FROM MANAGEMENT TO TEACHING: METAPHORS OF TRANSITION DISCOURSE

Abstract

Globalizations, changing technology and competition between organizations have changed the world nowadays. Organizations have undergone changes in their production relations as a response to market demands and, therefore, new performance and competence standards from their professionals have been necessary. The strong pressure for positive results has led organizations professionals to analyze their own career and to migrate to higher education institutions. This study aims to investigate the discourse characteristics presented by twenty-two managers who migrated from organizations to educational institutions. It studies how their discourse relates to the new environment and to its demands of new capacities. The research also investigates the self-image that the informants have developed in their transition process in those new environments. The French Discourse Analysis Theory was used to analyze the interviews that were made. The following conclusions have been pointed out: professionals build up a positive image of themselves and that of teaching activities; they build up a negative opinion of education institutions (an unreal world) as opposed to a positive and reliable image of organizations(the real world). Finally, evidence indicates that high levels of stress for positive results and a permanent demand to improve their capabilities lead competent professionals to career transitions.