> I work in a large school district that is exploring the possibilities of the
> applying the principles of a learning organization to our system. We too
> asked ourselves (and others) how do we begin to see ourselves as a learning
> organization. Although we are aware that this journey is still in its
> infintile stage, we are making some progress.
We began by introducing the concept of dialogue to senior leadership.
Sitting in circles and working on leaning the skills necessary to dialogue
was a key to sarting the ripple effect necessary for deep questioning. We
believe that until we suspend our assumptions we are not capable of
dealing with a systemic view of our district. Each of us carries with us a
view of the organization that needs to be expanded by the collective
thoughts of our members. The use of dialogue has grown to include Board
members, teachers, parents and students. Individual schools have begun to
use dialogue sessions as part of their school improvement planning. Our
Superintendent hosts dialogue sessions at his home that have asked
questions that allowed us to dig deep into our beliefs about learning and
instruction; why school districts exist; can communities become learning
organizations? Each time that we engage in a session new possibilities
emerge.
We have also focused administrative meetings on learning as opposed to
task assignments, reporting and reacting. We try to deal with these issues
by request only. For example, a principal or school improvement team
member can call colleagues to pose the "problem" to a group. The group
does not offer a solution. They ask questions that lead the principal to
his/her own solution.
We have developed a listserv similar to this one that is used by the
leadership to keep an electronic dialogue going on school improvement
thoughts and systems thinking. The intent is to allow all of us to see,
define, and question the relationships that occur within the system.
The transformation is slow, but learning sometimes takes time.
--wthay@chicago.avenew.com (walter t hay)
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>