Can a School Organization be Transformed into a Learning Organization?

Abstract

Organizations that have transformed into Learning Organizations have a strong tendency to focus upon continuous improvement and have the ability to cope with major change more successfully and effectively. The concept of the Learning Organization is not confined to a particular type, size, and form of organization, and also includes school organizations. Empirical and anecdotal evidence suggests that little research on school organization as Learning Organizations has been conducted and documented. It has been shown that there is currently no Taiwanese school organization at any level that claims to have become a genuine Learning Organization. This research paper presents an analysis of selected Learning Organization methodologies that are deemed to be effective in assisting in the process of transforming a school organization into a Learning Organization – business process reengineering (BPR), dialogue, scenario analysis, and learning histories. It also reviews various Learning Organization improvement models and models of educational cultural change and learning. The paper proposes a blueprint to transform school organizations into Learning Organizations – the “Learning Organization model for school organizations”.