John Dicus writes
"I would appreciate hearing the benefit of the thinking on this list
around the use of the word structure. Partly to hear your thoughts and
partly to help in developing different vocabulary (under the assumption
that it might be helpful)."
When talking about knowledge and learning, I think of "structure" as set
of commonly-held data, axioms, tenets and theorems upon which further
knowledge can be built. "Learning" is either building new knowledge upon
this "structure", or demolishing parts of the structure found to be
lacking and rebuilding it.
"Process" is the way people go about building knowledge or remodeling the
structure. For example, the Scientific Method is a disciplined, structure
remodeling and knowledge building process. TQC (Total Quality Control)
is another such learning process.
I think of organizational policies and politics as "culture". The culture
within which individuals or groups operate (including corporate, national,
religious, etc.) can certainly influence the knowledge structure and the
learning process, either positively or negatively. Sometimes the culture
even tries to dictate the knowledge structure, protecting it from the
remodeling process (fundamentalist religions, for example).
Best Regards,
Scott Elliott
scott_elliott@hotmail.com
--Scott Ellliott <scotte@sonic.net>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>