Journeying towards an effective learning organisation

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Melbourne, 2000According to current educational literature, viewing the school community as a Learning Organisation is the ultimate vision for schools because it enables these communities to respond creatively and adaptively to changes in society. Providing a means by which communities can handle change is critical if communities are to be effective, because change is the major aspect of daily life in a school. Effective Learning Organisations display certain characteristics and operate in distinctive ways. In schools, teachers play a vital role in establishing and maintaining the culture of the community. So, from their viewpoint, where their personal and professional lives often dovetail, this means creating a culture where a balance is achieved between the teachers' PERSONAL and PROFESSIONAL needs and thus, the individual and organisational learning of the school. The purpose of this study was to investigate where on this journey towards an effective Learning Organisation did my own school community stand. To this end, an original survey was designed which was based on the Key Issues arising from the literature about systematic approaches to developing effective Learning Organisations. This was administered to the teachers of my school to investigate the perceptions they had of themselves at work, both personally and professionally. The findings from the survey indicated that overall, the staff were very committed to their work at the school and were positive and comfortable about PERSONAL aspects of their work. They were less positive about PROFESSIONAL issues relating to the systems operating both inside and beyond the school community, particularly about those issues concerning their relationships with the Administration. This imbalance of PERSONAL and PROFESSIONAL perceptions is the most important outcome of the study. Linking individual learning to organisational learning is a vital feature of developing a view of an effective Learning Organisation. It would seem then, that this area in particular is a critical one for this school to address on its journey towards a more effective Learning Organisation