Learning from patients: constructions of knowledge and legitimacy in hospital-based quality improvement programmes

ABSTRACT

Health services organisations are increasingly incorporating patient engagement strategies as a form of quality improvement. Such strategies take form in programmes where organisations partner with patients in order to learn from their experiences and thereby change how services are designed, delivered, and implemented. In this study, we examined the enactment of patient engagement programmes within an academic health science organisation in Canada. This was accomplished through an exploration of the various constructions of patient participants’ legitimacy, credibility, and expertise as manifesting through participation in the various practices associated with the programmes. Analysis was based on a selection of international, national, and organisational texts, as well as interviews with patient participants (n?=?20) and hospital staff members (n?=?6). Through this analysis, we argue that organisations are not learning from patients per se, but are learning from particular constructions of patient subjectivities in the form of patient advisers. We argue that if patient engagement programmes are premised upon opportunities to learn from patients, these programmes require a coherent theory of workplace learning. We suggest attention to the politics of knowledge production as a fruitful way to conceptualise how clinicians and administrators might learn from patients at the organisational level.     

Learning Organisationsreengineering schools for life long learning

It has taken some two decades for the concept of the learning organisation to achieve recognition as a powerful way of reengineering for life long learning. During this time, schools have been through a period of very rapid change but, paradoxically, many look less like learning organisations today than they may have before the introduction of the Education Reform Act. This paper examines some of the key ideas behind the learning organisation, explores why the concept is so powerful in contemporary contexts, identifies various types of learning organisations and suggests an analytical technique for relating styles of organisational learning to the environmental context. The paper concludes with an analysis of the implications of learning organisation concepts for schools and school leaders.     

From silos to solutions: How one district is building a culture of collaboration and learning between school principals and central office leaders

Large urban school districts often struggle with hierarchy, fragmented processes and cultures whereby organisational silos between school and central office staff serve as a major barrier for reaching the desired strategic goals of improving student achievement. In addition, school district staff are undergoing change requiring leaders and staff in these organisations to adapt and build their capacity to support changing demands. However, little attention is paid to how to build the necessary systems and learning environments to support capacity building and leader development. This article reports on an action research study using mixed methods that reveal how central office leaders and school principals break down organisational silos to build a culture of learning using learning organisation principles. Using the Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) short form, participants completed questions related to the school district's capacity for learning. Data from the survey and interviews outline key findings that illustrate how the learning organisation framework served as a model to create the organisational conditions and culture to enable support and cooperation for learning, capacity, change and improvement to occur. This action research case study is a look at one organisation's approach to addressing a gap in learning organisation research in the area of learning organisation interventions. In addition, it extends current research on schools as learning organisations with an example of data-informed change in one large school district in the southern United States.     

Sustaining change in a learning organization

Abstract

This article looks at how the application of the concept of a ‘learning organisation’ can be used at a specific organisation in South Africa to change the work performance of its employees. We do this by exploring different theories, models and definitions of organisational learning, learning organisation, organisational knowledge and knowledge management in the field, and against this background examine the perceptions of employees at a South African Organisation. The article underpins this approach by uniquely balancing conceptual rigour with practical experiences of employees at this institution. The view is taken that organisations are living systems that have the capacity to renew themselves by continuously reflecting on their practices and thereby create new knowledge, share and leverage it. Knowledge acquisition and sharing is closely linked to the core values of the organisation in order to achieve business competitiveness, set goals, efficiency, and overall strategic success. The purpose of this article is to understand how an organisation's training department could use the concept of a learning organisation within the South African context to sustain change. To achieve this objective we (the researchers) used a qualitative research paradigm. A phenomenological design presented the research with opportunities to analyse, interpret, and describe the perceptions, feelings and experiences of the participants at the organisation. Eight semi-structured individual interviews provided data for the purposes of this research. The data was analysed to identify categories, themes and sub-themes. The five main themes discussed are organisational learning, organisational culture, organisational change, globalisation and knowledge management and these were linked to the theory of learning organisations and were based on the findings.     

Implementing Peer Learning Across Organisations: The development of a model

Peer learning can be implemented by individual teachers within an organisation or can be implemented across an organisation by a central implementer. In this article, it is argued that the types of approach required in these two forms of implementation are very different and whilst the former is dealt with in the literature on peer learning, the latter has been largely unconsidered. The article reports how a review of the literature on organisational change was used to develop a model of how to implement peer learning across organisations. It describes how this model was used to guide the implementation of peer learning across a UK further education college. The results of a pilot study into the model's effectiveness in this context are reported. These results suggest that the model appeared to be a useful guide to the implementation of peer learning across an organisation and, as such, is worthy of further investigation in other contexts.     

Factors influencing teachers’ innovative teaching behaviour with information and communication technology (ICT): the mediator role of organisational innovation climate

The aim of this study was to analyze the correlation among teachers’ perceived acceptance of technological innovation, organisations’ innovation climate, and innovative teaching using information and communication technology (ICT) in Taiwan. The participants (N?=?482) responded to a questionnaire using a five-point Likert scale for each factor, and their responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). This research found that an organisation’s innovation climate is significantly and positively related with innovative teaching using ICT, and that the acceptance of technological innovation is significantly and positively related with innovative teaching using ICT, as supported by the organisation’s innovation climate. The influence pattern and empirical data of the acceptance of technological innovation and the organisation’s innovation climate on innovative teaching with ICT exhibited a good fit. The implications of such findings were discussed.     

Analysis of leadership dynamics in educational settings during times of external and internal change

Background: The article concerns the tensions that can arise during demanding external, and consequential internal changes and considers how educational leadership is able to respond to them. Leadership is here understood as a collaborative endeavour, producing shared sense-making in situations of tension.

Purpose: The main research question was: what kinds of leadership dynamics underlie situations of tension brought about by external and internal change? The sub-question was: what kind of micro-level sense-making processes, argued to be the true source of change, assist in revealing these dynamics?

Programme: Educational organisations increasingly face demanding external changes, such as the two mergers described in this article. Tensions can easily be brought about during such external changes and the consequential internal changes, such as two pedagogical innovation projects in this article.

Sample: The study was conducted with three leadership teams within two organisations. The first organisation was a vocational education organisation with around 4000–5000 students and 500 staff members. The leadership team that was studied was followed for almost two years. The other organisation was a business school which comprised of around 7000 students, 150–200 professors and 500 staff members. There, two leadership teams were investigated and followed for almost three years.

Design and methods: The data for the sense-making process was selected by way of qualitative content analysis and an experimented model called TenKeys®. This data were analysed using a grounded theory approach to uncover the underlying leadership dynamics.

Results: Ten micro-procedural leadership dynamics were identified. Actions related to the pedagogical projects were then interpreted by means of these dynamics.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that understanding underlying leadership dynamics might help educational organisations respond to possible tensions brought about by external and internal change and, consequently, support learners’ learning processes, albeit indirectly.     

Improving Teaching Quality and the Learning Organisation

This study applied a learningorganisation framework to understand academicdepartments' efforts to improve teachingquality. The theoretical framework wasgenerated from literature on learningorganisations, organisations devoted tocontinuous improvement through continuouslearning. Research questions addressedrelationships among departments' vision,leadership, knowledge management,communication, learning culture, and teachingimprovement. Using survey data collected fromdepartment chairs, this study found a positiveassociation between learning organisationbehaviours and the improvement of teaching.     

Pedagogy of Learning and Teaching: A Phenomenographic Perspective from Selected Classrooms in Rural South Africa

Abstract

Classroom practitioners are expected to facilitate effective learning under the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) in South Africa. During this facilitation process, educators are required to become more resourceful in terms of their learning and teaching strategies. This article is based on a case study – within the phenomenographic paradigm – of Grade 9 educators and learners in four rural schools in North West, South Africa. The study focussed on a specific economics and management sciences (EMS) topic relating to the understanding of the value or price determination of the South Africa rand on the foreign exchange market. The article is divided into three parts: firstly, the concepts of phenomenography and the variation theory of learning are explored and constituted as the conceptual framework; secondly, educators’ experiences with the variation theory as a classroom resource for learning; and thirdly, the impact of educators’ classroom experiences with the variation theory on learners’ quantitative and qualitative learning outcomes. The results showed an improvement in the learners’ understanding of the EMS topic studied.     

The relationship between the school as a learning organisation and staff outcomes: A case study of Wales

Does the school as a learning organisation affect staff outcomes? This article examines the relationship between the school as a learning organisation and staff job satisfaction and the school's responsiveness to staff needs using a purposefully designed “Schools as Learning Organisations Survey” completed as part of an OECD study in Wales. A positive and significant relationship is found between the school as a learning organisation and both job satisfaction of staff—that is school leaders, teachers and teaching support staff—and the school's responsiveness to staff needs. The article proposes ways of realising these outcomes and identifies areas for further research. Policy makers, school staff and other stakeholders in education and other public sectors internationally can use these findings as supporting evidence in recommending people to develop their organisations into learning organisations, given the potential benefits for employees and the organisation at large.     

A conceptual framework for achieving good governance at open and distance learning institutions

This paper describes a good governance architecture framework that would bring significant improvements in the overall working of open and distance learning institutions in a well-structured and systematic way. The good governance framework is articulated with seven basic principles which are performance, transparency, accountability, participation, leadership, consensus orientation and fairness. These principles are structured with the good governance practices which relate to performing well for the assigned goals and objectives, promoting values for the organisation, making well-informed and transparent decisions, focusing on the organisation’s purpose and outcomes, capacity building and managing risks effectively. These principles and suggested practices in the framework would become tools for developing an improvement strategy so as to help in the smooth operation and efficient management of the institution concerned. The developed system would bring about significant improvement in the teaching–learning activity as well as in the quality of distance education. It would also enhance the efficiency, effectiveness and overall performance of the institutional management which is crucial to the continuous development of the institution concerned. Thus, the proposed good governance framework when implemented in an open and distance education institution would improve the quality of distance education and also increase its accessibility in a well-organised and structured way.     

‘Culture of Religion’ – a controversial secular school subject

ABSTRACT

This paper analyses the context, emergence, organisation and curriculum of the school subject known as ‘Culture of Religions’ (Kultura religija), which is given as an example of good practice in the Toledo Guiding Principles of the OSCE. It was designed, piloted and to a certain extent introduced in state schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina by a collaboration of international organisations and institutions, together with representatives from various local organisations. This paper addresses the challenges and opportunities that render this school subject not only highly relevant but also a controversial issue of education policy today.     

The conceptualisation and impact of a post-graduate course in lesson and learning study

ABSTRACT

This paper tells a story about the design, development and impact of a post-graduate Masters-level module aimed at (1) enabling groups of teachers within schools to develop innovative approaches to teaching and learning on the basis of their own Lesson Studies and (2) creating a school network of excellence for Lesson Study in the area as a context for building a cumulative evidence-base, which focuses on identifying and resolving enduring problems of teaching and learning in schools.

The first part of the paper outlines the curriculum for the module and sets the innovative conceptual framework that underpins its design . This framework is innovative because it connects and unifies a number of distinct pedagogical perspectives. It links the methodology of Japanese Lesson Study with Stenhouse’s idea of ‘the teacher as a researcher’ and his ‘process model’ of curriculum development as an alternative to the globally dominant ‘objectives model’. Then in turn, the framework incorporates Marton and Booth’s pedagogical theory of ‘variation’.

The paper argues that linking and fusing Lesson Study methodology with this wider context of pedagogical ideas unambiguously renders teacher research as learning study.     

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy for Teachers of Color

ABSTRACT

This study utilizes the conceptual framework of culturally responsive pedagogy and theoretical suppositions about the culturally responsive teacher educator to examine the learning experiences of teacher candidates of color. Findings from the case study of a teacher educator’s and teacher candidates’ of color teaching and learning experiences in a semester-long course revealed the following: (a) The teacher educator’s culturally responsive content was characterized by resistance, revelation, and support and (b) culturally responsive teacher educator pedagogy involved instructional approaches of modeling change and building community. Implications for culturally responsive pedagogies in the teacher education classroom and professional development are explored.     

Overarching professional identity themes in student teacher workplace learning

ABSTRACT

This study reports on how student teachers learn in the workplace. Data from 10 student teachers were collected by means of digital logs and in-depth interviews. By reconstructing data into stories and unravelling these stories, it became clear that the learning process of each student teacher was dominated by one specific theme, such as student-centred teaching or creating a positive learning climate. These themes could be typified as professional identity themes, because all appeared to be both personal and professional. Five student teachers experienced their workplace learning process as continuous: they integrated their teaching experiences relatively easily into their personal conceptual framework. The other five experienced their workplace learning process as discontinuous: they experienced tensions caused by frictions between personal and professional aspects of becoming a teacher. Both types of learning can stimulate and hinder student teachers’ professional development. The findings indicate that reconstructing data into stories and unravelling these stories is a useful technique for understanding student teacher workplace learning as a result of the interaction between personal and professional aspects of becoming a teacher.     

English as a Medium of Teaching and Learning in a Resource-Poor Country: The Case of Malawi’s New Language Policy

Abstract

This article discusses the resource implications of Malawi’s new language-in-education policy. Whilst previous publications on the English as a medium of teaching and learning policy, which was announced in Malawi in 2014, have sharply criticised and dismissed the new language policy from pedagogical and other educational grounds, the current article is the first to dwell exclusively on the resource implications of the new language policy. The qualitative study reported on, which utilised Barron’s learning ecologies framework, was based on information drawn from one key informant; readers’ comments extracted from a Malawian online newspaper; and some scholarly publications. The article argues that the available resources are too inadequate to lead to a successful implementation of English as a medium of teaching and learning in the non-English-dominant Malawi. The article recommends that Malawi should return to the previous language policy, which was UNESCO compliant, and that adequate and enabling resources be channelled to improving the teaching and learning of English as a subject. Resources should also be injected into the professional development of teachers in order to capacitate them to effectively handle English as a medium of teaching and learning from Grade 5 onwards.     

Teachers’ conceptions of quality and organisational values in higher education: compliance or enhancement?

Teachers are often assumed to have a negative attitude towards quality endeavours of their institutions and to hold defensive organisational values. However, there is little empirical research on this issue. This study focuses on teachers’ conceptions of quality, on their preferred organisational values and on the relationships between the two. A written questionnaire was presented to the teaching staff from 18 departments of universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands (N?=?266). It comprised 18 questions about teachers’ conceptions of quality, representing two quality scales: compliance and accountability and enhancement and improvement. A further 24 questions, related to organisational values, represent two scales that typify flexible organisations, and two that typify control-oriented organisations. The results reveal a neutral score on the compliance and accountability conceptions of quality and on the control-oriented organisational values, and a high score on enhancement and improvement and on the flexibility-oriented values. Both pairs appear to be moderately positively correlated. Despite the need for further qualitative research, it can be concluded that teachers perceive quality first and foremost as enhancement and improvement, rather than as compliance to external standards and accountability. These findings offer interesting perspectives for the further development of an internal quality culture in higher education.     

Total Quality Management,the Learning Organisation and Post‐compulsory Education

Abstract

The turbulence confronting educational Institutions In the United Kingdom has led to the suggestion that any attempt to respond using established management principles and processes is likely to be dysfunctional. Total quality management (TQM) has been advanced as a strategy that will enable educational institutions adapt to the greater market orientation and transform them into learning organisations. The paper identifies the key principles of TQM, critically reviewing the literature that examines their application in education and focusing on the post‐compulsory sector. Secondly, selected linkages between the key principles and other approaches to the study of organisational behaviour, including aspects of open systems theory, leadership, teamworking, training and staff development, and organisational culture, are examined. The concept of the learning organisation is outlined and its relationship with TQM examined. The paper concludes that TQM treats organisational change issues in educational institutions and the concept of the learning organisation as unproblematic, Ignoring Issues of power, authority, resistance to change and double‐loop learning.     

Teacher learning as boundary crossing: a case study of Master Teacher Studios in China

ABSTRACT

Teacher professional learning is shaped by multiple contexts in a complex way. Previous studies mainly focused on teacher learning in school-based contexts, and rarely explored how teachers learn across schools and in other situations. Adopting the framework of boundary crossing learning, this study examined the processes of teachers’ professional learning when they participated in Master Teacher Studios in mainland China. Through the qualitative case study approach, this study summarised four learning mechanisms: seeking common ground and reserving differences, growing through formal and informal coordination, exposing the gap and reflecting one’s limits, and transforming practices that incorporate one’s teaching ‘soul’. Further, intrapersonal, interpersonal and institutional factors that contribute to teacher learning as boundary crossing are discussed.