Condition+1

__The Six Conditions to Support Organizational Learning in Schools____According to Collinson and Cook__ CONDITION 1 CONDITION 2 CONDITION 3 CONDITION 4 CONDITION 5 CONDITION 6 **CONDITION 1 - PRIORITIZING LEARNING FOR ALL MEMBERS** >> > > >
 * = //In Plain English?// ||= //Practical examples?// ||= //What would the Theorists Think?// ||
 * We learn from others in social contexts in order to make sense of our changing and unpredictable environment. Our learning happens in response to the learning of others and as a result of our interaction with the environment. || * Our grade level team meets several times per week with a structured purpose to focus on specific student growth, curriculum changes, or student social needs. We are expected to report either verbally or in writing about the topics discussed and outcomes of the discussions as well as possible next steps.
 * As a primary reading teacher, I was expected to participate in a course that taught me a remedial reading program that I would use in my classroom. In order to practice the teaching/coaching techniques, I was expected to be videotaped teaching several lessons. The tape was shown to a group of other teachers in the same program as well as a facilitator. The group offered feedback regarding my technique and student progress. A portion of the discussion also focused on my analysis of the lesson.
 * At my school, we are responsible to be a member of at least one care committee as well as a curriculum type committee. The purpose of the care committee is to strengthen the social bonds of the staff. One group focuses on acknowledging when a staff member experiences a birth, death, or significant illness in their lives.
 * In order to facilitate effective, healthy communication between all school staff, my principal devotes a portion of the staff meeting occurring at the beginning of the year to discussing the staff rules of social behavior. We create a document that lists the 4-5 rules. Staff signs the document and pledges to uphold the ideas in the document. The document is posted in the teacher’s lounge and is referenced throughout the school year. The rules of conduct help eliminate some miscommunication and misunderstandings that might occur in groups where people work closely together. By addressing these potential issues early in the school year, staff is able to focus on the student growth.
 * At my school, whenever a team member attends a conference or workshop, it is an expected that they will present their learning to the rest of the staff. After attending a math conference in Philadelphia, I presented my learning to a group of district math specialists. This lead to creation of a book discussion group that lead to a math intervention program.
 * Learning teams use social media such as Twitter and Facebook type sites to communicate with each other. In our class, we discuss, expand upon, and dialogue about concepts related to the class on D2L. Our online discussions make their way into our papers. || * We know that the concept of social learning is a core principle of **Wenger**. He felt that learning only occurs in social situations. One applicable quote might be, “ In dealing with communities of practice—whether living within one or being in charge of one—it is thus essential always to assume learning” (p. 98). When new members join an established community of practice, they are on the periphery. “To open up a practice, peripheral participation must provide access to all three dimensions of practice: to mutual engagement with other members, to their actions as their negotiation of the enterprise, and to the repertoire in use” (p. 100). Brokering occurs when a member of an established community of practice transfers elements of one to another. Wenger wrote about the importance of brokers, “Brokers are able to make new connections across communities of practice, enable coordination, and—if they are good brokers—open to new possibilities for meaning” (p. 109).
 * Because of the emphasis that this condition places on the unpredictable nature of our response to our unpredictable environment, it leans toward **interpretivism** as a social theory.
 * **Fiol and Lyles** write, “Organizations, unlike individuals, develop and maintain learning systems that not only influence their immediate members, but are then translated to others by way of organization histories and norms” (p.804).
 * **Argyris and Schön** feel that organizational learning occurs when learning becomes embedded in organizational theories-in-use. Because our environment is unpredictable, Argyris and Schön may argue that learning is occurring as a result or error detection and correction.
 * **Weik** uses the term, “resistance to change” (p. 77) as a way of describing how organizations make sense of their environments.
 * **Collinson and Cook** quote freely from two other theorists—**Kikoski & Kikoski, 2004**, “The future will continue to require ongoing learning, but the emphasis will shift from individual learning to collective learning and from book knowledge to creating knowledge” (p. 67). ||

SIX CONDITIONS THE THEORISTS CORE ASSUMPTIONS BACK TO HOME