Original article

The administration of the preparation of the bosses of educational departments in the university institutions

0009-0004-6060-8197Iraida Barrientos Pérez^{1  *}  , 0000-0003-4649-4467Jorge Enrique Carbonell Pérez¹  , 0000-0002-3604-6380Milda Lesbia Díaz Masip¹ 

¹ Universidad de Ciencias Pedagógicas “Enrique José Varona”. La Habana. Cuba.

ABSTRACT

The current guidelines of the human capital recognize to the administration of the preparation of the directive in the organizations like a strategic process, feasible of perfecting. The objective of the work consists on proposing a methodology sustained in the strategic address and the organizational learning for the administration of the preparation of the bosses of educational departments, toward the implementation of the institutional strategy. It is based in the dialectical one materialistic as general method of the science, to analyze and to transform this process; to establish generalizations and to specify the particularities that the type besides defining the characteristics that he/she should have the methodology.

Key words: Administration; Preparation; Strategic address; Organizational learning; Methodology

Introduction

The systematization of research works, on the orientation and content of the preparation of the Heads of Teaching Departments (JDD) in recent years, allowed locating, within the wide range of alternatives oriented towards the improvement of the management of this process, a group of works by researchers, among which those of ^{Moynelo, Peña, Fernández and Batista (2018}), ^{Planes (2017}), ^{Castells (2020}) and ^{Galano (2021}) are mentioned; as a regularity, provide solutions for problems aimed at the improvement of management capacity, towards the fulfillment of the functions of the position, the direction of methodological work, planning and strategic control at this level of management in Higher Education Institutions (HEI).

The analysis of the orientation and the content of the transformations of higher education in Cuba, show the need that the management of the preparation of the JDD, should be conceived as an interactive process that allows, from the particularities of each institution, to identify and socialize with objectivity, and, on that basis, promote the search for collective solutions with a proactive approach, which will favor the exchange of experiences to make the most of individual and group potentialities of good practices and, thus, favor the motivation and involvement of these actors in the development of the preparation process.

At this point, it is important to turn to ^{Saborido (2020}), when referring to the need to build an innovative and sustainable university, he states that it is an institution that carries the capacity to transform itself permanently, in order to face the current challenges of Cuban society; so this concept also defines the main transformations that must occur in the way of managing the preparation of the DBDs.

In university structures, the department is the basic level of management headed by its head as the highest authority. Therefore, the head of the department must be an educator with scientific and pedagogical experience, prestige, authority, qualities and attitudes for the efficient performance of the functions inherent to that position. (^{Ministry of Higher Education (MES) (2014}).

In this sense, theoretical and empirical investigations reveal that the preparation of the JDD has been developed in correspondence with Decree-Law 13/2020 and Presidential Decree 208/2021 (^{Council of State, 2021}) in relation to the preparation and improvement of state and government cadres and their reserves, however, at the present time, it requires the development of actions oriented towards its improvement, which stimulates reflection on how, in this context, the preparation of the JDD should be conceived in order to achieve that its performance has a projective approach and with the capacity to promote the participation of teachers and students in the solution of the main problems presented here.

The above shows the need to direct the transforming actions towards the improvement of the methods that should be used in the preparation of the DBs, in order to achieve an innovative approach, in correspondence with the orientation of the transformations of higher education in Cuba, among other things, because the methods and procedures used do not promote, in the required magnitude, the interaction or the active and democratic participation of the DBs in the management of this process, because it has not been achieved that the institutional strategic project constitutes essential content of the preparation for this level of management and justify declaring as objective of this article, to propose a methodology for the management of the preparation of the DBs that defines how to proceed to prepare these executives through the establishment of ways and procedures based on the strategic direction and organizational learning.

Development

It is necessary to specify that management is present in all social activity because it constitutes an expression of human development, since to the extent that man reaches higher levels of development as a social being, to that same extent, it requires a management capable of directing this development towards new stages and at the same time, it reinforces the conviction about the need for the transformation of organizational forms and methods.

It is recognized that the theoretical inquiries carried out show that the preparation of managers in university institutions (UI), in general, is an object of study widely investigated, but in contrast, there is insufficient research and experiences on how to manage the preparation of the DBs in these institutions and the existing ones, in general, focus on the improvement of this process, as a regularity, from the postgraduate level or through various activities of improvement.

The study conducted supports the need to focus on the method, as an alternative for the improvement of the preparation of the JDD. The adoption of this position derives the analysis towards the search for an alternative in which the proposal of a methodology based on the strategic direction and organizational learning for the management of the preparation of the JDD that contributes to the implementation of the institutional strategy in the department that directs the need to ensure that its work, at this level of management guarantees the planning, execution and evaluation of actions and procedures adequately articulated with the institutional strategy, main model of transformation of the university.

The theoretical foundation studies developed lead to establish that this methodology should have as theoretical-methodological referents the strategic direction and organizational learning, which, from their systemic integration ensure the projection, planning and evaluation of the preparation actions, with special emphasis on the interaction between these actors, as an alternative to ensure their preparation to implement the institutional strategic project in the teaching department.

From this perspective, the research defines the management of the preparation of the DBs as the strategic, systemic, reflexive, interactive and participatory process of planning, execution and evaluation of actions and procedures aimed at ensuring the implementation of the institutional strategic project at this level of management.

Based on the theoretical positions adopted, the methodology for the management of the preparation of the DBs for the implementation of the institutional strategic project is a proposal on how to proceed to prepare these cadres for the implementation of the institutional strategic project through the establishment of ways and procedures based on the strategic direction and organizational learning, composed of the following components: objectives, requirements, recommendations that show the methods and procedures in the treatment of the content, forms of implementation and forms of evaluation.

The structure of each of these components is explained below.

Objectives of the methodology for the improvement of the management of the preparation of the heads of teaching departments at the Enrique José Varona University of Pedagogical Sciences.

• Contribute to the improvement of the JDD's management preparation for the implementation of the institution's strategy in their professional context through the application of methods, techniques and procedures of strategic management and organizational learning.

• Strengthen the JDD's creative potential, as well as the commitment, involvement, motivation and the capacity to reflect on their practices in relation to the institution's strategy.

Requirements for the improvement of the management of the preparation of the heads of teaching departments at the Enrique José Varona University of Pedagogical Sciences.

The requirements presented below constitute a contextualization of the contributions made by the research developed by ^{Fernandez (2019}) ^{Carbonell, Gonzalez and Galano (2022}), who, from different perspectives, address in their research the strategic direction and organizational learning as theoretical-methodological references that support the management approach to the preparation of the JDD.

The design and implementation of the methodology must be oriented towards the fulfillment of the objectives, indicators and goals based on the sustainability of the shared values reflected in the institutional strategy, in order to progressively achieve the establishment of the necessary balance or alignment between the objectives and goals of the university strategy and those of the department at each stage of work.

The actions and procedures must adequately combine individual and collective attention in correspondence with the levels of development reached by the JDD in order to be consistent with the consideration of unity in diversity and vice versa.

The procedures used must be characterized by favoring:

• The exchange of experiences.

• The collective and creative search for solutions to management practice problems.

• The discussion of solutions and the systematic verification and follow-up of their implementation.

• The reasons that justify the adoption of this procedure are based on the following arguments.

• The incorporation of new work methods and procedures is more viable if the experience comes from those who perform the same work because the learning of new practices is the result of the influences that arise from interactive processes.

• Practice is the main source from which the working procedures of the DBs emerge, so that permanent reflection on what is done and how it is done makes it possible to design proposals that respond to their aspirations and expectations.

• The actions for the improvement of the management of the preparation of the RDBs should be characterized by discussion and demonstration by them, taking into account that all participants have experiences to contribute.

• The actions and procedures put into practice must stimulate the search for particular solutions for each of the problems at the place where they occur as an expression of the attention given to the development of needs, interests, abilities, knowledge and behaviors of the subjects.

• The organizational forms must constitute spaces where the JDD can base their actions, expose their experiences and enrich them on the basis of confrontation and exchange, in a pleasant and favorable working environment.

• The organizational forms to be used must recognize the diversity in the development of the JDD, because in it lies the key to the determination of other forms of preparation.

Each head of teaching department is an individuality and should not be treated only from group positions; it is necessary to know him/her on an individual level. Therefore, the characterization and diagnosis make possible the attention to diversity in the improvement.

For this reason, the organizational forms must be characterized by cooperative work through the combination of individual attention or help with the professional development achieved. In this way, the interaction with those who perform the same work and the communication established between them is the main tool for the attention to individual difficulties and for professional development.

This approach is based on the idea that professional development occurs as a result of the progressive internalization of professional modes of action acquired through interaction; on the other hand, development occurs in stages through which people pass in different ways and at different paces.

Recommendations for the improvement of the management of the preparation of the heads of teaching departments at the UCPEJV.

From the theoretical positions assumed, the recommendations represent the set of suggestions, indications or observations on how to proceed to achieve the proposed objectives. In this sense, this component contains four stages that are explained below.

Stage 1: Preparation and sensitization, to ensure the creation of the necessary organizational conditions. The actions and procedures that characterize this stage should ensure the creation of an affective approach, to address doubts, uncertainties and to foster an environment that favors a pleasant collective work climate, so it is suggested to implement group work techniques that contribute to stimulate group unity, the willingness to explore new work alternatives based on the improvement of styles for listening, communicating, reflecting, debating, criticizing, respecting and working as a team. This stage should also serve to identify individual and collective needs.

The fundamental actions of this stage should be oriented to:

• To offer the essence of the work to be done, highlighting the importance of the institutional strategy as a model of transformation of the organization, and the demonstration of the strategic nature of the preparation of the JDD for its implementation in the university, hence the need to manage this process from the strategic direction and organizational learning.

• To generate an exchange between the heads of processes, the deans and the Rector, where the need and actuality of the management of the preparation of the JDDs for the implementation of the institutional strategy and their role as facilitators in this process is based.

• To highlight the potentialities of the integration of the UCPEJV areas under the coordination of the Directorate of Cadres, area responsible for the fulfillment of the strategic objective related to the preparation and improvement of the cadres and their reserves, therefore, of planning, organization, direction and control of this process.

• Encourage the active participation of each of the actors in this process, to enhance the level of commitment, motivation and willingness, for the sake of the effectiveness of the activities to be developed, so that they become active, creative and innovative entities.

Stage 2: Understanding the institution's strategy, this is a fundamental stage, considering that this is one of the fundamental objectives of the methodology. It is not possible to ensure an adequate preparation of the DBs if the understanding of these essential elements is not ensured.

The main actions of this stage should be oriented to:

• Clarify the meaning of the mission, vision, shared values, processes, objectives, indicators and goals contained in the strategy.

• Analyze within the organizational structure the roles and responsibilities of the BDD.

• Diagnose the needs of the organization and the required preparation of the DBs.

• Promote analyses to determine the internal and external problems that the department must face.

• Gather the board of directors to establish the expectations of the process; the determination of situations or needs that have been identified by senior management

Stage 3: Strategic analysis. The strategic analysis must include the examination of the challenges that the institution must face and its reflection in the work of the teaching department; from the interrelation between the plan of preparation and improvement of the JDD and the objectives set out in the institutional strategy as a project of transformation of the organization of the actions. Actions should be oriented to:

Determine the potentialities and limitations

• Select best practice experiences and encourage their progressive generalization from departments with evaluated careers of excellence.

• Determine the results to be achieved over a period of time.

• Specify the possible agents of change to achieve the goals, in the department itself or in others.

• Collect information for retrospective analysis of results

• Critically evaluate results achieved, progress and possible setbacks

• Identify individual and collective readiness needs to achieve desired transformations

• Define preparedness priorities according to the individual and collective results achieved.

• Determine the necessary resources.

• Define the organizational forms and content of the preparedness actions to be developed.

• Define the internal and external coordination relationships that need to be established.

Stage 4: Action planning

The purpose of this stage is the collective analysis of the processes, strategic objectives, goals and indicators of the essential strategy in order to plan the actions to be developed. Among the actions to be developed, the following are proposed:

• Analyze the transformations that must take place in the department to achieve the objectives and goals reflected.

• Identify the main problems that affect the achievement of the objectives.

• Analyze the causes and effects of the problems.

• Elaborate possible solutions, apply them and evaluate their implementation.

• Facilitate collective discussion of experiences and analysis to detect errors and best practices.

• Develop an action plan aimed at achieving the identified transformations.

• Promote consensus in decision making, from the generation of proposals for the design of actions, the analysis of information, the contextualization of internal and external procedures and evaluation.

Implementation of the methodology for the improvement of the preparation management of the heads of teaching departments.

It is the component that defines how actions, organizational forms and procedures to be used are executed.

It is important to take up again the idea defended in this research about the approach to preparation through the integration of various organizational forms that combine individual and group activity in different spaces that are part of the dynamics of the functioning of the university management system, central activities designed for preparation, Management Councils in the faculties, department meetings, economic councils, meetings of representatives and planned meetings with the Rector.

Among the procedures to be used, the following are recommended:

To promote exchanges of experiences so that those involved can express their experiences and those of the groups they come from, about the procedures they use to implement the institutional strategy.

• Compare the results achieved with respect to previous stages to determine achievements and difficulties, as well as their causes

• Analyze the results of the performance of the indicators to collectively define the good practices that led to superior results, disseminate them in different media and establish them as modes of action.

• Evaluate the quality of the design, execution and control of the monthly departmental and individual plans, from the distribution of tasks for the fulfillment of the objectives and subsequent collective and individual evaluation.

• Analyze errors in decision making that have directly influenced the results of strategy implementation.

• Describe solutions to identified problems and unplanned events to stimulate confrontation, comparison and contrasting of opinions on possible alternative solutions to common or particular problems.

• Check the effectiveness of the application of solutions provided by the group in particular situations in certain departments.

• Self-evaluation to determine successes and failures and to reconsider actions.

Methodology evaluation forms

It is the component that has the feedback function and allows the assessment of the state of fulfillment of the objectives. It integrates the evaluation of the management of the preparation that is developed and the evaluation of the actions of preparation for the implementation of the institutional strategy, carried out with the RDBs; this makes possible, based on the evaluations issued, the adoption of decisions aimed at the improvement of the management process of the RDB preparation and of the preparation itself.

The evaluation is conceived through the permanent assessment of the results that are achieved in the functional spaces in which these management figures participate: department meetings, faculty management councils, balance sheets of compliance with the partial and final work objectives, economic councils, representative assemblies and planned meetings with the rector. In addition, they constitute elements for the evaluation of the methodology in the short, medium and long term, the dissemination, in different supports, of the good practices and the incorporation of these to the modes of action of the university community.

This component implies the permanent evaluation of the results that are being achieved, through the development of partial evaluations to provide feedback to the actions and procedures during the implementation of the methodology and not only at the end.

This means that the evaluation of the methodology has a significant impact on the reformulation of its components: objectives, requirements, recommendations, forms of implementation and forms of evaluation.

The feedback function of evaluation is feasible if the criteria that must be taken into account to guide its implementation in practice are established. These criteria constitute guidelines for analysis and, therefore, must be examined from an integrating perspective. These criteria are:

• Correspondence between the analysis of university processes, objectives, goals and planned indicators using the internal information sources in which they are expressed and their partial and total results.

• Correspondence between the results achieved in the evaluation of the performance of the JDD and the fulfillment of the indicators and goals of the institutional strategy.

• The relationship between the use of the JDD experiences, the dissemination, in different media, of the good practices and their incorporation into the university community's modes of action.

• The combination of theory and practice in the activities.

• The effectiveness of the working relationships in the group and in the teams that were created and whether they can be maintained in the long term.

• Level of development achieved on the basis of the previous diagnosis, based on the way in which the preparation of the JDDs for the implementation of the institutional strategy and the change in their mode of action was enhanced.

Real possibilities of implementing the strategy in practice and precision of adjustments.

Conclusions

The University Strategic Management and Organizational Learning are the essential theoretical-methodological references that support the methodology for the improvement of the management of the preparation of the heads of the teaching departments at the Enrique José Varona University of Pedagogical Sciences, the first provides the projective vision that this process must have, which means that the implementation of the strategy of the institution, The first one contributes the projective vision that this process must have, which means that the implementation of the institution's strategy is essential content of the preparation of these management figures, and the second one the interactive processes, in the exchange of experiences, the search for solutions to common problems that arise in the management practice, the detection of errors and the joint construction of models of professional performance, based on the location of successful practices; Thus, there is a clear tendency in the management approach to the preparation of the heads of teaching departments to give priority to the interactive processes among those who perform the same work.

The proposed methodology has the procedures for the practical implementation of preparedness actions with a system approach, supported by component stages and actions. It is distinguished by the participation and interactivity of the JDD in the components of this process, supported by the Strategic Direction and organizational learning.

Referencias bibliográficas

Carbonell, J.; González, D. y Galano, J. (2022). La preparación de los jefes de departamento para la implementación del control estratégico. Órbita Científica, 28(118). http://revistas.ucpejv.edu.cu/index.php/rOrb/article/view/1468

Castells Gil, B. L. (2020). La formación permanente de los jefes de departamentos docentes universitarios vía para la competitividad de las universidades cubanas. RILCO DS: Revista de Desarrollo sustentable, Negocios, Emprendimiento y Educación, 2(4), 7. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=7935521

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Galano, J. (2021). El sistema de control estratégico del departamento docente en la Universidad de Ciencias Pedagógicas Enrique José Varona. Tesis Doctoral, Universidad de Ciencias Pedagógicas Enrique José Varona.https://mega.nz/folder/zIB1yaRZ#6j2Y19lZMDqAlhFsaB-p5Q

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Planes, P. (2017). Propuesta metodológica para mejorar el desempeño del jefe de departamento docente universitario. EduSol, 17(60), https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=475753184017

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Received: March 12, 2023; Revised: May 10, 2023; Accepted: July 08, 2023

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