If the ideal is a school in which collective learning takes place, how do schools move toward this goal, and how does the individual teacher add to this community?
The classroom setting offers context. Teachers know that the classroom learning environment changes for better or worse depending on the group of students in any given year. Years when there are more challenging students and less motivated learners in a classroom make for greater frustration for the teacher. Years when a majority of the students are enthusiastic and responsible are remembered as good years. Teachers report getting more done in the curriculum, more hands-on activities occur, and more learning takes place during years with self-directed learners in a classroom. During these school years, a classroom learning community is created. Extend that dynamic to the outer walls of the building and beyond, into the community. Imagine teachers as enthusiastic, responsible, take-charge, and self-regulated members.
Creating a learning organization mirrors creating one in a classroom and it requires teachers reading professional material, attending classes, enrolling in online courses, reflecting on what they need to understand to become better teachers. Money for professional development is not always available, and mandates for professional development are not always sufficient motivators. Each teacher must become an independent learner and thinker. This is the vital first step toward growing a learning organization in every school.
Marsick and Watkins' (1999) Model of the Learning Organization outlines three levels of interrelated learning: individual learning, team learning, and organization learning. This Critical Issue supports the idea of individual learning as the first step toward building well-rounded learning organizations.
The authors constructed their model around the following seven action imperatives that are needed to implement learning organizations:
The first two of these action imperatives are crucial for individual learning to occur. There must be continuous learning opportunities, and inquiry and dialogue must be promoted (Watkins and Marsick, 1999, p.85).
Many teachers do indeed have continuous learning opportunities. For instance, they can take an online course. They can learn a new computer software program that will benefit their students or themselves. They can take a workshop, then practice and reflect upon results. Both Educational Service and Teacher Learning centers distribute comprehensive catalogs of educational choices.
Once teachers choose independent learning, they want to share the excitement
with others. Typically learners want to discuss what they have learned, give
opinions, and debate. Through discussion, they begin to promote inquiry and
dialogue—the authors' second imperative is crucial for individual learning.
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