Developing People Module Assessment - Essay Example

?Running Head: Developing People Module Assessment Developing People Module Assessment [Institute’s Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Value of Reflective Practice 3 Learning Theory, HRD, and Organizational Learning 5 Broader Issues for Organizational Learning 9 Evidence of New Learning 12 References 15 DEVELOPING PEOPLE MODULE ASSESSMENT Value of Reflective Practice Briefly, as part of teaching and learning project and developing people module assessment, I went through the process of reflecting on my different practices that will be part of this paper. Although the sessions concluded in few minutes and/or hours, however, this process was not an hour effort but an outcome of several discussions that enabled me to perform this project successfully. After performing the role of a teacher, from this experience, I reflect that to be a good teacher, a person has to be a very good learner; without which, the teaching process does not result in effective learning. This has been similar with the whole process of critical reflection as has been described by different experts (Gardner & Fook, 2007, pp. 19-33). It is a personal belief that intentions and motives play a crucial role in success or failure of a teaching-learning process. Besides theoretical frameworks and formal objectives of education, it is very imperative for a teacher to believe in things that later become a part of any learning process. However, at the same time, it is essential for an effective teacher to avoid inclusion of biasness resulting in making teaching a very difficult process that often is considered a simple process that is not the case at all. From module readings, it is an observation that experts (Rodgers, 2002, pg. 845) have set the criteria for reflection as a meaning-making process, disciplined way of thinking, and a notion that requires attitudes and interaction with the community. From understanding of these researches and personal experiences, it is a belief that teaching is nothing but a reflection of reflection, in which a teacher has to endeavor to reflect on his/her own reflections while at the same time, equipping learners with capacity to reflect on their own. This is one of the reasons that in initial sections of this reflection, I inclined to consider teaching as a learning process itself. In addition, from further observations, I can reflect considerably that for an effective and efficient learning and reflective process, it is very imperative for teachers to consider needs, experiences, context, and attitudes of learners (Gardner & Fook, 2007, pp. 41-53). In other words, personally, the learning process cannot reach to its plinth when teachers focus more on subject matters rather than learners’ intelligences. One can associate this personal new insight with Gardner’s argument in which “he questioned the validity of determining an individual’s intelligence through the process of taking a person out of his natural learning environment and asking him to do isolated tasks he had never done before and probably would never choose to do again” (Armstrong, 1994, pg. 1). Particularly, a teacher has to play the role of a network hub in which he/she can allow the learners to bring and connect their own perceptions, experiences, and context in the learning process while at the same time, acting as an encoder, as well as decoder to understand and reflect on personal experiences of each learner. This may seem very unrealistic in theory; however, in classroom settings where teachers spend an extended period with the learners, this is possible and if implemented, may result in enriched learning experience. On the other hand, absence of such considerations may although enable a climber to reach to the mountain base with the help of a guide; however, may not equip him/her with skills to reach to peak and conquer the mountain without help of any guide and even without any oxygen support. A mountain guide can be a teacher or a facilitator, whereas, absence of oxygen support can be critical situations in life when an individual has to make decisions and act promptly. Reflecting on this understanding of the learning process that is imperative and essential for continuing professional development, current situation of the country is clear indication of education system’s failure that continued to focus on subject matters and overlooked the importance of learners’ needs and contexts resulting in the formation of a confused generation that is unaware of its own identity. Unfortunately, the teachers have not been able to create mountain conquerors but remained satisfied in producing a generation of followers rather than leaders. One can associate this with another learning theory that of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development as he defined, “the distance between a child’s actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the higher level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers” (Faulkner, Lilttleton & Woodhead, 1998, pg. 15). Learning Theory, HRD, and Organizational Learning For many decades, different experts, psychologists, and scholars have proposed different definitions and descriptions regarding learning and the way an organization learns and exists in a society. In this regard, one can come across many definitions as well as types of learning that has resulted in the status of ‘learning’ as a complicated and complex notion (Books, 2010, pp. 11-17). In today’s fast world of technology and competition, it has been an observation that in schools, as well as working organizations, people only give standing and reputation to academic performance of a person that is inappropriate. One of the major reasons of this disagreement is that from experiences of this module and other courses, I believe that academic learning is only one aspect of learning and focusing on only one aspect of a learner is injustice. In addition, studies have indicated that there is a lesser possibility of individuals performing extraordinarily in their lives whose focus remains only on academic learning. On the other hand, individuals focusing on other aspects of learning along with academic development seem to perform better than the above lot. From this understanding of learning theory (Ormrod, 2004, pp. 20-25), teachers can play a critical role by involving other stakeholders of the students, such as family members, friends, important members of the society, and government stakeholders in the teaching-learning process of individuals that will be helpful in the creation of a constructive environment in the society. Furthermore, analysis of literature (Ormrod, 2004, pp. 11-19) related to learning and human resource development has indicated that leaders, managers, and/or teachers should endeavor to ensure provision of learning opportunities to learners in a formal and/or non-formal environment. In the past, there was a major focus on individual learning where children of elite families used to get separate education. However, scholars have noted that nowadays, focus is inclining towards opportunities of working in groups and pairs that seem to play an influential role in effective human learning. In other words, educators and leaders are encouraged to work towards creating social relationships of individuals that enable them to identify hidden abilities and perform extraordinarily in their lives (Ormrod, 2004, pp. 20-25). Unfortunately, still a huge part of education system, as well as organizations that are working in HRD aspect are focusing on individual learning that is a major drawback of our society. In addition, social aspect gets significance only when it comes to the creation of social classes that is another drawback. Literature related to learning in schools as well as organizations has indicated that this creation of social classes begins at the school level where teachers make various divisions that result in the commencement of social influence on individual learning. In this regard, it is very imperative that educators and leaders must understand significance of this notion of human learning. As discussed earlier regarding importance of working in groups in classrooms and even organizations, another important factor due to which one should involving group discussions is its relation with emotional and social learning, as indicated by theorists, such as Erik Erickson and Maurice Elias (Ormrod, 2004, pp. 20-25). Group discussions allow individuals of different strengths and weaknesses to interact with one another and enhance their capabilities and abilities in an unexpected positive manner that often remains limited when focus is only on academic methodology. Albert Bandura, a famous psychologist of his era, advocated the same. He has been very popular on his propositions related to social learning and cognitive learning. He was one of the psychologists who gave detailed ideas in the form of a theory regarding development of a child and the process of evolution an individual goes through in his life. Analysis of literature related to Albert Bandura (Ormrod, 2007, pp. 54-59) has indicated that he was supporter of the idea that schools’ responsibility does not end with the delivery of academic knowledge only and that school must perform a greater role that can result in a long-term effect on the learners. Primarily, Bandura’s Social Learning Theory (Ormrod, 2007, pp. 44-57) focused on human learning through observations. He indicated that man is a social animal, who likes to live among people, and this habit of living with people has resulted in a likeness of imitating one another and that is how humans evolve and learn from observations and experiences. In this regard, when an individual observes something or someone, he/she tries to imitate the same to achieve the desirable results that happen after an organized arrangement of cognitive processes. This imitation involves memorization and retention that resembles with aspects of few other learning theories, such as cognitive learning theory and behaviorist theory (Learning-Theories, 2008). In this regard, social learning theory can be very effective in filling the loopholes of these two theories. Further analysis of Bandura’s learning theory, as well as the other two theories has indicated that motivation (Learning-Theories, 2008) is another important factor that makes a lot of difference when it comes to ensuring long-term learning of individuals, especially when it is about adopting a behavior or ensuring effective evolution of a personality. Analysis of the learning theories along with experience and observations during the module has identified few variable factors that play and can continue to play an influential role in human learning. In other words, they will be very helpful if considered during teaching and learning process in classrooms, as well as in organizations during human resource development procedures. Primarily, behavior is the first variable that is followed by the personal variable. Behavior of the individual and behavior of people around him/her can cause significant influence of human learning. In addition, personal variable indicates preferences of a person that is more about likeness of the learner and vice versa (Frick, 1991, pp. 22-31). In other words, every learner comes from a different social, cultural, and economic background resulting in different choices, wants, needs, desires, and ethical values that indicates the significance of this variable. Thirdly, environment (Frick, 1991, pp. 22-31) plays an imperative role in success or failure of human learning whether it is a classroom or an organizational setting, environmental influences process of learning in an incomparable manner. In the past, only school/educational building and the environment within its boundaries was considered the appropriate environment for learning; however, recent studies have indicated that educators can play a decisive role in encouraging effective learning anywhere and everywhere, and that will be my approach in the future. Broader Issues for Organizational Learning Since few decades, there has been an increasing concentration on the notion of organizational learning and learning organization; however, very little significance was given on assessment and measurement of both concepts while previous studies (Hedberg, 1981, pp. 25-30) and analysis remained prescriptive and descriptive rather than innovative and adaptive. From brief understanding of such notions through module readings and discussions, it has been an observation that various experts have espoused their models and theoretical frameworks (Argyris & Schon, 1978, pp. 22-24); however, their models depended more on mystical expressions rather than ground realities. For instance, in 1990s, Peter Senge (1990, pg. 3) defined learning organizations as “places where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together.” He also proposed “systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, and team learning” (Senge, 1990, pp. 3-5) as tools to create such places. Similarly, Dr. Daniel Denison (1990) gave a model to characterize a learning organization by proposing elements of mission, consistency, adaptability, and involvement. Abovementioned definitions seem too abstract and there is an immense need to answer several questions to eradicate ambiguity that has been one of the major reasons of failure of organizations to ensure human resource development and transform into learning organizations, whereas, aim of becoming a learning community remains concealed yet today. Analysis of the literature (Brown & Duguid, 1991) has indicated that although there exist many hurdles; however, an organization can achieve a convincing vision by facing challenging forces. From theoretical lens, one can observe few factors that have obstructed the image of a real learning organization that needs to be considered before coming up with concrete definition of a learning organization that are provision of an ideal world while overlooking ground-reality, more focus on the leaders rather than employees, and thirdly, lack of assessment tools during HRD processes. In presence of such factors, any organization can claim itself as a learning organization resulting in deterioration of standard of learning organization, as well as organizational learning in that particular society, which seems to have happened in context of our education system. Further research and deliberation has revealed few characteristics that are significant for a learning organization. Firstly, a learning organization always offers an environment that supports learning. One can relate this to the Denison model (1990) where the element of adaptability remains significant that is essential for supporting learners and their learning. However, to achieve this characteristic, it is very imperative for the organization to acquire expertise that may allow it to differentiate between the different levels of single-loop, double-loop, and metacognition learning (Leithwood, & Aitken, 1995, pp. 18-23). Unfortunately, this becomes possible only with second characteristic that is solid learning processes and practices. Again, relating it with Denison model (1990), one can come across the element of consistency that allows comprehensive understanding of the term ‘solid’, whereas, at the same time, it is essential to distinguish between processes and practices. Particularly, processes always come to an end, whereas, practices indicate continuation of the processes towards a shared vision or objective. One of the major reasons of failure of organizations is that they are unable to distinguish between the two that causes eradication of ‘sustainability’ that is the most significant notion, which enables an organization to become a learning organization, and most importantly, a learning organization to transform into a learning community. Another important characteristic or factor that enables creation of a learning organization and that will be helpful in developing strategies for HRD is the inspiring behavior of leadership that inculcates elements of mission and vision into each aspect of the learning organization. Particularly, leadership has the responsibility to ensure alteration of behaviors of learners by providing them with individual, as well as collective learning experiences that subsequently results in a change in their mindsets, finally revealing in their practices. Here, it is essential to reflect on the nature of leadership that is imperative for a learning organization. Analysis of the literature has indicated significance of the notion of ‘distributed leadership’ (Mulford, Silins, & Leithwood, 2005, pp. 75-88) that seems the most appropriate form of leadership required for the existence of a learning organization. The term distributed refers to the concept of sharing that is an important feature of a learning organization where leaders intend to promote shared vision, shared values, and subsequently, sharing or collective learning. More particularly, the term of distributed leadership indicates distribution of authority as well, which consequently, results in the distribution of responsibility, and thus, accountability as well. It has been an observation from module sessions and discussions that both public and private organizations that promote their own accountability are more likely to transform into learning organizations. Organizations having the form of distributed leadership directly or indirectly create responsible learners, and more appropriately, change agents that work towards a shared vision and mission while taking initiatives to enhance the level of adaptability in their organizations. Another imperative characteristic that comes up due to distributed leadership is the distributed intelligence that allows the stakeholders to transform their organization into a learning community by integrating sustainability in their organizational culture. From above discussion and deliberation, it is an understanding that most of the organizations are aware of how to create a learning organization and have effective human resource development; however, there is ambiguity between differentiations of learning organization and organizational learning that creates issues. Moreover, implementation is another major factor that still needs clarification, which will enable organizations to provide a practical framework to become efficient learning organizations by learning and adapting change through shared experiences. Evidence of New Learning This module was combination of both teaching and learning experiences that inclined me to think from a different lens that I had never used before. The teaching process entailed delivery of different learning sessions that was an eye-opener to understand significance of different notions that have already been discussed in this paper. From personal observations and discussions with my colleagues, it has been an understanding that it is not essential that teachers may achieve their objective completely and there is a possibility of achieving it to a lesser extent. In addition, one of the major challenges that I faced during the module was unawareness regarding the context, classroom environment, and level of audience that did not allow us to consider objectives appropriately. However, this unawareness and the lesson’s experience provided me learning that a teacher should always have a backup plan in terms of assessment, and that lesson plan is never a final word that cannot be altered during the lesson. In this regard, if given the same reference, I would have considered creating a backup teaching plan that would have allowed us in the pair to assess learners more effectively in the classroom settings and the similar can be carried out in organizational settings. Another learning that I would like to share is that before this module, I was always dependent on technologies to deliver my lessons; however, I gladly appreciate the efficacy of assessment strategies that enabled me to assess behaviors and performance of the learners and it also allowed learners to evaluate themselves in terms of their understanding regarding different notions. At the same time, it agitated me to contemplate on assumptions that I as a teacher was usually making about my learners in the classroom. Moreover, it led me to an understanding of efficacy of different strategies that can play the role of a co-teacher and enable the teacher to inspire learners in terms of acquiring higher-order skills that I believe is the urgent need of our education system that has been relying heavily on lower order skills causing failure and chaos in the society. From brief analysis, it has been a concrete understanding that it is very imperative for teachers to create an environment in the classroom and similarly leaders in an organizations that can allow learners to apply or at least understanding the relativity of notions in their daily lives. At the same time, experiences from the module facilitated me to assess notions and beliefs that exist in unconscious mind of learners, and from personal observations and understanding, they play a very influential and crucial role in learning of students holistically. Secondly, scrutiny of learning and HRD strategies that were implemented during the module has resulted in another inquiry and more of a realization that it is good to be ambitious; however, a teacher should endeavor to be a reflective practitioner in terms of assessing and evaluating effectiveness of the implementation of strategies in own classroom. The dilemma is teachers usually focus on behavior and responses of students in the classroom while considering achievement of lower order skills learning as a success factor. However, implementation of such strategies should be done in a manner that may allow teachers to assess his/her own methodologies and pedagogies, as I believe it plays a greater role in ensuring learning of students. References Argyris, C., & Schon, D. 1978. Organizational Learning: A theory of action perspective. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Armstrong, T. 1994. The Foundations of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Virginia: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. Books. 2010. Social Learning Theory: Observational Learning, Asocial Cognition, Imitation, Emulation, and Cognitive Imitation. New York: General Books. Brown, J. S., & Duguid, P. 1991. "Organizational learning and communities of practice: Toward a unified view of working, learning, and innovation." Organization Science. Volume 2, pp. 40–47. Dar-El, Ezey M. 2000. Human Learning. New York: Springer. Denison, D. R. 1990. Corporate Culture and Organizational Effectiveness. New York: Wiley. Frick, W. B. 1991. Personality Theories: Journeys Into Self: An Experimental Workbook. New York: Teachers College Press. Gardner, F. and Fook, Jan. 2007. Practising Critical Reflection. New York: McGraw-Hill International. Hedberg, B. 1981. “How organizations learn and unlearn.” In P. C. Nystrom & W. H. Starbuck Eds., Handbook of Organizational Design. London: Oxford University Press. Learning-Theories. 2008. Social Learning Theory (Bandura). Retrieved from www.learning-theories.com on April 29, 2011. Leithwood, K. & Aitken, R. 1995. “What is a Learning Organization?” In making Schools Smarter: A System for Mentoring School and District Progress. California Crown Press. Mulford, W., Silins, H., Leithwood, K. A. 2005. Educational Leadership for Organisational Learning and Improved Student Outcomes. London: Springer. Ormrod, J. E. 2004. Human Learning. London: Prentice Hall. Ormrod, J. E. 2007. Human Learning. New York: Pearson Prentice Hall. Rodgers, C. 2002. “Defining Reflection.” Teachers College Record. Volume 104, No. 4, pp. 842-866. Senge, P. M. 1990. The Fifth Discipline. New York: Random House. Wertsch, J. V., Tulviste, P. 1998. “L. S. Vygotsky and contemporary developmental psychology.” in Faulkner, D., Littleton, K., and Woodhead, M. Eds., Learning Relationships in the Classroom. London: Routledge. Read More