Curriculum for professional training of tourism specialists in Mexico: socio-critical perspective

Abstract

This paper covers the main aspects of institutional theory considered as the basis of the curriculum for the professional training of tourism specialists in the context of socio-critical paradigm in Mexico. It was found out that the socio-critical paradigm involves the analysis of the education phenomenon in the following three perspectives: critical, hermeneutic and interdisciplinary. Interdisciplinarity is understood as the process of interaction between different scientific disciplines when considering a particular scientific issue. Each discipline enriches the process with its own conceptual schemes, problem-solving forms and research methods. Thus, the phenomenon of education is closely connected with the theoretical discourse and conceptual directions that study the problems of education. In the case of the curricular construction of professional education of tourism specialists, an interdisciplinary perspective involves the application of curricular and institutional theories, as well as theory of culture and discourse. The basic concepts of institutional theory should be taken into consideration in the process of the development of a vocational education curriculum, since learning that underlies the curriculum is the result of interactions between institutional pedagogical processes. The authors also found out that the productive activities of educational institutions are influenced by the following elements: training material, staff involved, energy, tactics and strategy. When developing the curriculum for the professional training of tourism specialists, it is important to pay attention to the following: the analysis of the tasks that will be established for a professional educational institution; the characteristics of the staff (teachers, administration, technical staff, etc.) that will work; the material resources needed to organise the educational process; an organisational strategy that will be used to fulfill certain educational, administrative and other tasks, etc. Institutional analysis should be applied to achieve these goals. The institutional analysis of educational establishments and educational process is a new direction for the critical consideration of the professional education of tourism specialists. This method is used because pedagogical, methodical, didactical, psychological and other studies in the sphere of vocational education do not provide positive changes in full. So, it is very important to consider academic knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as extra nonacademic knowledge.