Evaluation in the Learning Organization.ppt

Evaluation in the Learning Organization Professor Peter Dahler-Larsen, PhD Dept. of Political Science and Public Management University of Southern Denmark An interesting alliance? evaluation Systematic, data-based judgment about public activities and their outcomes, with the intent of influencing practical decisions Many socio-historical forms and names Shaped by social conditions of possibility… Shaping social reality… learning Rich concept… Today: popular, should take place all the time, anywhere, ”up for graps” Cognition + Progression An interesting alliance? Evaluation in the learning organization cannot be viewed in isolation from the society in which it is embedded References Peter Dahler-Larsen (2008): Kvalitetens Beskaffenhed. Syddansk Universitetsforlag 2008 Peter Dahler-Larsen (2008): Learning-oriented educational evaluation in contemporary society. In: Cousins and Ryan: Handbook of Educational Evaluation. Sage (in press) Peter Dahler-Larsen (2007): Constitutive effects of performance indicator systems. In: S. Kushner (ed.): Dilemmas of engagement: Evaluation development under NPM and the New Politics. New York: Elsevier. Peter Dahler-Larsen (2008): Intern og l?ringsorienteret evaluering. Kognition og P?dagogik, nr. 67 (pp. 12-19). Outline Evaluation in the Learning Organization The ideal and its limitations Evaluation in Reflexive Modernization Evaluation in the Audit Society Four Purposes of Evaluation Control/accountability Learning/development Increasing knowledge base Informing the public Characteristics of learning organizations A precise language to describe problems A tolerance for error Open communication channels Multiple perspectives Shared understandings Curiosity Experiments Appropriate pace of change Cultural assumptions can be challenged (2. order) Integrated learning cycle … The ideal… The conditions for learning + Continuous self-observation and reflection = Continuous organizational self-transformation (collective, cognitio