 Kezar views it as just another method employed in organizational learning.
|From theorist to theorist, there appears to be overlap in the principles and definitions for organizational learning and the learning organization. It's no wonder the terms conjur up confusing gray areas. Could it be that the learning organizaion is still making its transition from an "idea" to a "reality?" How well defined were such concepts as space exploration or the internet, until we could see it and use it?|
|Katz and Kahn Grafitti Activity
It is difficult to view any organization, let alone an active college setting, as an “open system.” The terminology used by Katz and Kahn to describe an organization is lifeless and foreign when compared with more recent metaphorical images. The nine characteristics outlined in the article have a scientific nature and might gladly have been ignored had it not been for this exercise in class. The informal setting of the activity allowed us to write examples and descriptions at our own pace, as we became comfortable with each characteristic. Intermittent small group discussions moved many of us toward a better understanding of such characteristics as “negative entropy” and “coding process.” The examples we wrote for each characteristic were varied depending on the writer’s perspective. So, this activity served two purposes in the end. It provided realism and clarification to Katz and Kahn’s organization as a system. It also emphasized the reality that members of any group have varied perspectives in viewing an organization and all its parts. Even one of the simpler characteristics, "output," elicited a wide variety of responses.
|Example: The Output|
What product(s) are exported into the environment from an institution of higher education?
Loyalty to institution
Great art and waste are both output
Creation of new ideas/problems
|The proposed curriculum change is under a barrage of attacks, particularly from The Society of The College, an independent voice for alumni, students, faculty and friends of William and Mary. Many of their concerns are legitimate. Funding for a new physical site; the Curriculum Center, is questioned at a time of economic downturn when a raise in staff and faculty salaries might yield better return. Other concerns focus on the rigor of the new curriculum. For example, the new curriculum is based on 24 hours of COLL courses spread over seven courses. It should provide more flexibility in subject concentration and be less rigorous in the junior and senior years. Click for related essays byAndrew R. McRoberts, '81, President, The Society of The CollegeEugene R. Tracy, Interim Dean of Arts and Sciences at William and Mary
||Some of the opposition is based on incomplete information but others express a sincere concern that the faculty committee is really "watering down" the general education requirements. How will the curriculum steering committee handle these external pressures? The characteristics of an open system are playing out here; how will William and Mary adjust, if at all, to the characteristic Katz and Kahn call "information input, negative feedback, and the coding process."|
Stay tuned: this outside pressure also invokes questions concerning governance. Is curriculum review and change strictly an internal concern under faculty governance as stated by Eugene Tracy? Or, considering the college is tied to the donations of alumni and greater college community, should they have more influence? Our March 28 topics expound on this dichotomy and other issues regarding governance.
|Vision Statement/Left-Hand column activity
This activity revealed that many students in our class were not aware of the Mission or Vision statement of The School of Education at William and Mary. However, in broad terms, the activity made our groups realize that we typically identify very general goal statements that are hard to adequately define. Some members of our group over-defined their goals, creating extensive and encompassing visions. However, there were more people that did not "dream big" and thu