The university and democracy: Interlocking learning and governing

This paper examines the relationship between learning and governing. It does so by positing that systems of social organization become reflective of theories of mind. It argues that, as systems of higher education are institutions most reflective of mind, the organization of higher education becomes a critical factor in determining and securing the strength of democratic systems of governance. The paper presents this theory in terms of philosophical argument, historical analyses, and present political practices. It sets out specific recommendations for designing systems of higher education that might reflect the comprehensive mental operations and thereby enhance democratic rule. And it builds upon such discoveries to suggest new forms of governance that might enfranchise rather than alienate diverse population groups.     

Dewey,democracy, and interdisciplinary learning: a Scottish perspective

Interest in progressive education ideas has often been accompanied by advocacy for greater use of interdisciplinary and holistic learning approaches, as these are considered beneficial in conceptual, curriculum, and pedagogical terms. The paper reviews the possibilities for progress on this basis and contextualises the paper around three concurrent watershed moments in Scottish education: the end of the five-year programme implementation phase of a Curriculum for Excellence; the half-century anniversary of comprehensive schooling (1965–2015); and the centennial anniversary of the publication of Democracy in Education by John Dewey. Following a brief outlining of the Scottish policy context, the paper analyses the influence of Dewey on conceptions of curriculum integration and interdisciplinary learning and their connections with curriculum planning, effective pedagogical practices, and whole school reforms. Analysis describes the areas of conceptual clarity required and reviews how exactly versions of interdisciplinary learning might operate in practice. It is argued that the learner-led ideals championed by Dewey can still provide guidance and traction to help ensure that policy and practice gains are more than modest and variable. However, progress is likely to be greatest if school organisational changes accompany alterations to the curriculum and pedagogical culture in schools.     

Renewing professional organizations and action learning

This account concerns the renewal of established professional organizations though action learning. In order to revitalize one national organization, an executive group of leaders committed to co-leading and co-learning through a friendly, computer-supported governance structure. Manifestations of our work together were an accelerated decision-making process and creation of interdependent committees (e.g., research committee, policy committee). Keys to the innovative learning described are peer learning supported by turn taking of the executive leaders and synchronous learning buoyed by asynchronous communications technology. We awakened to the reality that if our organization was to grow, as executive leaders we had to manage our own teaching and learning and tap one another's expertise. We also learned that while face-to-face meetings and annual conferences foster goal attainment, collaboration and camaraderie, they limit the momentum necessary for organizational revival in a rapidly changing world. Organizational capacity is developing quickly as the leaders experiment with action learning interventions that are raising the overall caliber of this professional association.     

The unbearable lightness of organizational learning theory: organizations, information technologies, and complexities of learning in theory and practice

Over the last decades the notion of learning has become increasingly popular both as an intellectual site of investigation and as an organizational aspiration. However, learning has many—sometimes contradictory—meanings. For pragmatic sociologists and researchers in science and technology studies (STS) the notion may appeal because of its connotations of ongoing and unpredictable transformation. Yet, a more predominant viewpoint associated with cognitive research, conceive of learning in terms of organized and controllable change processes. We characterize the latter viewpoint as the unbearable lightness of learning. We use Argyris and Schön’s model of organizational learning to illustrate some of the problematic theoretical assumptions and empirical consequences, which are entailed by viewing learning in exclusively cognitive terms. Prominent among these is the inability to analyze social and technologically mediated organizational learning. In conclusion, we argue that alternative models for organizational learning could find inspiration in science and technology studies.     

The education penalty: schooling,learning and the diminishment of wages,working conditions and worker power

Currently dominant human capital and knowledge economy rhetoric holds that education can raise wages, empower workers and enhance working conditions. Education, however, can also have the opposite impact in the workplace and labour market, an impact that has received only limited attention. In this article we draw together a broad range of literature focusing on youth and entry-level employment in order to analyse the different frames of status, process and promise in which education serves not as a ‘premium’ but as a ‘penalty’, used to diminish worker power and claims to good conditions of employment in the present.     

创建学习型组织提高企业核心竞争力

开展“创建学习型组织”活动的背景 当今世界政治多极化，经济全球化的发展和科学技术的日新月异，使整个人类社会处于剧烈变动之中。     

Recognition,inclusion and democracy: learning from action research with young people

ABSTRACT

This paper draws upon learning from three action research projects conducted as part of a Europe-wide project exploring young people’s social and political participation. Challenging dominant discourses about what ‘counts’ as participation and what does not, the paper explores how, through the action research projects, young people engaged in knowledge democracy in ‘new democratic arenas’. Building upon experiential knowing and creating knowledge and learning through practice, the young people explored their own democratic knowledge production, communication and engagement within a context of shifting discourses of participation, democratic engagement and active citizenship. The increasing preference of young people for more informal forms of participation as lived practice reflects a shift to young people constructing their own modes of participation and ‘remaking democracy’ in their own vision and according to their own needs. By working outside of the confines of normative assumptions of democratic practice and participation, young people exercised their own ‘political’ agency in response to their own priorities, interests and concerns and, in doing so, illustrated that new forms, understandings and practices of knowledge democracy can emerge that reflect the promise of inclusive democratic societies more meaningfully.     

Experiencing the workplace: shaping worker identities through assessment,work and learning

This article reports on the findings of research seeking to understand the informal dimensions of online learning in the labour movement. It draws on analysis of online learning workshop participation in specially initiated sessions amongst labour activists/educators from across Canada. Findings are based on the analysis of original interview data and survey data as well as content and interaction analysis of online postings. Barriers to effective participation are discussed, as are possible functions of online learning/communication in the labour movement. I argue that there is strong evidence to suggest that online learning can be a valuable addition to the education capacity of the labour movement, and that an important part of this contribution revolves around a recognition of informal learning, the linkages between the online and the offline world, and the unique goals of the labour movement.     

创建学习型文化 熔铸变革之魂

近年来，齐鲁物流公司“不慕古，不留今，与时变，与俗化”，认真吸取齐文化精髓，较早导入学习型组织创建和企业文化建设，积极探索两者的融合及其内在规律，构建了独具特色的学习型文化模式，有力推动了以物流改革为核心的企业变革，企业的效益、发展、安全生产水平等发生了质的飞跃。     

The university,democracy and the public sphere

This article takes a historical approach to the rise and fall of the public university, relating its fate to specific developments in public policy. Particular attention will be paid to the United Kingdom since it has developed an explicit drive towards the marketization of higher education in the context of an earlier commitment to public higher education, although the latter was initially first developed in the United States. Both countries are typically characterized as liberal policy regimes and therefore the article considers how wider social structures are implicated in recent changes to higher education. In particular, the article addresses how the functions of the university and its corporate form are being transformed and relates this to wider developments in the nature of the corporation and the relation between business and citizenship (or market and democracy).     

Conflicts and resistance: potentials for democracy learning in preschool

The study aims to develop knowledge about learning for democracy in ECEC, through investigating acts of resistance in conflicts and examine these as potentials for democracy learning. The study is informed by Mouffe's theoretical ideas about conflicts as a prerequisite for democracy. The research questions are: What kind of conflicts can be identified in everyday interactions in preschool? How do children and teachers express and maintain resistance in conflicts? What potentials for democracy learning are there in such acts? Data consist of video observations of interactions in four Swedish preschools. The analyses of the interactions comprised various readings to identify expressions of conflicts and ways to communicate resistance. Ethical considerations were paramount to ensure that the studies met the ethical requirements. Identified conflicts are described in terms of qualities of space: (a) Space for diversity illustrates openness for different opinions to be articulated and heard: (b) Space for unity illustrates how alliance-building and authority create conditions and restrictions for opinions to be articulated, heard and/or neglected. Playfulness, courage and emotions are important traits for resistance and both agonism and antagonism appear to be at play. The conflicts identified offer both possibilities and obstacles in learning for democracy.     

创建学习型组织要反对浮躁

在日前召开的“学习型组织中国化与提高企业核心竞争力论坛”上，有专家指出：当前国内在创建学习型组织中出现一种十分不良的学风，乱炒概念，乱下标准，甚至以学习型组织之名，行沽名钓誉之实。一些企业为争牌而创建，为少数人的“政绩”而劳民伤财。如此下去，本在中国先天不足的创建大有砸了牌子，臭了行市之虞。同时，有些单位不求甚解，浅尝辄止，急于见到实效。应当看到，这股浮躁之风有其广泛的社会基础。今日中国，举凡政治、经济乃至学术领域，取巧之人众多，浮躁之风盛行，此风有愈演愈烈之势，且已蔓延至学习型组织领域。凡真信学习型组织之人要提高挚埸，反对这股浮躁之风，共同维护来之不易的局面。     

The universities,the social sciences,and liberal democracy

This paper shows how a number of the social sciences — sociology, economics, and anthropology in particular — came to have their modern form in the universities of the West. It argues that although their beginnings were salutary, their present state leaves much to be desired. In particular, far from supporting a democratic order, they are just as likely to undermine it. Sociology, for example, has abandoned its claim to truth and is given over to an insidious relativism. It undermines democratic values and gives the young little reason to believe that it is a discipline that can contribute anything to the betterment of society. There is, perhaps, some hope that the university, with its commitment to truth and to freedom of thought, will ultimately transform such wayward disciplines into something worth having.