Study-relevant organizational knowledge of an academic department

Analizuojant žinių vadybos ir edukologijos mokslinę literatūrą (Kundrotas, 1996; Bowden ir Marton, 1998; McArthur, 2002; Banks, Leach, Moon, 2005; Stanikūnienė, 2007; Jucevičienė ir Valuckienė, 2008; Houston, 2008; Jucevičienė ir Mozūriūnienė, 2009; Chong, Ho, 2009 ir kt.) pastebėta, jog studijų veiklai reikalingos žinios analizuojamos dėstytojo darbo ir jo kompetencijos aspektu, bet nekeliamas klausimas: kokių individualaus ir kolektyvinio lygmens žinių reikia, siekiant užtikrinti sėkmingą studijų veiklą? Šio straipsnio tikslas – pagrįsti universiteto katedros organizacines žinias studijų veiklai realizuoti. Siekiant šio tikslo analizuojamas katedros vaidmuo universiteto veiklos kontekste, pagrindžiama studijų veiklos struktūra, patikslinama organizacinių žinių samprata studijų veiklos aspektu, išryškinama studijų veiklos organizacinių žinių struktūra.The aim of this article is to provide rationale for study-relevant organizational knowledge of a university department. This aim has been sough drawing on different sources of research literature. The first part of the article analyses the role of an academic department in the context of university performance; in the second part, attempts have been made to define the structure of study-related activities. Studies are the most important activity of the contemporary university. They are realised at university departments (Houston, 2008; McArthur, 2002). Study realization is the main activity of teachers working for an academic department. Quality study activities involve not only constructing a study programme which is attractive for students and society. The way of realizing the study programme is of utmost importance; this requires comprehensive knowledge and a common understanding of realizing a study programme at an academic department. University teachers should have certain knowledge on study activities within a department for a systemic and quality work at an academic department. A clearly defined organizational knowledge of an academic department is required for this. Organizational knowledge comprises three levels of an organization (Juceviciene and Mozuriuniene, 2009): all formal knowledge explicit on the level of an organization (e.g., mission, vision, aims of an organization); explicit collective knowledge of departments and other formal groups; knowledge explicit on the individual level and acknowledged as important by an organization. Study-related activities of an academic department may be described on two levels: construction of a study programme – defining its aims, content, forms, methods and means; a study programme realized in the study process which consists of creating educational opportunities for students to acquire the content of the study programme. Study-relevant organizational knowledge is of three levels: an academic department as an organization, the smallest unit of the university; group of teachers involved in the realization of a particular study programme; a teacher who teaches a particular module/course. Study-relevant organizational knowledge of an academic department consists of: collective knowledge on the level of academic department: mission of study-related activities, philosophy and vision; collective knowledge of a group of teachers involved in the realisation of a study programme – knowledge of the study programme which involves a quite stable part (knowledge of a study programme as a document) and a changeable part (knowledge of realizing the study process). The collective knowledge of teachers involves the concept of educating a future professional, the type of the study programme, the educational paradigm of realizing the study programme, aim, objectives, structure of contents, form(-s), methods, means, system for evaluation of achievement, students’ characteristics, self-analysis and evaluation of the study programme and its results, improvement of the study programme. Individual knowledge of a teacher who teaches a particular course involves the application of the common educational paradigm for a specific course, the aim, objectives, content, form(-s), means of the module, students’ characteristics, assessment and evaluation of students’ achievement, self-analysis and evaluation of the course programme and its results, improvement of this programme. Some part of this knowledge (of the course programme), similarly to a study programme, tends to be more stable, whereas another part (knowledge of realising the study programme) tends to be more dynamic