school as a learning organization essay

Make Your School a Learning Organization

A Supportive Learning Environment

Concrete learning processes and practices, leadership that reinforces learning.

Argyris, C., and Schön, D. (1978). Organizational learning: A theory of action perspective . Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Garvin, D. A., Edmondson, A. C., & Gino, F. (2008, March). Is yours a learning organization? Brighton, MA.: Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2008/03/is-yours-a-learning-organization

Reich, J., & Mehta, J. (2020, July 3). "Imagining September: Principles and design elements for ambitious schools during COVID-19." EdArXiv. Retrieved from https://edarxiv.org/gqa2w/

Zachary Herrmann is a member of the professional faculty and the executive director of the Penn Graduate School of Education Center for Professional Learning.

ASCD is a community dedicated to educators' professional growth and well-being.

Let us help you put your vision into action., related articles.

Giving Educators Permission to Feel

Let’s Be Trauma-Sensitive to Teachers, Too

Tell Us About

The Power of “Habits of Mind” to Increase Emotional Awareness

EI: A Bedrock of Thriving Schools

The school as a learning organisation: a review revisiting and extending a timely concept

• January 2017
• Journal of Professional Capital and Community 2(1):2-17

• University College London

• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Discover the world's research

• 25+ million members
• 160+ million publication pages
• 2.3+ billion citations

No full-text available

To read the full-text of this research, you can request a copy directly from the authors.

• C.J.M. Suhre
• Klaas van Veen

• Oskars Kaulēns

• Tineke Sumual
• Shelty D.M. Sumual
• Sri Setyaningsih
• Herman Koessoy
• Diāna Līduma
• Χριστίνα Νομικού

• Gloria A. Koh

• Raúl Rojas Apaza
• René Paz Paredes
• Roberto Arpi
• Efrain Chura-Zea
• Hamid Rahimi

• Mahsa Heidarzadeh
• Alma Harris

• Michelle Suzette Jones
• Angella Cooze

• Nikolaos Alexopoulos
• Haralampos Dimas
• Muhammad Mansoor Asghar
• Muhammad Zia-Ur-Rehman

• Mansoorasghar@yahoo Com

• Learn Organ

• Rosemary Mbogo Murugi

• Yüksek Lisans
• Tezi Eğitim Bilimleri
• Ana Bilim Dalı

• Int J Educ Manag

• Elsa Kristiansen

• Susannah Wilson

• Cadernos Pesquisa
• Álvaro González
• Jonathan Santana Valenzuela
• Susan Lovett
• Kerry Elliott

• Eimear Holland
• Bernadette Ní Áingléis

• Aubrey Statti

• Gary L. Bowen

• Leslie N. K. Lo

• Sch Leader Manag

• Silja Zarins
• Bill Mulford
• Mike Pedler

• LONG RANGE PLANN

• Amy C. Edmondson

• Rim Razzouk
• Kenneth Leithwood

• Rosanne Steinbach
• Andreas Schleicher
• Neil Douglas
• Terry Wykowski

• Christine Harris-Van Keuren
• A.S. Masten
• M.H. Labella

• Mei Kuin Lai

• Jacques Delors

• Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD

• C. Leadbeater

• Educ Res Rev

• Peter M. Senge

• Frances van Tassell
• J Surowiecki

• Stud Educ Eval
• Louisa Karbautzki

• MANAGE LEARN

• Piet Coppieters
• Michael Fielding

• Corrie Giles

• Educ Manag Admin Leader
• Gordon Whitehead

• James G. March
• Hum Resource Dev Q
• Baiyin Yang

• Recruit researchers
• Join for free
• Login Email Tip: Most researchers use their institutional email address as their ResearchGate login Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Log in or Continue with Google Welcome back! Please log in. Email · Hint Tip: Most researchers use their institutional email address as their ResearchGate login Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Log in or Continue with Google No account? Sign up

To read this content please select one of the options below:

Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, the school as a learning organisation: a review revisiting and extending a timely concept.

Journal of Professional Capital and Community

ISSN : 2056-9548

Article publication date: 16 January 2017

Schools today have to prepare students for life and work in a fast-changing world, for jobs and for using technologies some of which have not yet been created. But the schools and school systems are not keeping up and all too often, teachers are not developing the practices and skills required to meet today’s learners’ diverse needs. Changes indicate a greater imperative but also some cautions. This review is part of the attempt to work towards a common understanding of schools as learning organisations (SLOs) today which is both solidly founded in the literature and recognisable currently by researchers, practitioners and policy makers in many countries. But this is not just a theoretical exercise. If it is to be truly relevant and have the necessary impact, the concept also needs to support those who are interested in transforming or further developing their school(s) into learning organisations (LO) at this point in time. In this paper, the authors first summarise different perspectives on the concept of the LO as used more generally across disciplines. Next, the authors describe the methodology for exploring the SLO and discuss definitional issues, before presenting a summary of the integrated model with accompanying rationale, Finally the authors discuss plans to bring the model to life, with associated issues for researchers, educators and policy makers. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The search for this literature in the English language was carried out through: focussed searches of nine electronic databases – ERIC, SAGE, Google Scholar, Taylor & Francis, Emerald, JSTOR, SpringerLink, Google, Science Direct – using the search terms “SLO” and “learning school”; and contacts with leading experts in this area of work which led to identification of additional literature. The first approach led to selection of 25 most frequently found publications on the SLO and/or learning school. Through the second approach, the authors used an additional seven publications to further enrich the analysis. The interdisciplinary review was extended to include investigation of related organisational change, learning, school improvement and effectiveness literatures.

The starting hypothesis is that the seven action-oriented dimensions of the model together add up to a sustainable LO; that is, successfully realising all seven dimensions is greater than the sum of the parts. But, it is not clear how the individual dimensions relate to each other, and whether some are more important than others. Elements within dimensions are also likely to vary across country contexts. Over the next few years the authors will explore and amend the model, together with practitioners, policy makers and researchers from around the globe.

Practical implications

Despite differences in interpretation, common features emerge. First, there is general agreement that the SLO is a necessity for dealing with the rapidly changing external environment by any school organisation, regardless of context. This is exemplified by application of the concept in many countries including, for example, Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Iran, Israel, Korea, Malaysia, South-Africa and the USA. Second, the SLO is defined as “organic” and closely connected to its external environment. Third, the SLO literature strongly emphasises the importance of individual, group and organisational learning with inquiry, problem solving and experimentation as key drivers of change and innovation. Last, the literature highlights the importance of beliefs, values and norms of employees for continuous and collaborative learning, and processes, strategies and structures to create the conditions for such learning, experimentation and innovation to flourish. The review led to the design of a new action-oriented model. In its current form, the model is intended to offer a stimulus and provide practical guidance on how schools might support and use learning at all levels to improve and transform themselves into a LO and ultimately enhance outcomes. The language is deliberately action-oriented, and elements highlight both what a school aspires to and the processes it goes through in its journey of developing itself as a LO.

Originality/value

While the concept of a school LO is not new, at a time of constant and complex change, this multi-disciplinary international literature review has given it a new lease of life: drawing on previous studies, but connecting these to a wider relevant knowledge base and the current context. It offers a way forward while arguing that deeper understanding is needed on how schools can develop as LOs. It is now informing the OECD’s work on SLOs with policy makers and practitioners in different countries and the findings are being used to help assess impact at a range of levels.

• Human capital
• Professional learning community
• Knowledge mobilization
• Professional community

Acknowledgements

The opinions expressed and arguments employed are those of the author Marco Kools and should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its member countries.

Stoll, L. and Kools, M. (2017), "The school as a learning organisation: a review revisiting and extending a timely concept", Journal of Professional Capital and Community , Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 2-17. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPCC-09-2016-0022

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles

All feedback is valuable.

Please share your general feedback

Report an issue or find answers to frequently asked questions

Contact Customer Support