Mr.Khay

School as Learning Organization: the comparison of two models

Abstract

The concept of learning organization has inspired schools to reconceptualize itself to a learning school or a school that learns. Over 20 years of research on learning organization, some findings confirm the impact and some are not due to its different models of learning organization to test in school settings. The most prominent Fifth Discipline (Senge, 1990) was overcrowded for organization transformation models. It drew the attention of business organizations to change their learning capacity through the five disciplines ( Personal Mastery, Mental Model, Team Learning, Shared Vision and Systemic Thinking). An alternative to the Fifth Discipline, DLOQ model(Watkins & Marsick,1997) was later proposed to build a learning organization through its seven dimensions following question sets to evaluate and to indicate the areas to become a learning organization. The DLOQ model has also been well researched into school contexts. Since both models are quite popular among researchers and practitioners in education, we conduct a review of these two models to learn which model is suitable for school transformation into a learning organization. In conclusion, we recommend the DLOQ model to be ideal for school transformation because it has clear dimensions for school to build on like a foundation. It is also a performance measurement model for school improvement, innovation and sustainability. It is recommended to use this DLOQ model to test in many school settings to prove its wider generalizability. 

Introduction

Several researches in school leadership and management have paid attention to the concept of transformative and innovative schools where the concept of learning organization is tried in school context. Schools today are looking for innovative structures to tackle the issues of an uncertain and complex world. Schools need to learn to be adaptive to any change that they are not ready for(Kools, George & Steijn, 2020). Traditional schools with stern and inflexible structure may not able to withstand any internal weakness and external threats, eg. rival schools, technological advancement, any social disruptions...

The concept of organizational learning has been rooted since the 1960s (Yeo, 2005) where subsequent research has intensified the concept of learning organization. In business, a seminal work of Peter Senge in 1990- the Fifth Discipline theory has inspired the companies to transform their business entities into learning organizations. The Fifth Discipline later was proposed in a school context where school improvement and aspiration were primary targets (Senge, Cambron-McCabe, Lucas, Smith & Dutton, 2012). Given its advantages to adapt and evolve, another model of learning organization- the Dimensions of Learning Organization Questionnaires(DLOQ) was conceptualized by Watkins & Marsick (2017) and proven, through several researches, to improve the organizational performance, particularly financial performance and knowledge performance (Ho, 2011; Khandekar & Sharma, 2006; Marsick & Watkins, 2003).  Hussein, Mohamad, Noordin & Ishak (2014) tested this model and proved the learning organization culture to have direct effects on the organizational performance of the Malaysian public institution of higher education. Therefore, it is necessary to review these two models in the context of school as a learning organization to offer an insight to further research that will apply these two models for school as learning organization. 

The Fifth Discipline (FD)

The Fifth Discipline (Senge, 1990) was introduced in the book “ The Art and Practice of The Learning organization” in 1990 by Peter Senge where the five disciplines were argued to be central in practice together with other archetypes. By adopting and well implementing these five disciplines, the company was argued to sustain in the long run because it kept learning and knowing how to survive in the year ahead. Senge (1990) laid out Systemic Thinking to be the hub to connect all other disciplines namely Personal Mastery, Shared Vision, Mental Model and Team Learning. The Fifth Discipline was a model of interconnected thinking which addressed organizational learning capacity to improve the organizational performance. Since thinking is connected with learning, this theory will inspire a new thinking model, called “ Systemic thinking”, which may be appropriate for the globalization era and digital society. As stated in the Fifth Discipline, individual staff must master their personal vision, motivation and model of thinking to align themselves in the shared vision of the organization. Then in a team, the team mental model is to align with shared vision and team learning will play a crucial role to enable the team mental model to converge their thinking into organizational vision. 

Fifth Discipline was also under a critique for its unstructured disciplines where practitioners can not determine which discipline to work on first and its subsequent order (Fitzgerald,1999). In school, there was little research of the Fifth Discipline (Pensieri, 2019). It is due to its ambiguous structure of the five disciplines. The research could mostly prove the Fifth Discipline with school culture building for learning (Zhang, 2023). However, the effectiveness of Fifth Discipline to build school culture varies across different cultures. Retna (2002) and Park (2008) found that the Fifth Discipline could well be implemented in the context of Singapore and Korean culture as they tried to generalize the Fifth Discipline into a Singaporean and Korean schools. Similarly Babak Alavi& McCormick(2004) argued that the Fifth Discipline could not be effectively implemented in different cultural settings, which means it lacks consistency to generalize into different cultures in different countries. Since it was proposed for American organization, the cultural differences would be a limitation for the Fifth Discipline to be generalized. Therefore, it lacks the reliability in practice outside America. Caldwell (2012) also raised two important critiques on the Fifth Discipline, which was problematic in organizational practice and its lack of any measurement mechanism for learning. It was proposed for a thinking model but no learning measurement. Therefore, schools may only apply the five disciplines and they can not know how much learning is achieved and any changes to happen.  

The Dimension of Learning Organization Questionnaires (DLOQ)

An alternative to the Fifth Discipline where it lacks the generalization in practice and measurement, the Dimension of the Learning Organization Questionnaire-DLOQ (Watkins & Marsick,1997) was conceptualized to provide an overarching framework for transforming into the learning organization. The DLOQ model was plausibly researched in both business and school settings(Watkins & O’Neil, 2013). Developed by Watkins and Marsick (1997), the DLOQ was a response to a growing need for the learning organization model that is practical in organization. Therefore it was developed out of the literature and the practices in organization through case studies (Marsick & Watkins, 2003). If it was grounded in this way, the DLOQ model would be more applicable in different organizational settings, namely for private organization, public and non-profit, education and so forth. There are seven dimensions and 44 questions to form self-scoring questionnaires for learning organization as a structural framework of the DLOQ model. The model integrates individual learning, team learning and organizational learning to measure the impact results on organizational performances. From Marsick & Watkins (2003), the DLOQ models were proven to improve organizational performance, which consists of financial performance and knowledge performance. However, the measurement on knowledge performance was debatable on its reality as staff perceived in the questionnaires. 

The DLOQ model was well-researched in school context to test its applicability in education. Sheng, Watkins, Yoon & Kim (2021) tested the DLOQ in K-12 schools to validate the DLOQ and to link the relationship of school as a learning organization, applying DLOQ model with improved organizational performance (Hussein, Mohamad, Noordin & Ishak, 2014; Ho, 2011; Khandekar & Sharma, 2006; Marsick & Watkins, 2003). Another research by King Smith, Watkins & Han (2020) using the DLOQ model to prove the improvement in school principal capacity to learn and how the DLOQ helps schools improve their learning gaps. Another study was conducted using the DLOQ to examine the impact on teacher’s problem solving and found the positive relation between DLOQ and teacher’s problem solving strategies (Alazmi, Alazmi & Alqahtani, 2013). DLOQ can be applied as the organizational development tool for building system, management structure and assessment of performance (RILEY, 2023). However, like other organization model, the DLOQ seems to impact indirectly on students’ learning outcome. A study by Varano Jr (2010) confirmed only one dimension among seven linked with students’ achievement in reading and mathematics. Can the DLOQ generalize into different cultures and contexts? It is important for the model that transforms the learning culture to be applicable in different cultural settings and contexts. According to Akram, Watkins & Sajid(2013), the DLOQ has been researched in many cultural settings and contexts to prove the reliability and validity of the seven dimensions. 

to improve the organizational performance, particularly financial performance and knowledge performance (Ho, 2011; Khandekar & Sharma, 2006; Marsick & Watkins, 2003).  Hussein, Mohamad, Noordin & Ishak (2014) tested this model and proved the learning organization culture to have direct effects on the organizational performance of the Malaysian public institution of higher education.

Discussion

The Fifth Discipline and the DLOQ models are paramount conceptions for a new paradigm shift of school toward a learning organization. Each model has a foundation to conceptualize. The Fifth Discipline (Senge, 1990) is rooted from the organizational learning model (Argyris & Schön,1997) together with the practical gaps of disconnected learning in the organization. The DLOQ was conceptualized from the learning perspective of Dewey together with several literatures of the learning organization, including the Fifth Discipline. In figure 2, there are the comparisons of these two models. 

From the comparisons, we argue that the FD and the DLOQ model have a common characteristic of learning development which was conceptualized to begin with individuals and then to team and finally to the organization as the whole. The FD theorized that staff needs to build their own mental model where they first must know themselves to align their cognitive thinking with organizational goals and vision. According to  Senge, Cambron-McCabe, Lucas, Smith, & Dutton (2012), personal mastery is a practice of a personal matter where individual teachers learn to reflect their personal goal, vision, aspiration and so forth. Similarly, the DLOQ posited few dimensions namely “ Create continuous learning opportunity; promote enquiries and dialogues”, which aims to arouse individual learning. The learning at team level is also visible from the FD in the disciplines of team learning and shared vision. It may be logical in order that individual teachers need to learn about themselves before they can learn in a team to converge into a shared vision. However, it was not mentioned in the FD for a certain structure or order of these disciplines. The DLOQ also recommends these dimensions for team learning- “ encourage collaboration and team learning; empower people toward a collective vision”. For a higher impact of learning- the learning at organization, where school will be transformed to a learning school, the FD proposed systemic thinking to connect all learning disciplines and it was the most important discipline of all because all other disciplines will not happen without systemic thinking. In the DLOQ, we can see that the strategic leadership for learning, system to capture and share learning and connecting organization to its environment could be argued to maintain Leaning at organization level. In figure 3, there is a new comparison of similarities between the both models in three levels of learning in organization.

Besides, these two models are pretty different in practice. The FD lacks a clear structure which can be argued to be difficult in applying at schools. Several researches found that the FD is inconsistent when applying in different cultures and contexts. The FD is like a philosophy of interconnected learning which influences the thinking patterns and does not have a way to measure the learning in organization. Imagining that teachers provide teaching to students but they do not assess how much students learn, then it is irresponsible teaching or anonymous teaching where students' learnings are of no interest to teachers. Likewise, a learning school but does not know how to measure its learning transformation deserves no learning at all. According to Schunk (2012), learning must be endured over time, involving change through actions and experiences. William (2010) also raised the importance of assessment in learning. Therefore without an explicit measurement of learning and well-structured discipline, the FD will not be able to transform school into a learning organization. In contrast, the DLOQ was proposed for measuring the learning in an organization through its seven dimension questionnaires which are proven to impact on school learning and improvements. Moreover, the DLOQ has been proven its applicability across cultures and contexts, owing to its measurable dimensions and the questions.

Conclusion

Globalization creates a complex and uncertain world where our students grow into an unknown society with the help of ever evolving technology(Kools, George & Steijn, 2020). The world is more connected and interconnected thinking is argued to be a key to organizational survival. School is not different to other business entities where learning organization has proven to impact on its performances, innovation and sustainability. Many educational researchers have suggested reconceptualizing schools to learning organizations to improve school performance and sustainability because schools can adapt through learning(Stoll & Kools, 2016; Kools & Stoll, 2016). Learning school is argued to be an evolving organism where learning is central to survival. It is thankful for Senge to reconceptualize the learning organization through his Fifth Discipline model that promotes team learning through systemic thinking. Due to its lack of clarity on the relationship and structure of these disciplines and a lack of measurement tool, the Fifth Discipline is debatable for generalizing into different cultures and contexts where it can be applied outside of the US. There are also few researches about the Fifth Disciplines in school context. Therefore, the Fifth Discipline should be treated as a philosophical concept to transform the learning culture in school. It can also be a guide to interconnected thinking to foster the learning ability of classrooms and teams in school. 

The DLOQ model is another proposed concept for learning organization transformation. It was developed with seven dimensions to measure the organizational performance against its constructs. From our reviews, the DLOQ has a clear structure of measurements for school to apply as an improvement indicator and school performance evaluation. Since schools need a guided set of actions to transform into a learning organization, the DLOQ model may fit in to serve as a baseline for school improvement and performance measurement. However, there may arise a challenge when using the DLOQ questionnaires as the questions may misinterpret and sway away the results as intended. Therefore, it would be ideal for the school to apply this DLOQ model to pay attention to each question set and ensure the clarity of these questions. There should be more wider research to test the DLOQ model in school contexts, particularly in different countries to improve the applicability of DLOQ model.