Doctoral Degrees (Education Policy Studies)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Education Policy Studies) by Author "Beukes, Cecil Joseph"

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    A critical-hermeneutical inquiry of schools as learning organisations
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010-12) Beukes, Cecil Joseph; Van Wyk, B.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this critical-hermeneutical inquiry into schools as learning organisations I use the service provision model of the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) as an exemplification of the concept of a learning organisation. In this inquiry, which is conceptual in nature, I explore whether their service provision model is sufficient to turn schools into learning organisations. With the establishment of Education Management and Development Centres (EMDCs) in the Western Cape, the WCED expressed its intention to develop schools in the Western Cape into learning organisations. I do a literature review to develop a conceptual framework of a learning organisation. From the literature review I constructed five constitutive meanings of a learning organisation. These meanings serve as conceptual lenses to explore how schools can be developed into learning organisations. Furthermore, I analyse some of the WCED service provision policies against the five constitutive meanings. These constitutive meanings include quality, inclusivity, collaborative teamwork, communication and power, which determine if the WCED policies are consistent with its objective to develop schools into learning organisations. Through my analysis I found that the WCED‟s policies are not compatible with all constitutive meanings. This led me to conclude that the WCED‟s understanding of a learning organisation is fundamentally and conceptually flawed as the WCED‟s service provision model operates within a controlled and regulated environment at the expense of internal school development. Interviews and the interpretation of data further reveal that the WCED‟s service provision model is not adequate to develop schools into learning organisations. This flawed understanding may have resulted partly in the WCED‟s adoption of a single, unitary managerialist approach to their service provision model because of the strong emphasis on compliance rather than cooperation that should exist between schools and the WCED. Based on the constitutive meanings I constructed for a learning organisation, I conclude that a managerialist approach serves the WCED‟s interest more than it serves the interest of teachers and classroom practice. The main argument of this study is that a communicative deliberative idea of democracy could reconceptualise the WCED‟s inadequate understanding of a learning organisation. A key aspect of developing schools into learning organisations may begin with instituting better lines of communication which should include elements like reflexive discussion, communicative freedom, consensus and decision-making processes. These elements form the basis of what constitutes a learning organisation. This reconceptualised notion of a learning organisation can best be done through deliberative democracy with its emphasis on public argumentation with equal opportunity with the aim of arriving at an agreed judgement. This study suggests that the WCED adopts a communicative deliberative idea of democracy as a notion of communication which is a more ideal vehicle that could assist in developing schools into learning organisations.