Learning gaps in a learning organization: professionals' values versus management values

Abstract

Purpose -The aim of this article is to challenge the concept of "the learning organization" as unproblematic and inherently good. Design/methodology/approach -The research looked at how teachers -as an example of public sector professionals in a work organization that claims to be a learning organization -view their conditions for learning. Findings -By using this approach, the normative values surrounding the concept of the learning organization were discussed. This approach identifies power-relations: i.e. who has the priority of interpretation to define what learning is desired and considered relevant as well as when, how and where one learns. In addition, it gives indications to how and why the implementations of management concepts are not always successful. Originality/value -This article shows how the implementation of a governance concept (learning organization) in fact can be seen as bringing with it unintended consequences for the organization as a whole -and especially for the professionals. Even within a work organization claiming to be a learning organization, learning gaps can be identified.

Differentiation as a Consequence of Choice and Decentralization Reforms—Conditions for Teachers’ Competence Development

“…For instance, in terms of how the workplace opens up for, or constrains, informal competence development, which is whether or not teachers can easily share with subject colleagues. These findings were neither new nor surprising; rather they were consistent with our previous studies (Jansson & Parding, 2011;Parding & Abrahamsson, 2010). Moreover, it could be argued that the local differences mirrored regional differentiation.…”

“…Moreover, it could be argued that the local differences mirrored regional differentiation. In other words, in relation to our previous research (Jansson & Parding, 2011;Parding & Abrahamsson, 2010), as well as to the empirical data presented in this paper, it can be argued that the issue of context must be seen in a broader sense. The local and regional circumstances of a workplace must be considered when examining the conditions for competence development among welfare-sector professionals, as school choice and municipalization reforms seem to have complex consequences on various levels.…”

“…We have talked about even building a little database with tips and tricks that one can do, a little local learning platform." This indicated that the subject was the most important factor for the competence development of upper secondary level teachers, which was not a new finding (e.g., Parding, 2007;Parding & Abrahamsson, 2010). However, such opportunities for competence development relied on having several teachers in the same subject, preferably sharing offices or corridors, which was only the case for schools of a certain size.…”

Conditions for workplace learning in professional work

“…In the sociology of professions, there has been a focus on clashes between various ideals for how to organise, plan, carry out and follow up work (Freidson, 2001;Evetts, 2006a;Evetts, 2006b). Indeed, in our own previous studies, we found that teachers Workplace learning in professional work may have a certain view of what is relevant to learn and how work should be organised to enable this, whereas the organisation (or the management) may have quite a different view (Parding, 2007;Parding and Abrahamsson, 2010;Jansson and Parding, 2011). We have identified how professionals enjoy teaching but remain unsatisfied with the way their work is organised, in addition to the conditions surrounding their work, as these conditions constrain the learning that they themselves identify as necessary; as a result, learning gaps were spotted (Parding, 2007;Parding and Abrahamsson, 2010;Jansson and Parding, 2011).…”

Approaches for investigating university libraries as learning organisations

“…Interpretivist studies are based on a root metaphor or cultural perspective which considers a learning organisation as a metaphor and basically views the organisation itself as a type of culturea learning culture (Garavan, 1997;Parding & Abrahamsson, 2010).…”