The preparation of mentors: a need of the contemporary university to pay attention to diversity

Abstract

At the international level, more and more attention is given to the problematization of the programs for mentors´ improvement in order to enhance the teaching-learning process and the attention to diversity. The mentors´ functions in Cuba are related to the research process, which have been applied since the previous century. However, they are not effective to face nowadays dynamics of a society characterized by a great scientific capacity and which is, at the same time generating constant new knowledge. The scientific novelty of this work is found in its practical contribution because it proposes a system of workshops for the professional improvement of Art Education mentors which prepares them for their multiple functions. Its implementation demonstrates that the potentialities of a well-prepared mentor improve the teaching-learning process and gives attention to diversity. In the system of workshops that is proposed, each student, protagonist of his self-improvement, is considered a conscious participant in the construction and reconstruction of the artistic culture. This constitutes anindicator of the principles that establish the unity between the cognitive and the affective as well as the unity between the activity and communication in the formation and development of someone´s personality. The social relevance is corroborated by its necessity in the successful performance of the graduate in the sociocultural contexts, because a mentor, whois an example, promotes his development.