Directions

THE LEARNING ORGANISATION: PROMISE AND POTENTIAL
Narottam Bhindi
Introduction
The current educational scene in the South Pacific is a bee-hive of activity;
expansion of primary and secondary education, teacher upgrading, curricula
reforms, infrastructure improvements, and extension of access to educational
opportunity. If this groundswell of modernisation is to be sustained, then
greater attention will have to be given to the quality and management of our
educational organisations. The earlier tradition which has tended to
characterise our educational management must give way to more imaginative
and innovative practices.
Interestingly, there is recognition by some South Pacific educational
administrators of the need to appraise and adapt newer and more promising
management concepts to improve the quality and outcomes of their
organisations. For example, recently Naiyaga (1994) probed the
appropriateness of Total Quality Management (TQM) for raising the quality of
Fijian secondary schools; Tabua (1994) made a convincing case for staff
development based on the principles of Human Resources Development, while
Neilson (1995) advocated the integration of holism to make the Solomon
Islands education system more relevant to local needs. I believe that more
South Pacific educators should be exposed to such recent management
concepts, being state-of-the-art research and writings of successful
educational practitioners. I believe that this exposure is crucial in their quest
for modernisation, and for extending their managerial horizons.
Several movements have influenced educational administrators in recent
years, with varying degrees of success: corporate managerialism,
effectiveness and excellence, TQM and Quality Assurance (see for example,
Davies and Ellison 1992, McIllhatton et al 1993, Sallis 1990, Conway and
Yorke 1991, Cuttance 1994), and leadership as cultural activity. One such
organisation in Australia and the USA is The Learning Organisation. In this
article, I will analyse the concept of the Learning Organisation and its
emergence as a powerful metaphor for capacity building, consider its
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potential benefit for educational organisations, identify challenges inherent in
enacting a learning organisation culture and make a case for its adoption in
the South Pacific.
The Learning Organisation: Definition and Characteristics
The learning organisation has been variously described as the learning
community (Murphy 1995), community of commitment (Senge and Kofman
1993), and the learning company (Pedler et al 1991). According to Senge
(1990):
In the learning organisation...people continually expand
their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where
new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where
collective aspiration is set free and where people are
continually learning how to learn together.
Pedler et al (1991) suggest that:
The learning company is...a place that encourages
everyone who works in it or who has contact with it to
learn. It has the 'learning habit' so that action taken for
reason of production, marketing, problem solving or
customer service also yields a harvest of reflection,
insights and new issues for action,
(emphasis mine)
Similar sentiments are expressed by Capper et al (1994):
A learning organisation is one skilled at creating, acquiring,
and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behaviour
to reflect new knowledge and insights.
Donegan (1990) describes the characteristics of the learning organisation as:
Recognition that organisations must adapt to a
future of constant change.

Acceptance of the key role of people in this
process of adaptation.
Facilitation of the learning and personal
development of all people in the organisation
through a truly empowering culture.
The use of combined energy, creativity and
commitment generated among employees by this
developmental climate to fuel an ongoing process
of organisational transformation, (emphasis mine)
When analysed carefully, it is apparent that the learning organisation is
characterised by:
a culture of continuous improvement
support and tolerance of risk taking
people-oriented, facilitative leadership.
In such organisations:
learning is a habit
individual and organisational capacity are
continually built up
collaborative learning and interdependence are
recognised and encouraged
there is constant effort to improve, correct and
excel and
reflection-in-action becomes a part of the culture.
The enactment of this philosophy of renewal and improvement is considerably
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enhanced by the quality of leadership, understanding, mutual respect, support
and enthusiasm of the followers, and action based on appraisal, feedback and
collaborative learning.
Among the major reasons for its resurgence and its growing popularity are
the turbulent environment of most organisations; a deep desire to transcend
the status quo; growing demand for individual organisational accountability;
and the impelling recognition that the future viability of organisations would
depend upon their competitive edge.
Its Attractiveness To Educational Organisations
The foregoing imperatives equally apply to educational organisations that
experience "more of the same approach," constant demand on them to make
their contribution in developing the "clever country" (Porter et al 1990) and
to enact an enterprising national culture to secure a competitive edge over
other nations (The Karpin Report 1995). Also, given the central role of
learning and teaching, it is natural and appropriate that educational
organisations would gravitate towards the concept of the learning community
(see for example Hill et al 1995). It has found strong favour in the NSW
Department of Education, NSE TAFE Commission, and among educational
administrators, policy makers, and practitioners and teachers throughout
Australia and abroad. The most apparent benefits of the Learning
Organisation are its basis as a platform for staff capacity building,
transformation of educational leadership as stewardship and reformation of
management structures and processes for quality outcomes.
Challenges Inherent in Enacting a Learning Culture in Schools
While all organisations are learning organisations in varying degrees, I
foresee certain challenges in enacting a deliberate, effective learning culture.
These challenges include ignorant enthusiasm of converts, poor understanding
about the nature and purpose of capacity building through perpetual learning,
inadequate resources; variable commitment of the leadership and key staff;
and entrenched values and practices which could make collaborative learning
difficult.
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I will now dwell on more specific challenges which schools are likely to
encounter when enacting a learning organisational culture.
Challenge 1: The Reality
While the rhetoric of the Learning Organisation emphasises collaborative
learning,
the existing structure is ingrained in and still rewards individualism.
In such competitive environments, self preservation and individual agenda
rather than sharing and cooperation would tend to predominate. We must
therefore find ways of encouraging and rewarding cooperative learning.
Challenge 2: The Mind Set
People tend to see work and learning as separate forums where our
workplace (e.g. the school) is for working and our learning and development
take place elsewhere. Learning at work would therefore require a shift in this
traditional, dichotomous thinking. Furthermore, entrapped by the corporate
managerialist paradigm, it seems that many teachers and school
administrators are obsessed with outcomes and products. Often, I have
observed a disturbing impatience concerning team work and the learning
opportunities which collaborative processes can provide. If an authentic
learning culture is to prevail, we have to relearn how to learn together.
Challenge 3: Fragmented Development
Notwithstanding the value of any learning opportunity, ad hoc capacity
building is generally ineffectual and cannot sustain genuine learning or result
in long-term development and improvement. Also such efforts do not really
inspire staff commitment or confidence. Nor do they motivate the
management to provide the commitment for resource back-up necessary to
support meaningful learning-development initiatives.
Challenge 4: Stewardship, Mentoring and Nurturing
In their quest for continuous learning and development, staff need
stewardship, mentoring, coaching and nurturing (see Block 1993). However,
how many of us have the time, inclination or the skills to provide this kind of
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leadership? Furthermore, some of us are constrained by our lack of
knowledge and understanding of how adults learn.
Some Strategies for Establishing a Learning Culture in Schools
Many useful models are available for enacting learning cultures (Garvin
1993, Kline and Saunders 1993, Duignan 1994, Weick and Leon 1993), and
inspiring leadership practice (Block 1993). For the school context, however,
I recommend the following strategies that are outlined in Figure 1.

Strategy 1: Formulate a Learning-Development Philosophy/Platform
Very few schools have any identifiable philosophy/platform underpinning
their individual-organisational development efforts. In the face of the
growing complexity of our educational environment (Porter et al 1992,
McCulla 1995), the expanding scientific and knowledge revolution, the
increasing technological advancement and customer sophistication, the need
for competent and knowledgeable teachers and administrators is beyond
question. Although the Learning Organisation in such a context provides a
powerful metaphor and justification for continuous learning and capacity
building, leadership action and practice must be based on a
philosophy/platform of values which will guide and support it.
Strategy 2: Infuse Learning as a Habit, Way of Life
It is the function and challenge of leadership to ensure that the values
enshrined in the Learning-Development Platform are transformed into habits
and "way of life" in the school. Unless the values are lived and modelled,
they remain platitudes and a source of growing cynicism.
Strategy 3: Leadership, Management Structure and Processes
The leadership through their actions and commitment inspire and sustain
learning-development efforts. Although our entrenched values are slow to
unlearn and change (Bhindi 1995), positive learning action habits can be
inculcated through the encouragement of authentic leadership (Duignan &
Bhindi, forthcoming), responsive school structure (Eller 1994, Murphy) and
supportive innovative processes (e.g. action learning TAFE 1993), work-
based teams (Carter and Gribble 1991, TAFE 1994), differentiated
supervision (Walker 1990) and resource back-up.
Strategy 4: Performance Appraisal, Feedback and Renewal
A major plank of any successful learning-development-renewal cycle would
have to be reliable data and feedback on performance, achievement and
potential for further organisational and individual growth. This calls for a
more enlightened view of appraisal. This also explains the recent concern
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and search for alternative and supportive ways of appraising staff and
organisational performance (see for example: Unicorn June 1995, Principal
Matters July 1994). There is now an implied expectation and understanding
that appraisal would not be "head-hunting", "blame-pointing" or ritualistic
fetish; it would form the ongoing basis of renewing and improving individual
and organisational learning. Towards this effort and expectation, the question
is - "Will the real grandmother reincarnate or will the big bad wolf lunge at
Little Red Riding Hood?"
Implications for the South Pacific
My first-hand experience of the South Pacific region over the past decade
convinces me of the potential benefit of "converting" our educational
organisations into learning organisations. I believe that such a conversion
would add dynamism to the otherwise conservative management approach
prevalent in many of our educational organisations. Such a movement would
ensure that the individual and organisational growth would follow well-
charted pathways based on relevant needs, reliable performance feedback,
and a continuous cycle of learning, improvement and development.
Unfortunately, despite good intentions, much of this growth has been either
ad hoc, sporadic, or driven by the enthusiasm of a few helpful aid agencies,
visionary leaders and practitioners, or by the salespersonship of local or
external consultants.
The popularisation and successful implementation of the concept of the
learning organisation in the South Pacific would require powerful sponsors
and attitudinal changes at the Ministry level. It would also require
acceptance and integration of the concept of perpetual learning and growth at
the institutional level, and regular review of the content and assumptions of
educational management programmes offered by our training agencies in the
region.
In the South Pacific context, the learning organisation could be used as a
framework for planning more effective in-service education. At the
institutional level, it could instil a more systematic approach to staff
development and provide strong motivation to individuals to make a greater
commitment to their own growth and advancement.
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Finally, a word of caution is appropriate. Every society, those of the South
Pacific included, has its own threshold of conservatism, inertia and change.
There are values which are persistent and have stood the test of time, while
others are open to influence and change. What to change and what to retain
is a judgement best made by the local people themselves. Educational
administrators in the South Pacific will have to decide what particular values
should drive their Learning Organisations. In doing so, they will have to
bear in mind the cultural appropriateness, timing and pace of their
implementation process.
Conclusion
In this paper I have discussed the concept, characteristics and the emergence
of the Learning Organisation and its attractiveness to the educational setting.
I have suggested that the Learning Organisation, if creatively enacted, can
assist schools in their capacity-building efforts. I have identified certain
challenges inherent in enacting a learning culture at the school level and then
made suggestions about how it might be implemented successfully. Finally, I
have made a case for the adoption of the concept of the Learning
Organisation with a view to improving the quality and management of
educational organisations in the South Pacific.
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