I am currently facilitating a study of organizational learning/development
principles for an EDD cohort group at St. Marys University in Minnesota.
This is a Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership with an educational
technology emphasis.The program is jointly devloped and sponsored by St.
Marys University and Technology and Information Educational Services. The
purpose of the program is to provide the foundation knowledge and skills
to lead, manage, and participate in organizations of the 21st century
whose success is dependent on the effective use of technologies to achieve
their mission. It combines education, leadership, technology, and
curriculum into an integrated package of learning. This is a a two year
program of study .There are 22 individuals in the cohort. The program
began in September. My role as facilitator represents the second "module"
of study for the cohort.
During my work with the cohort we want to use the cohort model as a
"frame" to focus our examination of organizational development and
learning. This represents an experiential approach as we want to use our
"system" to investigate organizational/systems development and change
dynamics. We are currently examining how we might best organize this two
year endeavor in order to insure significant individual learning,
significant group learning, significant contributions to the field, and
how we might refine the model to be most effective for future groups. The
initial structure as laid out by the organizing institutions is being
thoughtfully challenged by the cohort members as we look at the principles
of mission and vision.
My inquiry is this: Does anyone have experience with the creation and
development of doctoral cohort learning groups? What are the guidelines
for the creation and maintenance of an effective cohort group? What are
the dangers and pitfalls of such an organizational model? Does it make
sense to use the cohort itself as a study in organizational change and
development? What thoughts, feelings, and intuitions can anyone offer? Any
thoughts, clues, guesses, ect. will be greatly appreciated and a source of
discussion and reflection!!
This is an exciting endeavor involving talented, committed, energetic
professionals who want to develop a very meaningful model of study for
themselves and others to follow.
Many thanks in advance for your time, thought, and consideration!!
Sincerely,
Dr. Bob Vander Wilt
Professor, Department of Educational Leadership
--Robert Vanderwilt robert.vanderwilt@Mankato.MSUS.EDU
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>