From climate to community: a new approach to conceptualizing the relational element of organizational learning

Abstract

PurposeExisting conceptualizations of organizational learning focus on processes and structures while also acknowledging a social element, usually framed as bringing people together through formal structures. While much scholarship notes that school culture mediates organizational learning, culture is often relegated to the realm of context. Affective and relational components of organizational learning remain undertheorized. The authors argue that attending more closely to the relational component of organizational learning will offer new insights into the enactment of organizational learning in schools.Design/methodology/approachThe study briefly discusses schools of thought regarding organizational learning. It also summarizes extant conceptualizations of school climate and culture, laying these alongside the sense of community (SOC) framework (McMillan and Chavis, 1986). Utilizing prior research, it illustrates the value of bringing this framework into conversation with theories of organizational learning in schools to enrich understandings of the conditions under which organizational learning occurs.FindingsThe authors suggest a conceptualization of relationality in organizational learning rooted in SOC, a conceptualization that is both broader than merely transactional interactions and more precise than that offered by extant notions of school culture and climate.Originality/valueThe relational perspective captured by SOC offers researchers new avenues to more fulsomely explore the ways that trust, belonging, caring and shared values facilitate organizational learning. A more thorough understanding of the role of relationality in organizational learning may provide answers to salient questions, including why some teachers go above and beyond to seek out opportunities and why some changes stay bounded within departments and substructures.