-methodological assumptions for the treatment of the reading component in the classroom.

• To determine the procedures for the implementation of the actions that will contribute to the development of the aesthetic preferences for reading in the students.

• To establish the levels of convergence between the contents and objectives of the programs taught in the different careers to treat the reading component in the classroom.

• To carry out workshops of socialization, systematization and evaluation of experiences, in which the feasibility and validity of the proposed didactic actions are evidenced.

• To elaborate scientific articles that constitute papers in scientific-research events, for the dissemination of the results obtained in the educational practice.

Teaching-methodological stage:

• To introduce the theoretical-methodological assumptions for the implementation of the actions that will contribute to the development of the aesthetic preferences for reading in students.

• To systematically reveal the work algorithm and indicators for the application of the actions.

• Promote from the classes in the different careers, the habit and interest for reading with the objective of developing the aesthetic preferences in the students.

• To guide independent work where the reading component is treated.

• Systematically evaluate the progress of the work done by students in this component.

• To plan methodological activities that contribute to the preparation of teachers, in the treatment of this component, through: Instructional and Demonstrative Methodological Classes, Open Classes, Scientific Methodological Seminar and Scientific Methodological Workshop.

In these phases, it is essential that the main discipline teachers and the Department Head control the educational teaching process, taking into account the advances and setbacks in the treatment of this component, specifying the causes in order to plan new actions.

Stage IV: Evaluation.

Objective: To evaluate the quality of the actions proposed for the development of the aesthetic taste for reading and the progress of the subjects involved in its development.

Actions of the stage

Precisions for its application

• Feasibility of the actions to be used by the agents involved in the process.

• Validity, for the achievement of the proposed objective.

• Relevance, for its inclusion in the teaching-learning process of university careers, taking into account its characteristics.

Results

The verification of the effectiveness and relevance of the didactic strategy for the development of the aesthetic taste in the university reader, based on the scientific-methodological and teaching-methodological preparation of the agents involved in the process, is carried out through the socialization workshop with specialists from other areas of knowledge, which allow assessing the effectiveness of the proposed result. The essential objective of this workshop was to exchange experiences, emphasizing the progress made in the teaching-learning process after the implementation of the actions proposed for the development of the aesthetic preferences for reading.

The following selection criteria were taken into account:

1. Professional experience, in the teaching-learning process at the university.

2. Teaching and scientific status.

3. Knowledge about the subject under investigation.

The group of experts was composed of 23 teachers from the Art Education Department, including the Department Head. Among them, 3 Full Professors, 8 Assistant Professors, 11 Assistants and 1 Instructor; 3 Doctors of Pedagogical Science and 12 Masters.

Regardless of the fact that the teachers are not specialists in Spanish Literature, reading is a component that is used in all the subjects taught in the different careers of the University of Oriente.

This workshop made it possible to corroborate the effectiveness of the actions that make up the didactic strategy, based on assessments and new proposals for its application in practice, taking into account the following indicators and procedures.

Indicators:

• Level of orientation offered by the actions and their enrichment based on suggestions.

• Relationship between proposed actions-activities.

• Assessment of the validity and relevance of the didactic strategy.

Procedures:

1. The speaker presented the didactic strategy containing actions in front of the group of Art Education specialists, during 30 minutes in order to, from the feedback and socialization, benefit the process of integration, interaction and reflective construction of the participants.

2. Exchange of reasoning and experiences related to the achievements and deficiencies of the actions of each one of the stages of the didactic strategy, as well as recommendations and suggestions for its improvement, taking into account the questions asked by the specialists of Art Education and the answers offered by the speaker.

In general, the criteria and evaluations gathered from the socialization workshop were related to the following aspects:

• They determined that logic is revealed in each of the stages, through the actions stated for their application.

• The activities proposed in the execution stage constitute a didactic tool to motivate students to read different texts.

• The proposal contributes to improve the scientific and methodological teaching activity carried out by the teacher for the sake of a developmental and meaningful teaching-learning process.

Conclusions

The theoretical analysis carried out reveals the existing epistemological inconsistencies in the implementation of different strategies that contribute to the development of correct reading habits, which revealed the need to deepen in the didactic procedures used for their improvement, which favor the aesthetic taste in the university reader.

Within the Pedagogical Model, the promotion, motivation and interest in reading, facilitates the intellectual and moral formation of a fuller citizen, with an adequate scientific conception of the world, as well as aesthetic values and feelings of love and respect towards the homeland, the family, society and their colleagues.

The logic established between the stages of the strategy makes possible the application of actions for the development of aesthetic preferences in the reader, which contribute to the improvement of the scientific-methodological and teaching-methodological work for its practical implementation at the university.

Referencias bibliográficas

Gómez Palacios, M. (1996). La lectura en la escuela. https://es.scribd.com/doc/7765242/La-Lectura-en-La-Escuela.

Álvarez Zapata, D. (2003). La animación a la lectura: manual de acción y reflexión. Medellín: Universidad de Antioquia.

González Serra, D. (2008). Psicología de la motivación. Editorial Ciencias Médicas.

Castellanos, D. (2002). Aprender y Enseñar en la Escuela. Pueblo y Educación.

López Díaz, J. (2009). De la lectura del mundo a la lectura de la palabra. Tabloide Universidad para Todos, p. 14.

Cháves Salgado, L. (2013). El Bibliotecólogo como animador a la lectura desde la Biblioteca Escolar. Revista e-Ciencias de la Información, 3(2), pp. 1-6. http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/4768/476848738005.pdf.

Received: September 11, 2021; Accepted: January 12, 2022

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