Individualism and collectivism

The area of teachers' continuing professional development (CPD) is of growing interest internationally. However, while an increasing range of literature focuses on particular aspects of CPD, there is a paucity of literature addressing the spectrum of CPD models in a comparative manner. This article therefore considers a wide range of international literature, together with some specific examples from the Scottish context, in proposing a framework built around key characteristics of individual models of CPD. The framework identifies nine key models, which are then classified in relation to their capacity for supporting professional autonomy and transformative practice. The article considers the circumstances in which each of the nine models of CPD might be adopted, and explores the form(s) of knowledge that can be developed through any particular model. It also examines the power relationships inherent in the individual models and explores the extent to which CPD is perceived and promoted either a...

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Models of Continuing Professional Development: a framework for analysis

Instructional coach initiatives aimed at teachers’ professional development are expanding in reforming school districts across the United States. This study addresses the lack of research regarding the professional development of instructional coaches. Drawing on sociocultural learning theory, specifically a model called the Vygotsky Space, the authors use a case approach to examine the learning experiences of a single secondary literacy coach. Hypotheses suggest that (a) coaches are not unproblematic conduits of reform ideas but are also learners of new content and pedagogy; (b) as coaches’ conceptual development about instruction grows, their ability to coach also matures; and (c) professional development that supports coaches is best aligned around a workplace pedagogy that addresses the learning needs of multiple system actors.

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Instructional Coaching: Building Theory About the Role and Organizational Support for Professional Learning

Purpose – Fundamentally, the success of schools depends on first-rate school leadership, on leaders reinforcing the teachers’ willingness to adhere to the school’s vision, creating a sense of purpose, binding them together and encouraging them to engage in continuous learning. Leadership, vision and organizational learning are considered to be the key to school improvement. However, systematic empirical evidence of a direct relationship between leadership, vision and organizational learning is limited. The present study aims to explore the influence of principals’ leadership style on school organizational learning, using school vision as a mediator. Design/methodology/approach – The data were collected from 1,474 teachers at 104 elementary schools in northern Israel, and aggregated to the school level. Findings – Mediating regression analysis demonstrated that the school vision was a significant predictor of school organizational learning and functioned as a partial mediator only between principals’ transformational leadership style and school organizational learning. Moreover, the principals’ transformational leadership style predicted school organizational vision and school organizational learning processes. In other words, school vision, as shaped by the principal and the staff, is a powerful motivator of the process of organizational learning in school. Research implications/limitations – The research results have implications for the guidance of leadership practice, training, appraisal and professional development. Originality/value – The paper explores the centrality of school vision and its effects on the achievement of the school’s aims by means of organizational learning processes.

Leadership Style and Organizational Learning: The Mediate Effect of School Vision.

The concept of organisational learning has been widely debated and frequently contested by educationalists, but the specific processes and actions which constitute this form of learning have received relatively little research attention. This paper reports a three‐year empirical investigation into organisational learning in a large industrial complex, with the aim of clarifying the practices of organisational learning and interpreting them within sociocultural learning theory. A sociocultural model is proposed which identifies dialogue as the fundamental process by which organisations learn, and relational practices as the social structure which embeds the dialogue and makes it sustainable in a potentially conflictual environment. Three relational practices are analysed in detail: opening space for the creation of shared meaning, reconstituting power relationships and providing cultural tools to mediate learning. A pedagogy of organisational learning is defined in terms of participation in these practices...

A sociocultural analysis of organisational learning

Contemporary work-related education and training policy represents occupational competence as the outcome of individual performance at work. This paper presents a critique of this neo-liberal assumption, arguing that in many cases competence should be regarded as an attribute of groups, teams and communities. It proposes a theory of collective competence in terms of (1) making collective sense of events in the workplace, (2) developing and using a collective knowledge base and (3) developing a sense of interdependency. It suggests that the language of competence would become a more effective tool for understanding performance at work if the collectivistic sense of the term ‘competence’ were used in conjunction with the more established individualistic sense.

A theory of collective competence: challenging the neo-liberal individualisation of performance at work

This study examined the effects of organisational learning initiatives on employee motivation. Four initiatives consistent with theories of organisational learning were a priori ranked in terms of concepts that underpin intrinsic‐motivation theory. Eighteen employees in a UK petrochemical company were interviewed to ascertain their experiences of these new working initiatives and the frequency of these experiences were categorised in terms of positive, neutral or negative motivational satisfaction. It was hypothesised that employees would make significantly more positive statements relative to neutral or negative ones; this hypothesis was supported. It was also hypothesised that the a priori ranking would significantly correspond with the actual ranking of positive and negative statements. This hypothesis was supported for the positive statements but not the negative statements. It was also hypothesised that employees would make significantly more statements about autonomy than competence. This hypothesis...

Organisational learning and employees' intrinsic motivation

The term ‘work process knowledge’ refers to the knowledge needed for working in flexible and innovative business environments, including those in which information and communication technologies have been introduced to integrate previously separated production functions. It involves a systems‐level understanding of the work process in the organization as a whole, enabling employees to understand how their own actions interconnect with actions being taken elsewhere in the system. Work process knowledge is ‘active’ knowledge that is used directly in the performance of work, and is typically constructed by employees when they are solving problems in the workplace. It is more than simple know‐how because constructing it involves synthesizing know‐how with theoretical understanding. The paper outlines principles for constructing a work‐based curriculum when work process knowledge is a desired outcome. These are illustrated by a case study of a vocational curriculum currently being adopted by a leading volume c...

Orienting the work‐based curriculum towards work process knowledge: a rationale and a German case study

It is frequently asserted that schools and local authorities should become ‘learning organisations’ as a pre‐condition for school improvement, but there is very little evidence about the specific processes and activities involved in such a transformation. This paper analyses the initial stages of the implementation by a Scottish local authority Education Department of an organisational learning strategy, whose ultimate purpose was to improve pupils’ attainment and achievement by developing the Authority’s collective capacity to learn new ways of meeting their needs. The analysis focuses on some of the processes that, despite a huge literature on the subject of organisational learning and change, have hitherto remained somewhat mysterious. Adopting an analytical framework derived from activity and actor network theory, we explore empirical evidence of the key stages in ‘vision building’, showing how sense‐making was structured and highlighting the processes and activities which constituted the initial stag...

Nicholas Boreham

Papers

A theory of collective competence: challenging the neo-liberal individualisation of performance at work

A sociocultural analysis of organisational learning

Organisational learning and employees' intrinsic motivation

Orienting the work‐based curriculum towards work process knowledge: a rationale and a German case study

What's in a vision? Introducing an organisational learning strategy in a local authority's education service