Keywords
educational leadership
participatory planning
work-system planning
community engagement
institutional self-regulation
How to Cite
Abstract
Institutional planning in youth and adult education is a strategic process for connecting educational leadership, community engagement and school improvement. However, in many school contexts, planning may become fragmented, top-down and weakly connected to the diagnosis of the educational community. This study aimed to design, implement and evaluate a participatory action system intended to improve work-system planning in a youth and adult education institution in the municipality of Amancio, Cuba. The research followed a mixed-methods approach with a design-based intervention orientation, supported by modelling, theoretical systematisation, observation, interviews, surveys, documentary analysis and lived pedagogical experience. The participants included 12 educational leaders selected through purposive sampling, together with socio-educational actors from the school, family and community contexts. The intervention was organised around theoretical-practical and practical-transformative actions focused on educational leadership, participatory planning, networking, the use of digital tools and artificial intelligence, objective and indicator formulation, and institutional evaluation. The findings indicate that the action system supported more contextualised, collaborative and evidence-informed planning practices, while strengthening the involvement of community actors in diagnosis, decision-making and feedback processes. Nevertheless, challenges remained regarding technological resources, scheduling, connectivity and the sustained participation of all actors. The study contributes a situated model of participatory planning for youth and adult education institutions, with potential transferability to educational contexts seeking to strengthen leadership, community co-responsibility and institutional self-regulation.
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