Organizational learning, team learning and dialogue as the foundation of educational reform

Abstract

Within the business literature there has been an explosive interest in the concept of organizational learning over the past decade (Crossan & Guatto, 1996). Many business organizations today, faced with the realities of keeping pace with an ever-changing, dynamic, global marketplace, are looking to learning as a source of change to sustain competitive advantage. Since the educational system is faced with challenges, as is the business community, some educational researchers and writers conclude that the system is failing. Maybe the time has come for educational reformers to look to the business literature to see what it has to offer the field of education to support educational reform. -- The three papers in this paper folio will review three topics that educational reformers may find useful for educational reform. -- Paper one builds on the numerous definitions available to show that organizational learning is a process and a product. -- Paper two sets out the importance of teams to the organizational learning process, pointing out that due to the ever-changing global environment, teams play an important role in organizational learning. -- The final paper established four decades of failed educational reform efforts beginning in the 1960's.