Adult Learning in the Transformational Environments of the Digital Revolution: Connecting Theory and Practice

The purpose of this study was to investigate the learning preferences and the post-secondary educational experiences of a group of Net-Gen adult learners, aged between 18 and 35, currently working in the knowledge economy workplace, and their assessment of how adequately they were prepared to meet the requirements of the knowledge economy workplace. This study utilized an explanatory mixed-method research design. Participants completed a questionnaire providing information on their self-reported learning style preferences, their use of digital tools for formal and informal learning, their use of digital technologies in postsecondary educational experiences, and their use of digital technologies in their workplace. Four volunteers from the questionnaire respondents were selected to participate in interviews based on the diversity of their experiences in higher education, including digital environments, and the diversity of their knowledge economy workplaces. Data collected from the questionnaire were analyzed for descriptive and demographic statistics, and categorized so that common patterns could be identified from information gathered from the online questionnaire and interviews. Findings based on this study indicated that these Net-Gen adult learners were fluent with all types of digital technologies in collaborative environments, expecting their educational experiences to provide a similar experience. Participants clearly expressed an understanding that digital/collaborative aptitudes are essential to successful employment in the knowledge economy workplace. The findings of this study indicated that the majority of participants felt that their post-secondary educational experiences did not adequately prepare them to meet the expectations of this type of working environment.

The relationship between transformational leadership and innovative behaviour in a healthcare context:a team learning versus a cohesion perspective

The purpose of this study was to explore whether the relationship between transformational leadership and innovative behaviour is explained via the mediating role of team learning, or whether instead team cohesion mediates this relationship. Using survey data from 158 professionals within 21 teams in the Dutch healthcare context, we tested by means of hierarchical regression analyses: (a) the relationship between transformational leadership and innovative behaviour; (b) whether team learning or cohesion mediates this relationship; and (c) the relationship between team learning and cohesion, in relation to transformational leadership. Results showed that transformational leadership is positively related to innovative behaviour and that both cohesion and team learning mediate this relationship, with team learning being the strongest mediator. Addressing a neglected area, our study provides evidence to show that managers who enhance team learning are likely to maximise employees' scope for engaging in innovative behaviours. © 2012 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Transformational Leadership and Job-related Learning

Various empirical studies have examined transformational leadership on the effects of followers and organisations. Transformational leadership has been related to individual attitudes and behaviors such as satisfaction with leaders, organisational citizenship behavior, organisational commitment, motivation, trust in leader, creativity, performance, employee involvement, and empowerment. It has also been linked to such organisational outcomes as innovation, change, productivity, ethical climate, and organisational learning. Organisational learning occurs at three levels: individual, group, and organisational. The focus of the present study is on the individual level—job-related learning. Job-related learning is a measure of individual job behavior pertaining to acquisition of knowledge and skills and enhancement of job performance within the context of the individual’s workplace. It argues that transformational leadership inculcates individuals’ drive to learn. The aim of the study is to examine the relationship between transformational leadership and job-related learning. Transformational leadership is composed of four unique but interrelated facets--idealised influence, individualised consideration, inspirational motivation, and intellectual stimulation. The research results support the hypothesis that transformational leadership is positively related to job-related learning. The implications of the research findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The importance of a new kind of learning in collaborative networks

There is wide agreement that in order to manage the increasingly complex and uncertain tasks of business, government and community, organizations can no longer operate in supreme isolation, but must develop a more networked approach. Networks are not ‘business as usual’. Of particular note is what has been referred to as collaborative networks. Collaborative networks now constitute a significant part of our institutional infrastructure. A key driver for the proliferation of these multiorganizational arrangements is their ability to facilitate the learning and knowledge necessary to survive or to respond to increasingly complex social issues In this regard the emphasis is on the importance of learning in networks. Learning applies to networks in two different ways. These refer to the kinds of learning that occur as part of the interactive processes of networks. This paper looks at the importance of these two kinds of learning in collaborative networks. The first kind of learning relates to networks as learning networks or communities of practice. In learning networks people exchange ideas with each other and bring back this new knowledge for use in their own organizations. The second type of learning is referred to as network learning. Network learning refers to how people in collaborative networks learn new ways of communicating and behaving with each other. Network learning has been described as transformational in terms of leading to major systems changes and innovation. In order to be effective, all networks need to be involved as learning networks; however, collaborative networks must also be involved in network learning to be effective. In addition to these two kinds of learning in collaborative networks this paper also focuses on the importance of how we learn about collaborative networks. Maximizing the benefits of working through collaborative networks is dependent on understanding their unique characteristics and how this impacts on their operation. This requires a new look at how we specifically teach about collaborative networks and how this is similar to and/or different from how we currently teach about interorgnizational relations.

Confucius as transformational leader : lessons for ESL Leadership

Purpose - This paper explores the leadership values and practices of Confucius in the light of transformational leadership theory. Design/methodology/approach - This paper is literature based. Findings - The paper discusses four key dimensions of transformational leadership theory: idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration and uses these as a framework for exploring the values of and teaching approach used by Confucius. The key message of the paper is that educational leaders have much to learn from a Confucian leadership style that is fundamentally transformational in nature and encompasses moral / ethical, socially critical, and democratic dimensions. Practical implications - The paper presents a case study of an English as a Second Language (ESL) School and identifies several practical suggestions for ESL leaders to consider if they are to follow the tenets of Confucius’ teachings. Originality/value - The paper is original as it links the values and practices of Confucius to transformational leadership theory and considers how this theory might look in practice for leaders within a contemporary ESL school context.

Leading the transformation of learning and praxis in science classrooms

Individual science teachers who have inspired colleagues to transform their classroom praxis have been labelled transformational leaders. As the notion of distributed leadership became more accepted in the educational literature, the focus on the individual teacher-leader shifted to the study of leadership praxis both by individuals (whoever they might be) and by collectives within schools and science classrooms. This review traces the trajectory of leadership research, in the context of learning and teaching science, from an individual focus to a dialectical relationship between individual and collective praxis. The implications of applying an individual-collective perspective to praxis for teachers, students and their designated leaders are discussed.

Pursuing better childhoods and futures through curriculum : utopian visions in the development of Australia’s early years learning framework

In recent years, globalised curriculum discourses have given rise to local curriculum texts that convey and produce particularised imaginings and narratives, as well as hopes for, and expectations of, young children, their childhoods and their futures. In this article, the authors employ concepts from utopian studies and Deleuzeguattarian concepts of assemblage, rhizomes and lines (supple, rigid and lines of flight) to undertake a preliminary and partial rhizomatic mapping of utopian visions of better childhoods and futures evident in the development of the Early Years Learning Framework, Australia’s first national curriculum for early childhood settings. Drawing on the perspective of policy makers, News Corporation, the public, politicians, academics and practitioners who shaped the development of the Framework, the authors seek alternatives to the well-rehearsed dichotomies that so often characterise and confine curriculum politics and debates, and ways of exploring spaces between the possible and not (yet) possible.

Exploring university-community partnerships in arts-based service learning with Australian First Peoples and Arts Organizations

In this chapter we focus on the importance of partnerships in arts-based service learning with Australian First Peoples and community arts organizations. Drawing on six years of our own partnership and a wide body of literature, this chapter aims to act as a trigger for further reflection on ways to engage in meaningful partnerships with First Peoples and arts organizations. In particular, the continuum between transactional and transformational types of relationships provides a useful means for understanding our work and for positioning the various benefits and challenges associated with university-community partnerships more broadly.

Teacher professional growth in an authentic learning environment

The last several decades have been marked by tremendous changes in education - technological, pedagogical, administrative, and social. These changes have led to considerable increments in the budgets devoted to professional development for teachers ~ with the express purpose of helping them accommodate their practices to the new realities oftheir classrooms. However, research has suggested that, in spite of the emphasis placed on encouraging sustained change in teaching practices, little has been accomplished. This begs the question of what ought to be done to not only reverse this outcome, but contribute to transformational change. The literature suggests some possibilities including: a) considering teachers as learners and applying what, is known about cognition and learning; b) modifying the location and nature ofprofessional development so that it is authentic, based in the classroom and focusing on tasks meaningful to the teacher; c) attending to the infrastructure underlying professional development; and d) ensuring opportunities for reflective practice. This dissertation looks at the impact of each ofthese variables through an analysis ofthe learning journeys of a group ofteachers engaged in a program called GrassRoots in one midsized school board in Ontario. Action research was conducted by the researcher in his role as consultant facilitating teacher professional growth around the use of Web sites as culminating performance tasks by students. Research focused on the pedagogical approach to the learning of the teachers involved and the infrastructure underlying their learning. Using grounded theory, a model for professional development was developed that can be used in the future to inform practices and, hopefully, lead to sustained transformational school change.

Teachers' professional learning within communities of mathematics-for-teaching practice

Ontario bansho is an emergent mathematics instructional strategy used by teachers working within communities of practice that has been deemed to have a transformational effect on teachers' professional learning of mathematics. This study sought to answer the following question: How does teachers' implementation of Ontario bansho within their communities of practice inform their professional learning process concerning mathematics-for-teaching? Two other key questions also guided the study: What processes support teachers' professional learning of content-for-teaching? What conditions support teachers' professional learning of content-for-teaching? The study followed an interpretive phenomenological approach to collect data using a purposive sampling of teachers as participants. The researcher conducted interviews and followed an interpretive approach to data analysis to investigate how teachers construct meaning and create interpretations through their social interactions. The study developed a model of professional learning made up of 3 processes, informing with resources, engaging with students, and visualizing and schematizing in which the participants engaged and 2 conditions, ownership and community that supported the 3 processes. The 3 processes occur in ways that are complex, recursive, nonpredictable, and contextual. This model provides a framework for facilitators and leaders to plan for effective, content-relevant professional learning by placing teachers, students, and their learning at the heart of professional learning.

From personal reflection to social positioning: the development of a transformational model of a professional education in midwifery

A transformational model of professional identity formation, anchored and globalized in workplace conversations, is advanced. Whilst the need to theorize the aims and methods of clinical education has been served by the techno-rational platform of 'reflective practice', this platform does not provide an adequate psychological tool to explore the dynamics of social episodes in professional learning and this led us to positioning theory. Positioning theory is one such appropriate tool in which individuals metaphorically locate themselves within discursive action in everyday conversations to do with personal positioning, institutional practices and societal rhetoric. This paper develops the case for researching social episodes in clinical education through professional conversations where midwifery students, in practice settings, are encouraged to account for their moment-by-moment interactions with their preceptors/midwives and university mentors. It is our belief that the reflection elaborated by positioning theory should be considered as the new epistemology for professional education where professional conversations are key to transformative learning processes for persons and institutions.

Reflective positioning : the impact of conversations in the social and cultural environment of midwifery practice settings on professional learning for students

Literature reviews on the topic of reflection and reflective practice encompassed midwifery, nursing, medicine, allied health, education and professional education. This investigation also included socio-psychological theories by leading authors such as Benner (nursing), Schön (professional education) and positioning theory by Harré and others. Positioning is a psycho-sociological ontology in which individuals metaphorically position themselves within three entities: people, institutions, and societies, where conversations are constructed and make an impact upon the social world. The social and cultural structures and interactions developed in Archer’s morphogenesis were examined in terms of the impact of possible encounters and the transformational effects of learning experiences in practice settings. These bodies of work provided the theoretical framework for the author’s research of students’ experiences in midwifery education for postgraduate students from which selected excerpts with three participating students and their supervising midwives are presented. These excerpts are related to reflective practices and the professional conversations conducted between students and midwives. It was found that reflective positioning applied in midwifery education by students can serve as an analytical tool in explaining social and cultural elements of clinical placements to influence and transform their learning. The potency of conversations that occur in everyday moment-to-moment interactions do contribute to students’ induction in professional midwifery practice and their identity formation as a midwife.

Leadership that promotes organizational learning : both sides of the coin

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how leadership has the capacity to both positively influence learning processes and negatively inhibit organizational learning.

Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper that brings together an analysis of leadership and organizational learning literature. The argument is centered on transformational leadership and the responsibility for creating an organizational learning culture.

Findings – There is a conventional belief that leaders have solitary control and influence when it comes to setting up organizational learning processes. However, a top-down approach to facilitate and implement learning in organizations is not always an effective method because learning should be a collaborative practice. Thus, to rely fully on leaders to initiate and sustain the learning processes can be counter-productive.

Practical implications – Good and effective leadership is the key to organizational learning. Learning is the only sustainable method of achieving competitive advantage for contemporary organizations because of rapidly changing environmental forces. Corporations with aspirations for long-term survival must facilitate, through their leadership, “the impulse to learn” amongst their members.

Originality/value – Knowledge is lacking in the area where leadership is linked to learning. Such knowledge is important because leaders play a central role in the learning framework and leaders also offer the required guidance for organizations to integrate and sustain learning processes through policy and practice.

Capacity-building in nonprofit organizations : Is there a blended learning paradigm for the sector?

Blended learning models are widely-used, successful training vehicles for e-learning and workplace training, in corporate as well as higher education environments. Increasingly, Web 2.0 applications, imbedded within blended learning models, are being recognized for their utility in these settings. Concern for the sustainability and relevance of nonprofit organizations has sharpened the interest in building effective capacity-building models for the sector. Can Web 2.0 technologies enhance capacity-building models in the Third Sector? Because blended learning is a remarkably adaptable and fluid model, its potential for transforming capacity-building models in the nonprofit sector is thought to be significant. This paper introduces the concept of transformational approaches to capacity-building and asks if blended learning paradigms that incorporate interactive next-generation technologies might strike a responsive chord in the sector. The authors present research to date on blended learning and capacity-building to lay the foundation for the introduction of one blended learning model for training and education in the nonprofit sector. While the authors suggest that blended learning, as it is evolving, is the key to driving innovation in capacity-building models, they recognize that tailoring blended learning to the audience is critical in achieving success. It is suggested that for optimal results, capacity-building efforts should be built on holistic approaches to the integration of individual self-actualization goals with mechanisms for organizational and sector empowerment, using the technologies imbedded with blended learning. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.