Schools as learning organisations LO19089

braunc (cbraun@v-wave.com)
Sat, 05 Sep 1998 10:23:11 -0600

Replying to LO19083 --

Brian,

I worked in Zimbabwe lecturing in Mechanical Engineering during the years
1983-85, and had the opportunity to tour many schools at that time. Thus
I have some understanding of the region and the kinds of problems with
which you are faced. In addition, about one fourth of my research in the
last ten years on the learning community has been dedicated to studying
the application of learning community principles to schools. Most of the
literature to be found on this topic is located under the title "school
change". Many initiatives for change in schools did not start out as
learning community wannabes. They sought to make education work better
for learners and arrived at similar conclusions to those of business,
industry and others with respect to what was needed in the way of change
and what had to be done to meet the needs for effective transformation.
More recently some excellent resources on the learning community have been
published as well. There are at least eight models for change in schools
that have resulted in remarkable outcomes. What is striking is the
similarities in the approach taken by the people involved. My masters
thesis in part was an effort to establish what some of the key applied
concepts are that various sectors including schools have used to achieve
significant transformation. I believe that these applied concepts are
generic, that is, if applied within their respective contexts inclusive of
cultural meaning systems considerations, they can be helpful to any group.
The phrase "applied concepts" infers skills are needed to put them into
effect. Here again, considerable agreement seems to be in evidence across
various sectors as to what some of those skills are. The five disciplines
point the way to such skills as deep listening, questioning, dialogue etc.
If you wish, I can e-mail you separately and provide a list of resources
to you.

Cheers, Conrad.

Brian O' Connell wrote:

> I am attracted to the idea that schools should be assisted to become
> learning organisations, capable of self directed activity in the interest
> of the nation. I have found very little literature on schools as learning
> organisations, and I am looking for help and guidance.

-- 

braunc <cbraun@v-wave.com>

Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>