Mendive. Journal on Education, january-march 2022; 20(1):123-138

Translated from the original in Spanish

Original article

The training of university students for the promotion of reading: contributions from an extensionist conception

 

La formación de estudiantes universitarios para la promoción de la lectura: aportes desde una concepción extensionista

 

A formação de universitários para a promoção da leitura: contribuições de uma concepção extensionista

 

Yudit Rovira Álvarez1 http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3232-9372
Ernesto López Calichs1 http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4909-9836
Aylen Rojas Valdés1 http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4369-5477
Alicia María Gilimas Siles1 http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6578-1608

1University of Pinar del Río "Hermanos Saíz Montes de Oca". Cuba. judy@upr.edu.cu, ecalichs@upr.edu.cu, aylen@upr.edu.cu, alicia@upr.edu.cu

 

Received: October 01st, 2021.
Accepted: January 11th, 2022.

 

ABSTRACT

The article addresses the promotion of reading in the university from a formative conception in the university extension. Its objective was aimed at establishing a pedagogical conception of training for the promotion of reading in the context of the University of Pinar del Río. For this, the main methods were used the Dialectic-Materialist, as rector, theorists such as the Historical-logical, the Systemic-Structural and empirical Modeling such as the Interview, the Survey and the documentary Analysis. The main results were in a set of ideas that conceive it as a process with a transversal nature and understand it as a sociocultural practice, energized by the relationships that are generated between the students of the student brigade, the academic ear group and the Department of University Extension, which uses the method and organization forms of university extension, based on the integral cultural training of future professionals. The conclusions derived from the ideas, associated with the new condition imposed by the pandemic, allow to find new challenges for the exchange of best practices, to strength entities with other social actors, as well as to project new ways of approaching reading from the promotion.

Keywords: reading; reading promotion; university extension; training; college.

RESUMEN

El artículo aborda la promoción de la lectura en la universidad desde una concepción formativa en la extensión universitaria. Su objetivo estuvo dirigido a presentar una concepción pedagógica de formación para la promoción de la lectura en el contexto de la Universidad de Pinar del Río "Hermanos Saíz Montes de Oca". Para ello fueron utilizados como principales métodos el dialéctico-materialista, como rector; teóricos como como el histórico-lógico, el sistémico-estructural y la modelación; empíricos como la entrevista, la encuesta y el análisis documental. Los principales resultados estuvieron en un conjunto de ideas que conciben la promoción de la lectura como un proceso con carácter transversal y la entienden como una práctica sociocultural, dinamizada por las relaciones que se generan entre los estudiantes de la brigada estudiantil, el colectivo de año académico y el Departamento de Extensión Universitaria, que utiliza el método y las formas organizativas de la extensión universitaria, en función de la formación cultural integral de los futuros profesionales. Las conclusiones derivadas de las ideas, asociadas a las nuevas condiciones impuestas por la pandemia, permitieron encontrar nuevos retos para el intercambio de las mejores prácticas, estrechar vínculos con otros actores sociales, así como proyectar nuevas formas de acercarse a la lectura desde la promoción.

Palabras clave: lectura; promoción de lectura; extensión universitaria; formación; universidad.

RESUMO

O artigo trata da promoção da leitura na universidade a partir de uma concepção formativa na extensão universitária. Seu objetivo foi apresentar uma concepção pedagógica de formação para a promoção da leitura no contexto da Universidade de Pinar del Río "Hermanos Saíz Montes de Oca". Para isso, foram utilizados os principais métodos: o dialético-materialista, como reitor; teóricos como o histórico-lógico, o sistêmico-estrutural e de modelagem; empíricas como a entrevista, a pesquisa e a análise documental. Os principais resultados foram em um conjunto de ideias que concebem a promoção da leitura como um processo de caráter transversal e a entendem como uma prática sociocultural, dinamizada pelas relações que são geradas entre os alunos da brigada estudantil, a turma do ano letivo e o Departamento de Extensão Universitária, que utiliza o método e as formas organizativas da extensão universitária, a partir da formação cultural integral dos futuros profissionais. As conclusões derivadas das ideias, associadas às novas condições impostas pela pandemia, permitiram encontrar novos desafios para a troca de boas práticas, estreitar laços com outros atores sociais, bem como projetar novas formas de abordar a leitura a partir da promoção.

Palavras-chave: leitura; promoção da leitura; Extensão universitária; Treinamento; escola Superior.

 

INTRODUCTION

The context caused by the pandemic has highlighted, once again, the importance of reading from all possible angles and as a sociocultural practice, which is carried out to a greater or lesser extent, from a multitude of spaces. This constitutes a crucial moment in which knowledge, science and technology play a leading role and in which the need for cohesion and the strengthening of Higher Education to face an increasing epidemiological situation becomes evident.

The challenges in which Higher Education Institutions (IES) find themselves today are of great magnitude; from all fronts work tirelessly. The consensus, increasingly generalized, points to the fact that the transformations that are generated will contribute to the improvement of comprehensive training. The Professional Models, in most university courses, are aimed at developing logical, heuristic, scientific, systemic, humanistic thinking, which allows the student to transform scenarios during their training and once they graduate. 

In this sense, the promotion of reading is at the center of the work of university students, much more so in a time marked by a global crisis related to health. In this regard, Ramírez (2019) expresses that: "Despite the fact that aesthetic reading and the arts have been relegated to a peripheral place -since they are considered more in the recreational and cultural fields-, different studies have verified the benefits they bring the aesthetic experiences to the capacities of the reader in the academic performance in their social responsibilities" (p. ix). To respond to such demands, the university requires its students to interact with the environment. 

In the twenties of the 21st century there is a large group of university students from all over the world, who are influencing in an active and responsible way. An important indicator, which must be used to measure the relevance and quality of the university's social mission, is in the development of the student's axiological capacities, and it is, precisely from this perspective, that the promotion of reading has much to do with contribute.

From his position as a promoter of reading, the university student can make an important contribution to society in conditions such as those in which he lives. In Cuba, particularly at the "Hermanos Saíz Montes de Oca" University of Pinar del Río, an important group of researchers has assumed diverse pedagogical conceptions, which recognize the student as the protagonist of university life, promoter of the culture of his profession, leader extensionist, and trainer of other actors and multiplier of training actions in different spaces. Such a perspective is consistent with what was stated by Alvarez, Breijo and González (2020), stating that:

   In Cuban Higher Education, great efforts are made to achieve the relevance of university processes, from raising their quality to strengthening the links between university-society. This concept is assumed as the dialectical unity of two elements: academic excellence and relevance. Academic excellence integrates the quality of human resources, in particular, the faculty and students, the optimal use of the material base and adequate pedagogical and didactic management (p. 380).

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are involved in all areas of knowledge and are a priority in universities. In this regard, Mesquita et.al  arguing that:

   Training in media skills is an urgent need in our time. The school must position itself as a fundamental environment in which to collectively address the reflection on digital and media environments and the preparation of citizens of school age to deal constructively with the impact of the media. To do this, a paradigm shift is required in approaching the issue: a critical awareness of the new scenarios created by the media and a broad reflection on its characteristics (2021, p. 47).

In keeping with the above, the Ministry of Higher Education (MES), together with other sectors and institutions, promote various initiatives in which the extension process is the protagonist; such is the case of prioritized national programs and projects, among which is the National Program for Reading, directed by the "José Martí" National Library of Cuba (BNJM), which coordinates the efforts of various organizations, institutions, groups and individuals of the country, in charge of promoting books and reading and from which the fundamental principles of Cuban cultural policy are established in this sense. In July 2016, the Education, Science, Technology and Environment Commission of the National Assembly of People's Power of the Republic of Cuba presented the "Report on the results of the inspection and control of the operation of public libraries, the habit of reading and the use of the mother tongue. Its current problem. It contained the main results of a study of reading habits and consumption in Cuban universities, carried out by the Cuban Book Institute and the Cuban Book and Reading Observatory, in 2015.

The sample covered almost the entire Higher Education system, including medical and pedagogical sciences and those of the University of the Arts, with the exception of military universities and whose results "show an unfavorable situation regarding reading in Cuban universities. The University of Pinar del Río "Hermanos Saíz Montes de Oca", for its acronym UPR, has developed multiple activities since the beginning of this program. Since 2014, the Teaching Department of University Extension has developed a process of resizing the subject of reading based on the development of the Reading Promotion Program of the UPR, according to the guidelines of the National Program of University Extension and the National Program for the reading.

Even when the general result of the implementation of said program shows positive advances, the results of research directly related to reading and its promotion show that the current situation "is characterized by the presence of certain insufficiencies, which limit the extension work in this regard" (Rovira and López, 2018, p. 8). Therefore, the problem that was investigated was given by: how to favor the improvement of the training of reading promoters from the university extension that contributes to the sociocultural development of the community of the University of Pinar del Río "Hermanos Saíz Montes de Oca" and his or her environment?

The object of the investigation was the process of training reading promoters (PFPL) from the university extension at the University of Pinar del Río "Hermanos Saíz Montes de Oca".

The general objective was aimed at contributing to the improvement of the training of reading promoters based on the foundation and application of the theoretical-methodological assumptions that support university extension, in a way that allows the design of a theoretical approach for its practical implementation, depending on the sociocultural development of the university community of the University of Pinar del Río "Hermanos Saíz Montes de Oca" and its environment.

 

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The research was developed at the University of Pinar del Río "Hermanos Saíz Montes de Oca" between the academic years 2016-2018. The population was made up of 1103 students, 462 professors and 45 directors of the UPR.

A probabilistic, stratified and random sampling was carried out, based on the statistical calculation of the sample, with which it is considered to be representative of the population, if it is a fraction of the population size; each unit of analysis carries the same traits and a random selection is made.

To obtain the results of the investigation, the dialectical-materialist method was used as an essential approach, which was guiding, allowing the analysis of the object, its fields, components and contradictions and integrating other methods used.

As theoretical methods, the historical-logical method was used, to study the different stages through which the object went through, in its chronological succession, to know its evolution and development with the purpose of discovering its main manifestations; the systemic-structural, to characterize the object and fields of action and modeling, to apply logical procedures of theoretical assimilation of reality, allowing in certain conditions, situations and relationships, to replace the object.

The empirical methods used to fulfill the proposed tasks were: Semi-structured individual interview with directors, coordinating professors of the extension process at different levels, professors, as well as students, to find out their opinion regarding the preparation and motivation they have regarding the subject and execution of actions.

Survey of teachers, to find out the preparation and motivation they have regarding the subject.

Survey of students, to find out their motivation regarding the subject.

Document analysis: documentation related to the processes of teaching, research and extension to know the planning of organizational forms of university extension.

Observation: to teaching, research and extension activities to verify the problem.

 

RESULTS

For an adequate study of the behavior of the research object and the manifestations of the problem in said object, with a view to interpreting the data and identifying regularities, for the variable Training process for the promotion of reading at the UPR, the following dimensions were determined and indicators. A system of instruments was built with which the proposed dimensions and indicators were filtered, applying them to the actors of the process under study based on the behavior of each of the dimensions and the assignment of the corresponding category.

From the definition of these three dimensions of analysis, 17 indicators were delimited to characterize the object. Seven indicators were assigned to the instructional dimension (table 1), with five indicators being assigned, both to the educational dimension, as evidenced in table 2, and to the developer dimension (table 3). Next, the characterization at the UPR is presented based on the behavior of each of the dimensions and indicators:

I. Instructive: 85% of the teachers and directors consider the knowledge about the incidence of the training of reading promoters and the potentialities of transversal training in this sense to be poor. On the other hand, more than 57% recognize the inexistence of actions in the Educational Strategy of the Academic Year and in the meetings of the Student Brigades; Methodological Plans of the careers and of the Academic Years; as well as 58% manifest lack of knowledge of the didactic components of a process. More than 50% of the professors and directors expressed the need for preparation in concrete actions in this regard and 57% recognize the need for relationships from the academic, labor and research aspects (table 1).

Table 1- Indicators for the Instructional Dimension

II. Educational: 38.5% of the students recognize the potentialities of the process for the formation of values in their professional training, as well as 47% express as positive the correspondence between the influences of a process of this type and their attitudes as future professionals and what that it can contribute to their professional training; as well as 44.3% of teachers reported having a medium preparation on cultural promotion and 14.8%, little. 70.5% refer availability of the subjects involved in the training for the promotion of reading. For their part, more than 50% of teachers and students state that they are willing to undergo a PFPL. However, only 12% acknowledge having attitudes for a process of this type (table 2).

Table 2- Indicators for the Educational Dimension

III. Developer: 44.3% of the teachers gave the highest category to the formation of transformative skills useful for life, while, among the students, 87% gave it this category. The applicability from the PFPL was recognized by the students as good, while the professors and managers, in 58%, gave this category to the applicability in the professional and social in general. 76.4% of the professors recognized the value of the PFPL for the future professional work of the students, while they gave only 9.2% to this indicator. 93.2% of teachers recognized the incidence of PFPL in teachers, while only 14% of students referred to it. However, a greater number of students surveyed, 76%, as well as 93% of professors, recognize how to regulate the incidence of its value and a similar number: 92% in university social responsibility, while professors in 95 % and 98% give the highest category to both indicators. 42% and 67% of students and teachers, respectively, gave it applicability in professional performance from the use of new technologies (table 3).

Table 3- Indicators for the developer dimension

Documentary analysis: the documentation was exhaustively analyzed, because in the pedagogical processes the practice must be preceded by a planning and organization of these as rectors. The presence of the subject in the University Extension Programs of the different levels is poor, and it is specified in the Prevention Programs at the different levels of organization of the extension (health promotion, healthy lifestyle habits, smoking, alcohol, drugs and tuberculosis). In the Reading Promotion Program of the UPR there are no projections aimed at the training of promoters. In the Professional Model of the sampled careers there is no reference to this aspect either. Actions that influence reading are declared in the Educational Strategy for the Academic Year.

The methodological plans do not indicate anything with reference to this. In the educational projects of the student brigades, group educational needs are identified and developed for their community projection; however, the training of reading promoters is not considered and the existence of extension projects in this sense can be verified. The observation of teaching, research and extension activities allowed us to verify that the majority of teachers need specific methodological preparation, as well as allowing them to apply didactic components. The need to prepare teachers in related topics is verified and that, in the generality of related activities, the potentialities for professional performance are wasted from the use of new technologies, as well as the applicability of professional relationships and society in general.

The pedagogical conception of the training process for the promotion of reading in the university was assumed to be the system of scientifically argued ideas, which direct and organize by stages, with a transversal character, the creation, conservation, diffusion and enjoyment of reading, understood as a sociocultural practice; This is carried out through the educational project of the student brigade, mediated by the main professor and the academic year group and advised by the University Extension Teaching Department, among which relationships are generated that energize it.

Ideas about the training process of the university student for the promotion of reading

Idea No 1. The training process of the university student for the promotion of reading has a transversal character and is conceived as a sociocultural practice

The significance of the transversal character is given in the assumption of axes or themes that cross the university extension, in its double character of formative process and function, that each one of the social factors involved in it must carry out in the university context and in its environment and that reinforce their integration into the teaching and research process. This sense of transversality of the process does not deny, but rather strengthens curricular approaches (González and Batista, 2017, p. 95).

The transversality from the investigative has its most general concretion in the promotion of the results of the student scientific work, through the activities, actions and possible tasks that make possible the promotion of the scientific results, many times minimized in synonyms, such as socialization or divulgation.

For the purposes of the training process of the university student for the promotion of reading, creation means favoring literary creation and its relationship with other artistic manifestations for the search for new and diverse readings, constant and systematic updating of topics related to the profile of the profession, as well as more general interests of the professional.

Conservation implies contributing to the university community's recognition of the reading assets that, with a patrimonial nature, have been preserved and developed in the university and its surroundings, from the dialogue of knowledge with a sense of participation and identity. Dissemination implies disseminating the bibliographic heritage preserved and developed by the university, related to the profile of the profession and the general culture in the university community and its environment. Enjoyment implies promoting the enjoyment of reading from the transformation of oneself and of others for the enrichment of the cultural heritage.


Fig. 1- Logic for the foundation of the ideas of the proposed Pedagogical Conception

Idea No 2. The training process of the university student for the promotion of reading is invigorated by the relationships that are generated between the students of the student brigade, the academic year group and the Teaching Department of University Extension

The University Sociocultural Work presumes that the faculties, departments and other areas of the university establish a dialectical relationship; therefore, by assuming this postulate, it refers to the understanding of its articulation. For the purposes of this pedagogical proposal, it is assumed that the academic year, as a base link, has a close relationship, a well-defined mission, since it allows a greater linking of actions and encourages participation, a fundamental element in university sociocultural work.

The role of the academic year group must promote the integration of the different forms of extension organization that are developed; say projects, activities, actions and tasks that are undertaken, either from the Educational Strategy of the Academic Year and within it the educational project of the student brigade, as well as intra- and extra-university projects, in such a way that it actively involves the student in the process. In the academic year, the projects, activities, actions and extension tasks are defined, considering the decisions adopted in the faculty, the career groups, the teaching departments, the non-teaching areas and the interests of its members.

The educational project constitutes the instrument that structures the educational work of the students as a system, aimed at the formation of the values that current Cuban society demands of a professional, and that integrates the entire set of activities, actions and extension tasks that are developed both inside and outside the university. On the other hand, the proposed pedagogical conception cannot ignore the interrelated work with the different levels of university life, university, faculty, teaching department and academic year, conceived in the sociocultural university work, and who from their spheres of action contribute to the integral cultural formation of the students. In this process, the coordination of the main professor and the academic year group play a leading role.

The process is integrated into the Educational Strategy of the Academic Year, which is expressed in the methodological work plan of the year group and the educational project of the student brigade. The academic year group and the main professor, with the participation of all those involved in its operation, can provide a valuable space for analysis, reflection and decision-making, which implies attending to a very diverse range of aspects that make up this purpose.

The current educational reality shows that the teachers that are available, despite their high level of preparation in specific science and in the pedagogical and didactic aspects that allow them to carry out the training process, suffer from a more specific preparation in other sciences directly related to reading at the university and to the training of promoters in this regard. The student brigade plays a very important dynamic role with which this learning experience is shared, from debate and critical reflection, it becomes a multiplier element. In this sense, the student trained as a promoter becomes a multiplier in the university environment, where personal, social and professional development is enhanced, in the student-student relationship, in activities, actions and tasks that are proposed, both in the university community and in the community contexts where he interacts from his work practice.

The Teaching Department of University Extension, as an advisor to the process, has among its methodological functions the sensitivity and understanding of the need for the process, the training of teachers as mediators from the postgraduate and the training of students from the delivery extension workshops for the training of student promoters. Another of its functions is to control the existence of FPL activities, actions and tasks, in the methodological documents, as well as to contribute to the improvement of the instruments that are applied in the evaluation of the process (fig. 2).


Fig. 2- Ideas of the Pedagogical Conception

  Idea No 3. In the process of training the university student for the promotion of reading, the cultural promotion method and organizational forms are assumed from the university extension: program, projects, activities, actions and tasks, depending on the training comprehensive culture of future professionals

Sociocultural promotion as a method reflects, in its essence, the scientific bases assumed from the university extension, which conceives it as its own method, linked to the training process and that generates the skills that the student needs to develop. In this way, the student, in his training, develops a set of skills from the promotion of reading that better prepares him for his professional and personal performance and turns him into a multiplier.

For this reason, it must be understood that the training process of the university student for the promotion of reading makes it easier for the promoter-reader to appropriate reading training from the method of cultural promotion and, in this more dynamic way, allows scientifically recognizing the problems of their own of their profession, as well as a better understanding of the society in which they work (fig. 3).

 
Fig. 3- Organizational forms and method of the Pedagogical Conception

The training process of the university student for the promotion of reading provides him with skills that are essential for the development of his cognitive and creative abilities, which allow him to appropriate concepts, deepen his reading training and that of his classmates, with the help of the method of sociocultural promotion as a fundamental way. It is intended, from this analysis, to emphasize the leading role of the university student; It is not about a student who passively waits for a teacher to model a promoter project for him, but rather a student who actively participates in his training as a promoter, while he transforms and grows, in parallel, with the development of their capacity to transform the society in which they live.

The university student, as an active subject, protagonist, becomes the driving force behind the construction of their knowledge, skills, attitudes and values towards reading, in an active, creative, reflective and independent manner; he learns to learn, to search for information, through the different promotional activities that are carried out from the different organizational forms of extension that are planned, with flexibility and independence. He really becomes the object and subject of his own learning: he is a self-trained student who understands that his reading training is his own business, while transforming his reading behavior, transforming his classmates and at that point he manages to enrich the process with his opinions, experiences, knowledge and actions towards reading, whether from the texts of their profession or reading for pleasure; This constitutes a solid point of connection with their learning, which emerges from practice, from their interaction with their social environment, from the constant reflections they make regarding their reality and, therefore, from their training needs.

The teacher, as a mediator of the process, has the function of supporting the training of the promoter, allowing communication, dialogue and participation in activities, actions and diverse tasks that allow collaboration between students, so that in this relationship the multiplication of promoters, with the idea that each university student can potentially be a reading promoter, which is what this work intends to consider.

Therefore, what is intended is not only to work on improving the reading training of students, it is not the number of books read that is of interest, but the assumption of a way of life, in which the promotion of reading cause a change in the behavior of students towards their own reading training; it is an encounter with reading from promotion. Hence, the need arises to recover the educational experience of teachers with a view to promoting interest and commitment to reading and promotion; that is, to influence as an extension function that each one of them must carry out, with emphasis from reading.

The professor, as mediator and main promoter, must be able to relate and establish a reciprocal exchange with the reading institutions inside and outside the university context, avoiding acting in isolation and fostering interaction with the rest of the social factors that affect the community: librarians, booksellers and staff of related institutions.

 

DISCUSSION

In the National Program of University Extension for Cuban Higher Education, university extension is defined as a process that is based on the system of University-Society interactions, "with the purpose of promoting culture in the university and its environment and that this form is interrelated with the other processes of Higher Education" (González and González, 2019, p. 12).

It is corroborated, in this sense, that it is an essential theoretical basis for research, much more in the circumstances in which the processes in Cuban Higher Education are developed, which have allowed a greater role and independence for the student. In addition to constituting the current regulations, on which the research is based, it allows us to understand that what was developed "constitutes a conscious training process in which the main role is played by the student" (Rovira and López, 2017, p. 83).

The training process of the university student for the promotion of reading is based on the dialectical-materialist theory as a fundamental theoretical basis, as well as on an articulated set of relevant theoretical conceptions about university extension, reading, reading promotion and the cultural promotion.

The systematization of the assumed theories and the results of the diagnosis made allowed basing the training process of the university student for the promotion of reading as an expression of a system of scientific ideas that made it possible to establish its essential relationships.

The training process of the university student for the promotion of reading is based on a system of scientifically argued ideas, which are directed and organized by stages and with a transversal character, the creation, conservation, diffusion and enjoyment of reading, understood as a sociocultural practice that is executed through the educational project of the student brigade, mediated by the main professor and the academic year group and advised by the University Extension Teaching Department, among which relationships are generated that dynamize it.

In this sense, it agrees with what was expressed by Núñez et al. (2017) about the experiences of training in university extension as a way to make "students incorporate tools for work in the community and various strategies for the self-management of their own knowledge from the construction of a link with the actors with whom they work" (p. 236).

The systematization of the conception of the training process for the promotion of reading in the context of the pandemic made it possible to corroborate the leading role of the university student, promoter of reading, in fulfillment of their social mission; this has shown, even in difficult conditions, from collaborative work and active participation in its realization, which enriches its modes of action, has much to contribute to this debate, in which the concept of university-society relations is broadened, especially in the training of other human resources, in the exchange of best practices, as well as in raising the levels of motivation towards reading. This is how the coincidences with Trigo, Santos and Sánchez (2020) are made clear by insisting that, certainly, "the key is to join forces and claim that each one fulfills its mission one hundred percent" (p. 67). A look that also assigns a relevant role to the family and society, totally in line with the results presented. A university model in accordance with the current reality, marked by the global health crisis, forces us to still pose challenges related to reading and its promotion, which are essential to mention:

Such a perspective means that each of the actions carried out must be designed with an emphasis from the promotion, what does it mean, the use and application of scientific knowledge articulated with techniques, such as sociocultural animation, that favor diverse spaces and actors and with a strong student role. This approach is correct if what is expressed by Vento and Ordaz (2020) is taken into account, when referring to the need to develop in student promoters "knowledge, skills, attitudes and values, aimed at informing and educating other subjects" (p. 110).

The mediators (extension actors trained as promoters) can establish guidelines for participation and collaboration among their students, offer examples of good practices, closely monitor the training of each student, identify needs and promote levels of help. All of which coincides with the criteria of Rodríguez et al. (2020), in whom "improving the learning of university students (...) is essential for the teacher" (p. 203).

In this regard, Vento & Ordaz (2019) agree with the approach by stating that "all the actions that are carried out involve other workers and students who are trained and multiplied in this knowledge, in such a way that each of the actions that are carried out they perform constitute training actions" (p. 918).

In this sense, being part of this group of actors, from a proposal designed to train reading promoters, constitutes a practice that allows a close link with the profession, which is developed systematically. Such a perspective is consistent with what was expressed by Rojas et al. (2020) regarding the insufficient integration and coordination of university-community links, by conferring great importance on the role of student organizations, "in the integration of actions in intra- and extra-university programs and projects to obtain effective results" (p. 156).

The student promoter can become a leader of extension projects, taking advantage of the particularities of each space where it is developed, articulating their knowledge with the possible readings in diverse contexts, which fosters leadership, creativity and enables the development of dialogue. 

Coinciding with this result is the criterion of Carenzo et al. (2019), referring to the need for training "based on cooperative notions that carry a prior evaluative load" (p. 151).

Such a perspective is consistent with the new Latin American trends about the potential of reading in the university as a factor of union and reflection, due to the fact that the constant increase in electronic technology and digital information resources gives rise to the society of the information and then to that of knowledge, and with this new reading modalities are incorporated (Ramírez, 2021).

In accordance with what was expressed by Alvarez, Breijo and González (2020) about the fact that academic excellence "integrates the quality of human resources, in particular, of the faculty and students" (p. 380), the need to deepen in the work with the student, in the role that it is called to play as a promoter of reading; It allows a greater exaltation of the universities and gives primary educational value to the institutions that privilege it. It is a painful transit, marked by a world-class crisis, but dialectical in the end, it is heading towards higher stages.

The intense work carried out from the reading institutions by the university actors who work in them, as the trainers that they are, favors a flow of continuous communication of knowledge between the university and society, to provide a solution, from science, to an epidemic that has already claimed too many lives. University students, as reading promoters, have to work and contribute, in order to promote knowledge in the face of the current crisis and strengthen ties with other social actors, who need and can solve these problems. They must project new ways of approaching reading from the promotion, which is a commitment, depending on the fact that, from this critical period, they are able to come out stronger.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES

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Conflict of interests:

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

 

Authors' contribution:

The authors have participated in the writing of the work and analysis of the documents.

 


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