Learning organisations
A number of models of the learning organisation exist, mostly from the business world and the principles are easily transferrable to schools. Summarising the main ideas behind these, are seven dimensions as shown in the table below.
| Dimensions | Definition |
| Create continuous learning | Learning is designed into work so that people can learn on the job; opportunities are provided for ongoing education and growth. |
|
Promote inquiry and Dialogue |
People gain productive reasoning skills to express their views and the capacity to listen and inquire into the views of others; the culture is changed to support questioning, feedback, and experimentation. |
|
Encourage collaboration and team learning |
Work is designed to use groups to access different modes of thinking; groups are expected to learn together and work together; collaboration is valued by the culture and rewarded. |
| Create systems to capture and share learning | Both high- and low-technology systems to share learning are created and integrated with work; access is provided; systems are maintained. |
| Empower people toward a collective vision | People are involved in setting, owning, and implementing a joint vision; responsibility is distributed close to decision making so that people are motivated to learn toward what they are held accountable to do. |
|
Connect the organisation to its environment |
People are helped to see the effect of their work on the entire enterprise; people scan the environment and use information to adjust work practices; the organisation is linked to its communities. |
|
Provide strategic leadership for learning |
Leaders model, champion, and support learning; leadership uses learning strategically for business results. |
(Source: Marsick & Watkins, 2003)
Undoubtedly, the definitive book on learning organisations, The Fifth Discipline (1990) was written by Peter Senge and has sold over 750,000 copies globally. The five disciplines identified in it (personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning and systems thinking) are the keys to achieving this in any organisation, including schools.
- Systems thinking. This is understanding how everything works together and how all the parts influence one another to comprise the whole.
- Personal mastery. Individuals must learn for organisations to learn. Personal mastery of skills and knowledge is a journey. It is more than just building skills and competencies, involving a desire for knowledge and continual improvement.
- Mental models. Senge defined this as “deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations or even pictures and images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action.” To become a learning organisation, you must break through preconceptions and strive to learn from alternative points of view.
- Building shared vision. Vision is more than a statement, it is a shared future. When staff believe and see the vision, it can become reality. A shared vision creates synergies to work toward common goals.
- Team learning. Team learning begins when individual assumptions are abandoned and an organisation’s members begin to think together. This requires a culture of understanding and openness. The idea is for everyone to share what they know and build on the sum knowledge of the entire team. This simple step will rapidly produce results and better position to achieve its shared vision.
The learning organisation grows from a commitment to studying and mastering five "learning disciplines" (Senge, 1990). Each discipline must be mastered separately, but together they build the learning organisation.
References
Marsick, V. J. & Watkins, K. E. (2003). Demonstrating the value of an organization’s learning culture: The Dimensions of Learning Organizations Questionnaire. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 5, 132–151.
Senge, P.M. (1990) The Fifth Discipline: the Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation. New York: Doubleday
