Poder y discursos en la construcción social de las identidades docentes universitarias.

Abstract

This work describes the investigation process related to the connections between power, discourse and identity in the social construction of identities of lecturers and tutors at the Universidad de Guadalajara, México. The main hypothesis of this research are the following: the teaching identity is socially constructed; there is a strong link between discourse, power, identity and educational change; in the social construction of identities, the power relations between discourses play a fundamental role; there is no discourse that supports and directs teaching practices, but a power network between different discourses; knowing this network of discursive power connections is key to understand the institutional change. The first chapter offers several theoretical references about three constructs: power, identity and discourse. In the second section, the research methodology and delimitations of the investigation are presented in order to explain the methodological development in detail, the questions that arose, the steps that allowed us to advance, as well as some of the limitations we found. The third chapter is a more detailed description of the university institution where the research was conducted, to allow the reader the necessary elements for a deeper and contextual reading. The fourth chapter is dedicated to a descriptive analysis of all the discourses presented concerning the innovation process (PDC) intended by the Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud: DOE (External Official Discourse), DOII (Internal Established Official Discourse), DOIINST (Institutive Internal Official Discourse), DD (Teaching Discourse). This section is especially interesting because it explains the discursive elements that shape it, as well as the teaching profile they intend to establish. The fifth chapter presents the results of the interpretative analysis, in which it is clear that a discourse emerges from the teachers and it has a huge potential, however when it is misinterpreted as a form of resistance to change, it is not taken advantage of by the institution or by the teachers themselves. Finally, it is concluded that the university teaching identity is constructed precisely in the discursive power connections and that knowing this discursive power network is key to understanding the institutional change and teaching identity.