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TOWARD A GENERAL MODEL OF COLLECTIVE LEARNING: A CRITIQUE OF EXISTING MODELS OF SPECIFIC SOCIAL SYSTEMS AND A SKETCH OF A MODEL FOR SOCIAL SYSTEMS IN GENERAL
Abstract
This dissertation examines four models of particular social systems as systems which "learn," clarifies issues those models reveal, and uses those clarifications to suggest a preliminary model of collective learning by social systems in general. Models examined are the model of governmental learning by Karl Deutsch, the model of organizational learning by James March and Johan Olsen, the model of organizational learning by Chris Argyris and Donald Schon, and the model of societal learning by Jurgen Habermas. Each is assessed for its contribution and limits. The dissertation suggests that all social systems have enough in common to permit, at least in principle, the development of a general model of collective learning, discussing issues which any general model will have to address. These include questions of how to define collective learning, how to differentiate it from individual learning, and how to describe its dynamics. The dissertation suggests its own provisional responses to such issues in the form of a preliminary model.
Subject Area
Education
Recommended Citation
MCCLELLAN, JOHN, "TOWARD A GENERAL MODEL OF COLLECTIVE LEARNING: A CRITIQUE OF EXISTING MODELS OF SPECIFIC SOCIAL SYSTEMS AND A SKETCH OF A MODEL FOR SOCIAL SYSTEMS IN GENERAL" (1983). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI8401028.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI8401028