Grundling Continuing Professional Learning As A Means Of Creating A Learning Culture In A Distance Learning EnvironmentPapers Presented at the 1st National NADEOSA Conference Held 11

Papers Presented at the 1st National NADEOSA Conference
Held 11-13 August 1999

Author:
Dayalan Govender and Jean Grundling of Technikon SA

Title:
Continuing Professional Learning As A Means Of Creating A Learning Culture In A Distance Learning Environment

1. INTRODUCTION
As we move into the new millennium/the 21st century many countries are becoming increasingly aware of the mounting external pressures of global competitiveness and of the internal demands of their people for peace, prosperity and a better quality of life. Demands are made for more effective and efficient systems of education and training/training and development to meet the overlapping needs of governments, of industry and commerce and of individuals. Resources are limited while the learner/worker profile is becoming more complex and the quality requirements more exacting. Much more has to be done far better with much less.

A complete re-think as to how, when, and where learning takes place is required if we are to meet the current social and economic challenges. The needs of governments, educational institutions, employers, communities and the individual learner/worker need to be taken into account (Moore, 1997:1-2).

Since the early 1990’s there has been evidence of a paradigm shift from a focus on teaching and training to ongoing and innovative learning via delivery and learner-centred environments in higher education institutions (Baron & Hanisch, s.a.:9). Baron and Hannisch (s.a.:13) further argues that andragogy, flexible learning and learning organisations are interrelated and as a flexible distance learning institution TSA has a responsibility towards all stakeholders to establish a learning culture and we see continuing professional learning as the vehicle to achieve this.

In this paper we will look into various aspects of learning and development at Technikon SA (TSA) and will propose a strategic plan for continuing professional learning.

2. THE CONCEPT OF CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

There are so many definitions of/viewpoints on continuing professional education and it can lead to either confusion or overlapping. We’ll attempt to demystify this.

According to Jarvis (1995:25) continuing education has long been a popular idea among people concerned with the education of adults and it has different names, i.e. education permanente, lifelong education, recurrent education, etc. Jarvis (1995:28) further describes continuing education as a term which refers specifically to post-initial education which includes both vocational and non-vocational education. It can thus be seen as all forms of in-service training.

Houle in Jarvis (1995:28) refers to continuing professional education as continuing learning while Cervero in Jarvis (1995:28) sees continuing professional education as a significant area of educational activity. Apps in Jarvis (1995:28) cites the definition of continuing education provided by the Accrediting Commission of the Continuing Education Council of the United States as: the further development of human abilities after entrance into employment or voluntary activities. It includes in-service, upgrading and updating education. Continuing education is concerned primarily with broad personal and professional development.

Knox (1989:275) sees continuing education as the process of systematic learning to prepare for the field of practice and to maintain proficiency in a context of changing knowledge base and practice. An adjunct of evolving professional careers is a continuum of preparatory and continuing education to enable practitioners to progress from novice to expert.

Watkins (1995:3-9) on the other hand is of the opinion that workplace learning is the largest adult education endeavour and it is experiencing high-speed, exponentially escalating changes. Workplace learning includes terms such as training and human resource development, job-related instruction, etc. Nadler in Watkins (1995:3) defines workplace learning as all those activities that develop people as resources for organisations, but it can be multi-faceted namely, consultants, tuition, reimbursement programs, in-house training programs, external continuing education programs, self-directed learning programs, quality teams, study teams, etc.

Kapp (1994:3) refers to staff development as all activities, actions, processes and procedures that an organisation develops or uses to enhance the performance and the potential of its human resources.

From all these viewpoints we can come to some conclusions and for the purpose of this article we will refer to continuing professional learning.

A conceptual framework of our view of continuing professional learning at TSA:

3. THE LEARNING ORGANISATION

3.1 What is a learning organisation?

According to Bennet and O’Brien (1994:42) a learning organisation is an organisation that has woven a continuous and enhanced capacity to learn, adapt and change into its culture. Its values, policies, practices, systems and structures support and accelerate learning for all employees. That learning results in continuous improvement in areas such as work processes, products and services, the structure and function of individual jobs, teamwork and effective management practices.

The effect of organisational learning is change and improvement in both the organisation and the individual employees. Organisational learning is about learning that actually results in such improvements. Two types of learning are distinguished, namely:

adaptive learning which refers to learning for the purpose of adapting to what is known. This type of learning focuses on adapting its products, services and work processes to meet the evolving needs of its clients.

generative learning is purposeful learning and changing in order to anticipate what might happen. It means going beyond just fixing problems to seeking continuously for more creative solutions.

3.2 Characteristics/building blocks of a learning organisation

We studied the principles identified by Watkins (1995:8) and realised that there is a close relation between these principles and the characteristics/building blocks of a learning organisation. Similarities could be found in the following aspects:

group/team learning strategies
vision-oriented
establishing learning opportunities
enhance transfer of learning
promoting dialogue

The building blocks as adapted from Bennet and O’Brien (1994:42-49):

BUILDING BLOCKS
Strategy/vision	The people need to know where the organisation want to go and the strategy/vision should support and promote organisation learning. If the people feel part of the futurising they will be more productive and dedicated.
Executive practices	Leaders are responsible to create and lead an environment that enables people to be productive and provides opportunities for personal development and self-fulfillment.
Managerial practices	Leaders’/managers’ approach should be one of change, communication at all levels and management by people as adults.
Climate	Refers to the sum of the values and attitudes of everyone in the organisation regarding the way people are suppose to behave in the workplace. A learning organisation adopts a climate of openness and trust where people are unafraid to share their ideas and speak their minds. Barriers between managers and employees are eliminated and, ideally, everybody works together to support the collective well-being.
Organsiation/job structure	An organisation’s structure can support continuous learning by allowing for fluid job descriptions that respond to the changing demands of the external environment, as well as to the needs of the organisation itself. Practices such as rotating assignments and using self-directed, cross-functional work teams promote this flexibility.
Information flow	Learning-oriented organisations use advanced technology to obtain and distribute information. Their computer systems promote easy communication among employees and ensure that all workers get information relevant to their jobs. Very important, however, is that the quality of the information should be more important than the quantity.
Individual and team practices	Organisations thrive when individuals and teams share their learning, when they see mistakes as learning opportunities and not as reasons to blame or punish, when they take responsibility for their own learning, and when they discuss problems honestly and work toward solutions. In learning organisations, people also share expertise through informal conversations and not necessarily by reading manuals/reports, etc.
Work processes	Organisations should be careful not to encourage learning through its vision and its information systems, but do not give the opportunities for continuous learning. Organisations can teach people problem-solving techniques and promote learning from others through benchmarking.
Performance goals	The value of learning lies in its ability to help the organisation serve its clients better. To build an organisation that uses learning as a tool to achieve that end, look at how well your performance goals and your performance appraisal system support the needs of the clients. Feedback from the clients is very important to ensure that the organisation’s goals and its learning are focused in the right direction.
Training and development	Structured training and education efforts play a key role in transforming an organisation’s practices. Training is a component of change and growth, but on-the-job learning and learning from mistakes are some of the more frequently mentioned practices of learning organisations. In learning organisations, formal training programs focus on helping people learn from their own and other’s experience and becoming more creative problem-solvers. Another innovative approach is the learning-by-doing/action(-reflection) learning, which allows people to learn new skills and solve real problems at the same time.
Individual/team development	Learning organisations offer opportunities for individuals to develop, but it also promote the development of teams. Organisations can learn only if teams learn collectively forming communities of practice that continuously reinvent their work and which will lead to individual empowerment.
Rewards/recognition	Reward and recognition systems must support and encourage individual and organisational learning. Critical questions to be asked are: Do we support people for taking risks and developing themselves, or do we punish mistakes? Do we recognise them for meeting challenges and solving problems, or do we discourage innovation?

4. THE NEED FOR CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING IN ESTABLISHING A LEARNING CULTURE

Watkins has an interesting viewpoint on workplace learning and it is according to this explanation that we see the twofold role of Technikon SA (TSA) regarding continuing professional learning (which includes workplace learning), namely as an organisation and as an open distance learning institution. TSA has a responsibility towards its staff (both academic and support), learners, partners, employers, etc. The people need the skills, knowledge, information, etc. to be effective and to make an impact on the competitive market in which it is functioning.

According to Houle (1989:7-13) every professional has a need to be able to carry out his/her duties according to the highest possible standards of character and competence and one way to meet this need is to engage in lifelong study and to achieve its greatest potential, continuing education must fulfil the promise of its name and be truly continuing - not casual, spuradic or opportunistic. This fact means essentially that it must be self-directed and each professional must be the ultimate monitor of his/her own learning, controlling the stable or shifting design of its continuity. Houle (1989:13) further argues that continuing education must be based not only on content-oriented goals of keeping up with the new development; it must also be designed to facilitate changes in life patterns or career lines.

According to Fryer (1997:47) learning at the workplace will need to accommodate the needs and interests of a variety of stakeholders, including employees, employers, customers, government and providers. It will contribute to competitiveness, skills enhancement, employability and capacity to deal with change.

We support the view of Thompson in Armstrong, Thompson & Brown (1997:2) that the culture of lifelong learning forms the foundation for new models facing radical changes in higher learning institutions. The reasons for this are:

new knowledge is being required at a greater rate than ever before, so that knowledge gained only a short while ago is useless or obsolete.
advances in technology are accelerating at a rate unimagined ten years ago, and the workforce is having to change constantly to keep up to date.

This supports the factors which contribute to the need for staff development as set out by Kapp (1994:1-2). We feel that if TSA is serious about transforming to a learning organisation and being on the cutting edge the following will have to receive serious attention:

The increasing diversity of student populations resulting from more open access to higher education.
Greater demands for accountability from the community and from funding agencies as higher education becomes more expensive.
The emergence of performance appraisal systems which ought to be aimed at improving performance.
The challenge of maintaining standards when quality and excellence is part of an institutions mission and opening access is the policy.
The increasing number of part-time staff.
More and more professions have to some degree become involved in higher education and demand some input in the curriculum. They would also want to know and have evidence that the training/education for their professions is done by professionals in a professional way.

5. PROPOSED STRATEGIC PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AT TSA

5.1 A proposed model

We suggest some serious learning interventions for academic staff as well as support staff, but this will mean that TSA should commit itself to change from a bureaucratic, hierarchical institution to an intelligent, learning organisation and create continuous learning opportunities for its staff (both academic and support). We have to ask this critical question - have the staff and the learners been at any stage formally informed on and trained about flexible and open learning, what it means to them and where they fit into the structure/system?

Both parties will benefit if they have a clear understanding of this issue - the learners will understand that they are adult learners and should be able to master and demonstrate certain competencies while the staff (both academic and support) will be enabled to offer a better learner-oriented service.

The abovementioned model will assist in creating a climate in which individual members are encouraged to learn and to develop their full potential. It will also extend a learning culture to include customers, suppliers and other significant stakeholders. It will make the human resources development (people development) strategy central to business policy and will stimulate a continuous process of organisational transformation. According to Pedler et al. in Armstrong, Thompson & Brown (1997:160-161) this is exactly what a learning organisation is about.

The interventions in the abovementioned model can be illustrated as follows:

STAFF

A key issue will be to involve staff and learners in their own processes where pockets of excellence can be created between staff and between learners. The interventions will thus play an important role. According to Kapp (1994:3-5) a variety of staff development (in our situation continuing professional learning) approaches can be followed. From his summary we suggest the following approaches to be implemented at TSA:

retraining (learning and unlearning) of staff in a variety of categories;
renewing staff through growth planning;
the use of teaching/training/learning consultants to assist individual staff member with relevant issues;
establishing a learning centre as a visible physical and pragmatic gathering of human, literary and technical resources;
establishing a mentoring system for junior staff by senior staff, developed in different phases;
a cascades program where individual staff members of departments are trained to establish a staff development program within each department;

individualised packages on specialised topics for staff members to work through at their own pace;

learner feedback systems which provide a data base on learners’ perceptions of a course and the way it is facilitated.

This will have a major impact on the institution and its vision. In doing this we will have to make full use of technological support systems. We need to build capacity and create awareness and a yearning for learning with staff and our learners. This calls for an integrated and holistic approach to learning at TSA.

These models compliment the Capacity Building and Development (CBD) Policy Statement of TSA. This statement refers to all those activities that focus on organisational competence (the enabling environment, skills, culture and climate) and competent and empowered people (with the right knowledge, skills and attitudes) in order to ensure a value-adding learning environment as a competitive advantage. Furthermore the CBD forms an integral part of a total system and an integrated part of helping learners and staff to become lifelong learners in their own environments and is aimed at the establishment and support of a performance culture, aligned with the vision, mission and values of TSA.

The following criteria are set for the interventions:

competency-based
performance-based
needs-based
integrative
focused on adding internal value

After we got the people involved (learners/staff) we can work on specific processes and resources needed in getting the flexible learning strategy right. Our motivation for starting with staff and learners is confirmed by Hinett Bell, Bowden & Trott (1997:258) where the following is stated:

* traditional assessment should be deconstructed.

* assessment needs to be flexible.

* reflectivity should be facilitated.

* learners need to take responsibility.

* academics should understand learners perceptions of teaching and learning and this is crucial to the facilitation of learning in a system of mass higher education.

* personal development in a reflective and flexible manner is to be fostered.

6. RECOMMENDATIONS

As part of the implementation strategy we make the following recommendations:

A clear policy framework to be developed for continuing professional learning.
An audit for learning potential in the institution.
A separate unit for continuing professional learning should be developed (an Institute for Higher and Adult Learning?) to start the process, build capacity and cascade.
Effective leadership in this unit is very important and this should include direct access to the top management seen as this integral to developing and fostering a learning organisation (institution).
Learning programmes should offer a diversity of opportunities and methods and all these learning activities should stimulate enthusiasm and involve participants. Much of the learning can take place on the job if facilitated in the correct manner.
Visibility on campus should be maintained by effective marketing strategies as well as continuous evaluations and an annual report to opinion formers.
New staff members will need help in developing basic competencies and in coping with time pressure. Orientation learning programmes and effective assessment strategies should form an integral part of this continuous professional learning.
A culture of lifelong learning where academics, staff and all involved with the institution should become learners again need to be established and fostered.

Self-learning opportunities to be created.

6. CONCLUSION

The vision is there. It needs to be shared with the people, commitment must be facilitated, ownership must be taken in order for the necessary culture change to take place. Only then the transformation towards a flexible higher education institution and a lifelong learning institution will be able to proceed. In this way TSA will also be enabled to impact on our suggested model and play a leading role in adult learning and flexible learning realising its vision and the vision of developing the human/people resources in Southern Africa. We conclude in sharing the view of Professor Nick Kok (1998:6-7) that technikons should be ready to face all the exciting challenges and adapt their working styles by introducing new methods and procedures or face the problem of becoming irrelevant in higher education in the future. In other words adapt or ...

LIST OF REFERENCES CONSULTED

Armstrong, S., Thompson, G. & Brown, S. 1997. Facing up to radical changes in universities and colleges. London: Kogan Page.

Baron, J. & Hanisch, J. s.a. Educating for a virtual world.

Bell, C., Bowden, M. & Trott, A. 1997. Implementing Flexible Learning. London: Kogan Page.

Buitendacht, A.J.H. 1997. The Practice of Open Distance Learning (ODL) to facilitate work-based earning: working to learn; learning to work.

Fryer, R.H. 1997. Learning for the Twenty-first Century. First report of the National Advisory Group for Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning. November.

Grote, B. s.a. Innovative client focused workplace education.

Houle, C.O. 1989. Continuing Learning in Professions. San-Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Human Resource Department. 1998. Organisational Capacity Building and Development (CBD) Policy and Strategy. Guidelines: within a framework of Flexible Learning. Florida: Technikon SA.

Jarvis, P. 1995. Adult and Continuing Education. London: Routledge.

Kapp, C.A. 1994. Policies, practices and procedures in staff development in higher education: Results of an international survey. (In: Adey, D. Steyn, P. Herman, N. & Scholtz, G. eds. 1994. State of the Art in higher education: Limited congress of the South African Association for Research and Development in Higher Education (SAARDHE) 13-15 June 1994. Pretoria: University of South Africa, pp.1-12.

Knox, A. B. 1989. Strengthening Adult and Continuing Education. San-Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Kok, N.J. 1998. Adapt or ...? - Future challenges for technikons. Tempo (Vaal Triangle Technikon). 6-7, June/July.

Moore, D.M. 1997. Technology, Education and Economic Development (Paper presented at the 13th Commonwealth Conference of Education Ministers parallel convention Education and Technology in the Commonwealth: Making the Transition: Held in July 1997 at Gaborone, Botswana.)

South Africa (Republic). 1997. The Skills Development Bill (Notice 1296 of 1997). Pretoria: Government Printer.

Watkins, K.E. 1995. Workplace Learning: Changing Times, Changing Practices. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. 68:3-16, Winter.

NADEOSA Homepage | Ist NADEOSA Conference Papers Index |
Global Distance Education Network : South African Resources

Send comments on the web site to the web designer