Future of Education

Of Interest

For the past ten years, Phil Ramsey, of Massey University in New Zealand, has had the intention of teaching organizational learning by engaging his students in creating their own learning organization. In “Teaching Organizational Learning: Permission to Exhale” he notes that a more traditional mode of transferring knowledge (inhaling) should be complemented with providing the opportunity for “learners to experience the exhilaration of organizational learning” in the educational process (exhaling). We hope that Ramsey’s article will create an important new thread of contributions to Reflections about organizational learning in the university classroom – including exchanges of syllabi and course materials, teaching techniques, and advice about how to experiment within a traditional university setting. Read Full Article

Emerging Knowledge

For the past ten years, Phil Ramsey, of Massey University in New Zealand, has had the intention of teaching organizational learning by engaging his students in creating their own learning organization. In “Teaching Organizational Learning: Permission to Exhale” he notes that a more traditional mode of transferring knowledge (inhaling) should be complemented with providing the opportunity for “learners to experience the exhilaration of organizational learning” in the educational process (exhaling). We hope that Ramsey’s article will create an important new thread of contributions to Reflections about organizational learning in the university classroom – including exchanges of syllabi and course materials, teaching techniques, and advice about how to experiment within a traditional university setting. Read Full Article

Emerging Knowledge

In December 2003, SoL France initiated a learning journey to Team Academy, in Jyväskylä, Finland. Team Academy is a decade-old "school for entrepreneurs" offering BA and MBA programs using a team-based, action-learning curriculum. This business incubator has been described as a living model of organizational learning that promises insight into new ways to develop entrepreneurs and to foster innovation. The authors describe their full participation in the Team Academy laboratory learning process and their tangible experience of the interplay of individual and collective development. Accomplished in their own rights, they were humbled and inspired by this next generation of business leadership. They left "with a new boldness" about the possibility of organizations that contribute to the growth and vitality of their members while evoking exceptional performance. Read Full Article

Feature

Peter Senge speaks on the evolved ideas that act as the foundation of System Dynamics, and he shows us how to use insights gained from this new field to create change in schools and society. Senge: “Something is different when we study things as if they are alive.” Read Full Article

Commentary by Edward Joyner

Commentary by Jay Forrester

Feature

Based on his understanding of the learning dynamic of individuals, Herbert Simon shows that long-term organizational learning is dependent on an efficient system of knowledge transference. Simon: “All learning takes place inside individual human heads…” Read Full Article

Commentary by J. Wil Foppen

Commentary by John Kao