Schools as Learning Orgs LO17444

Howard Jacobs (hjacobs@gte.net)
Tue, 17 Mar 1998 06:40:17 -0800

Replying to LO17424 --

>I have not seen a lot of material on schools as learning organizations.
>There has been considerable discussion on "Quality" in schools. One
>author/consultant who seems to bridge the "Quality"/LO gap to some extent,
>and has worked with many school districts:

John:

There is not a great deal of discussion of schools as learning
organizations. What I have found is largely theoretical. I think this is
to be expected. The current "mood" in public education is still top down
with the attitude that "if we do a better job of testing, student
performance will increase." I recently heard someone say that this
parallels the strategy that the best way to lose weight is to stand on the
scale!

I am not against assessment -- it plays a vital role in improving
performance when used to provide learners with information. It does not
make a whole lot of sense to me. But as long as we are only looking for
short-term fixes...

In any event, the following lists some articles that I recently found. I
am sure there are others.

Betts, F. (1992). How systems thinking applies to education. Educational
Leadership. (50)3. 38 - 41.

Buell, N. (1992). Building a shared vision -- the principal's Leadership
Challenge. NASSP Bulletin, 76(542). 88 - 92.

Conzemius, A. & Conzemius, W. (1996). Transforming schools into learning
organizations. Adult Learning, 7(4). 23 - 25.

Fullan, M. (1995). The school as learning organization: Distant dreams.
Theory into Practice, 34(4). 230 - 235.

Gunter, H. (1996). Appraisal and the school as a learning organization.
School Organisation, 16(1). 89 - 100.

Isaacson, N. & Bamburg, J. (1992). Can schools become learning
organizations? Educational Leadership, (50)3. 42 - 44.

O'Neill, J. (1995). On schools as learning organizations: A conversation
with Peter Senge. Educational Leadership, 52(7). 20 - 23.

Shields, C. & Newton, E. (1994). Empowered leadership: Realizing the good
news. Journal of school Leadership, 4(2). 171 - 196.

--Howard Jacobs
hjacobs@gte.net

Howard Jacobs
Mill Creek, WA
E-Mail: hjacobs@gte.net

"We live in our imaginations, settings more symbolic than concrete."

-- 

Howard Jacobs <hjacobs@gte.net>

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