Can Schools be Learning Organisations? June 2, 2008
Posted by Bill in : A Curriculum for Excellence, Learning Organisations , trackback
I have been working on the data from the responses to my on-line questionnaire for my MSc, it’s starting to feel like I may finish this incredible learning journey soon. The questionnaire was selected from examining several diagnostic tools used in the field of Organisational Learning. I am learning so much from the reading and research. There is a lot of critical writing on whether schools and educational establishments are capable of achieving the LO ideal. So seeing the data coming back (over a hundred responses so far - thanks to all!) has been fascinating. The data is starting to build a Learning Organisation Profile and Dissatisfaction Index of the sampled EL educational establishments. I will be evaluating this data and its potential to support management development courses. As part of a literature review I read this article yesterday, and although I have reviewed already writings on what a LO is I like this interpretation of the essential features of a LO described by Gephart et al [(1996) p 38, Training and Development]
- “Continuous learning at the systems level - Individuals share there learning in ways that enable an organisation to learn by transferring knowledge across it and by integrating learning into routines
- Knowledge generation and sharing. emphasis is placed on creating, capturing and moving knowledge rapidly and easily..
- Critical systemic thinking. people are encouraged to think in new ways and use productive reasoning skills, systemically in order to see links and feedback loops and critically, in order to identify assumptions.
- A culture of learning. Learning and creativity are rewarded, supported and promoted through various performance systems from the top down
- A spirit of flexibility and experimentation. People are free to take risks, experiment, innovate, explore new ideas , and generate new work processes and products.
- People-centered. a learning organisation provides a caring community that nurtures, values and supports the well being, development and learning of every individual”
This is of course only one interpretation of the LO. Do our East Lothian Educational Establishments have these essential features?
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