CSAP INSTITUTE FOR PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Track: Organizational Development
Subject: A. Use of Learning
Activity: A.9: Learning Comes From

• Share personal stories about sources of learning
• Consider ways to help organizations to value sources of knowledge (that may be traditional, nontraditional, conventional, unconventional, often accessed, or seldom accessed).

• Question Sheet

Approximate Time: 2 hours

Group Size: Small group

• Introduction 5 minutes
• Individual Work: Thinking About
• Learning, Doing and Teaching 45 minutes
• Group Dialogue 65 minutes
• Summary 5 minutes

I. Introduction

A. Review the objectives and instructions for this activity.

B. Make sure a copy of the Question Sheet is attached.

C. Your group may want to select a facilitator to help keep the group dialogue moving.

II. Individual Work: Thinking About Learning, Doing, and Teaching

A. Before the group dialogue, spend some time individually answering the questions on the Question Sheet. The questions are designed to stimulate your thinking about where learning comes, where and how you have gained the knowledge and experience that you have, and how organizations might better use the learning of their members.

III. Group Dialogue

IV. Summary

A. Spend a few minutes at the end of the session writing notes to yourself in your Facilitation Guide. If you have ideas to improve this activity, please complete "Hints for This Session" and give to a track facilitator.

B. Please return any unused materials to the activity box.

Question Sheet

1. What is learning to you?
2. What is teaching?
3. In what way do you learn best? (For example, are you a visual learner, do you prefer to learn by doing or by reading?) How does your style influence how you share information with or "teach" others?
4. How does your cultural background shape the way that you learn? How does your cultural background shape the way that you share information or teach?
5. How does your gender influence the way that you learn? How does it influence the way that you share information or teach others?
6. Think back to your childhood. What are the different, positive ways that adults in your life helped you to learn (outside of school)?
7. What does wisdom mean to you? Where is the wisdom in your community?
8. Often, in organizations, we speak of some people as being "better educated," "well educated," or "more skilled" than others.
   • a. What do those phrases mean?
   • b. What does the meaning imply about how organizations may view the learning of organizational members? How does the meaning influence one's valuing and appreciating others' knowledge and experience?
9. One theory of learning says that there are seven types of intelligence: musical, logical-mathematical, verbal, intrapersonal, spatial-relational, physical-kinesthetic, and interpersonal.
   • a. Do you think that intelligence comes in many different forms?
   • b. If yes, which forms do you think American society values the most? Which are the ones used most in conventional educational settings?
   • c. Where is the value placed in your Partnership? What impact does this have on the use of learning within your Partnership?
10. What are the personal barriers you have that stand in the way of your valuing the learning, knowledge, experience, and skills of other people? What might you do about these barriers?
11. What are the barriers in society or in the community that stand in the way of valuing the learning, knowledge, experience, and skills of other people? What might be done about these barriers?
12. Are there areas in which you have a lot of knowledge that could help the work of the Partnership, but the Partnership members don't know about? If yes, what has kept you from sharing your knowledge?