Table of Contents - Field Manual for a Learning Historian

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii

1. INTRODUCTION TO LEARNING HISTORY THEORY AND PRACTICE 1 - 1

WHAT IS A LEARNING HISTORY? 1

THE VALUE OF A LEARNING HISTORY 5

ANATOMY OF A LEARNING HISTORY PROJECT 9

CREATING "REFLECTIONABLE KNOWLEDGE" 12

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING HISTORY WORK 13

Organizations today have a choice - "Slash and burn" or "learn" -- 14

Learning takes place from experience, but collective learning from experience is inherently problematic 14

Communication that fosters learning must embody research, mythic and pragmatic imperatives 14

No one voice provides "the answer" - people accept other's viewpoints in the context of their own 14

"You are not alone" - all particular instances are reflections of universal patterns 15

Organizations "know" what they need to hear but lack the capacity to listen15

Organizations need an established infrastructure for reflection. 15

Learning involves change, and change may be difficult. 15

Stories convey intangibles15

WHAT IS, AND IS NOT, A LEARNING HISTORY 17

Use of "noticeable results" 18

Intended for an audience broader than the participants in the story. 18

Data generated through reflective conversations 19

The Jointly-Told Tale 19

The Two-Column Format 19

A Team of Insiders and Outsiders 20

Linking attributions to observable data 21

A means to better conversation 21

Distinguishing assessment, measurement, and evaluation from each other. 21

INFLUENCES ON LEARNING HISTORY WORK 25

The U.S. Army historian work 25

The "Listening Project" 26

THE BACKGROUND OF THIS FIELD MANUAL 26

2. THE NATURE OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING: CONTEXT FOR LEARNING HISTORIES 2 - 1

AN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR LEARNING 1

AN OVERVIEW OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING THEORY 2

LEARNING IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PILOT PROJECT UNDER EVALUATION 4

1. The organization is willing to hear about itself 4

2. The learning is aimed at increasing capability 4

3. The aim is "double-loop" learning 5

Figure 2-A: The learning process 5

4. The organization is concerned about its values 6

OPERATING AS ACTION RESEARCHERS 9

The "OADI" learning cycle 9

Figure 2-B: OADI Learning Cycle 10

Figure 2-C: OADI Learning Cycle in Large System Change 11

We adhere to these principles from intervention theory and method: 12

We adhere to these principles from action research theory and method: 12

3. CREATIVE IMPERATIVES FOR LEARNING HISTORY WORK 3 - 1

Figure 3-A: The three imperatives 1

THE RESEARCH IMPERATIVE: RIGOR AND INTEGRITY 2

THE MYTHIC IMPERATIVE: GETTING THE PURE ÏSTORYÓ 4

THE PRAGMATIC IMPERATIVE: GIVING THE AUDIENCE WHAT THEY NEED TO

MOVE FORWARD 7

BALANCING THE "MYTHIC," "RESEARCH," AND "PRAGMATIC" IMPERATIVES 8

Thus, a typical learning history project might involve: 9

IMPLICATIONS OF THE "JOINTLY-TOLD TALE" 1

The roles in narrative 2

FORMATS FOR A LEARNING HISTORY: THE TWO-COLUMN FORMAT 3

Figure 4-A: The Two-Column Format schematic 3

ANATOMY OF A TWO-COLUMN FORMAT STRUCTURE. 6

Basic elements of the two-column thematic segments: 6

EXAMPLE OF THE TWO-COLUMN FORMAT: "THE LEARNING LAB ATTACK" 8

The Learning Lab's "trickle-out" effect 8

IMPERATIVES OF THE TWO-COLUMN FORMAT. (WHAT IT REQUIRES YOU TO DO.) 11

AN ALTERNATIVE TO TWO COLUMNS: THE STAGGERED FORMAT 12

Figure 4-B: The Staggered Format schematic 12

MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES 13

Integrating multiple perspectives 14

Figure 4-C: Two alternate perspectives represented as circles 14

Figure 4-D: Two alternate perspectives where overlap is area of compromise 14

Figure 4-E: Dominant overshadows alternative perspective 15

Figure 4-F: Accepting alternative perspectives defines a larger territory 15

THE LEARNING HISTORIAN'S POINT OF VIEW 16

5. PROJECT DESIGN AND PLANNING 5 - 1

THE INITIAL CONTACT: ENGAGING WITH THE CHAMPION 1

INITIAL MEETINGS WITH THE CHAMPION 2

ESTABLISHING A LEARNING HISTORY TEAM 3

Overview of the team 3

Composition of the team: 4

SETTING UP THE LEARNING HISTORY PROCESS 6

Single external learning historians 6

EXAMPLE OF A SINGLE-LEARNING HISTORIAN ROLE DEFINITION: 6

A SAMPLE LARGE-SCALE LEARNING HISTORY AGREEMENT AND BUDGET. 11

6. AUDIENCES FOR A LEARNING HISTORY 6 - 1

AUDIENCE A: MEMBERS OF THE PILOT TEAM 1

AUDIENCE B: NEWCOMERS TO THE PILOT GROUP 2

AUDIENCE C: THE ORGANIZATION (THE "ENTITY") AS A WHOLE 3

Some components of Audience C 4

WHAT MAKES FOR A GOOD ORGANIZATION WITH WHICH TO DO A LEARNING HISTORY? 7

DIFFERENT PIECES FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES 8

BALANCING THE PILOT TEAM'S VIEW WITH THE LARGER SYSTEM VIEW 9

Figure 10-B: Insiders' perspective on the organization. 10

Figure 10-C: Organization's perspective on learning team 11

7. NOTICEABLE RESULTS 7 - 1

WHY NOTICEABLE RESULTS? 2

THE LANGUAGES OF NOTICEABLE RESULTS. 3

CHARACTERISTICS OF "NOTICEABLE RESULTS" 4

SOME EXAMPLES OF NOTICEABLE RESULTS 5

Some assessments (these are not noticeable results) 6

Describing noticeable results in your document: 6

CONSIDERING THE CAUSES OF NOTICEABLE RESULTS 9

Figure 7-2: The relationship between learning process and skills (for use in preparing "noticeable results.") 9

BALANCING INDUCTIVE WITH DEDUCTIVE REASONING 1

Some examples of theories about an organization: 3

Phase 1: Discovery (Inductive) 4

Phase 2: Demonstration (Deductive) 4

Figure 8-A. The Ïnomological net:Ó a framework showing the necessary ways of testing for validity. 6

Phase 3: Refutation 9

Phase 4: Replication 9

BUILDING ON THE RESEARCH OF PREVIOUS LEARNING HISTORY AND CASE STUDY EFFORTS. 10

9. THE INTERVIEWING PROCESS 9 - 1

Interviewing as am "reflective conversation" 1

Background: 3

Contact: 3

SAMPLE LETTER OF INTRODUCTION BEFORE INTERVIEWS 4

BEGINNING THE INTERVIEW 6

SAMPLE INTERVIEW GROUND RULES 9

THE INTERVIEW PROTOCOL 9

CONDUCTING THE INTERVIEW 11

SUGGESTED INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 13

CLOSING THE INTERVIEW: 17

PRESENCE OF MIND: AN EXAMPLE OF A REAL INTERVIEW 18

AFTER THE INTERVIEW 22

WRITING INTERVIEW FIELD NOTES 22

TAPE RECORDERS AND TRANSCRIPTIONS 23

TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS 23

OVER THE COURSE OF MULTIPLE INTERVIEWS: 24

INTERVIEWING RELUCTANT PEOPLE 25

CONDUCTING REAL-TIME OBSERVATIONS 26

10. DISTILLATION 10 - 1

THE RESEARCH IMPERATIVE IN DISTILLATION: 3

THE MYTHIC IMPERATIVE IN DISTILLATION: 4

THE PRAGMATIC IMPERATIVE IN DISTILLATION: 4

THE OVERALL DISTILLATION PROCESS: 4

FIRST RESEARCH PASS: DRAWING FORTH CONCEPTS (ÏOPEN CODINGÓ BY INDIVIDUALS) 5

The "extraterrestrial attitude" 6

Coding interviews 6

Phrasing the concepts 7

Some frequently asked questions about coding: 8

Sample open coding: An interview transcript 10

A. Presenting our concepts to the group (enhancing theoretical sensitivity) 11

B. Grouping 12

C. Axial analysis 13

FIRST MYTHIC PASS: WRITING THE STORY 18

The thematic "nut graf" 18

A FINAL THREE PASSES. 20

SORTING 21

11. WRITING THE LEARNING HISTORY 11 - 1

COMPONENTS OF THE WRITING PROCESS 1

THE WRITER'S SORT: FROM "STUFF" TO A PRELIMINARY OUTLINE 2

THE COMPONENTS OF A LEARNING HISTORY 3

Scaffolding 3

The purpose and audience statement 3

Opening "Curtain-raisers" -- to the piece as a whole, and to the theme. 4

"Nut Grafs" -- to the piece as a whole, and to the theme. 4

The exposition 5

The plot 5

The right-hand column (narrative) 5

The left-hand column (commentary) 6

The closing 6

WRITING AND EDITING 7

Writing is theater 7

Conveying voice 8

The learning historianÌs voice 11

Word-smithing 12

Some alternatives for handling quotes in a document 12

QUOTE-CHECKING 2

CONFIDENTIALITY: BALANCING PROTECTION OF SOURCES AGAINST GENERIC UNDERSTANDING. 5

VALIDATION WORKSHOP 7

13. DISSEMINATION 13 - 1

THE THEORY BEHIND DISSEMINATION WORKSHOPS 2

DISTRIBUTION 3

Presenting and transferring information to others 3

Sequences for distributing learning histories 3

Dissemination Workshop Process 4

PREPARING FOR THE DISSEMINATION WORKSHOP 11

LEARNING HISTORY DISSEMINATION WORKSHOP 16

Reflection on Field Experiences 18

14. PUBLICATION AND OUTREACH 14 - 1

PROPOSAL: THE LEARNING HISTORY LIBRARY 5

WHAT IS A "LEARNING HISTORY?" 5

LEARNING HISTORIES AT THE PRESENT MOMENT 6

The Structure and Format of a Learning History 7

THE MIT LEARNING HISTORY EFFORT 9

AUDIENCE 10

HOW A LEARNING HISTORY IS CREATED 11

The Publication Series 11

The "realistic" ethnography. 1

The "confessional" tale 2

The "impressionist" ethnography 3

EXAMPLES OF LEARNING HISTORY LIKE MATERIALS: 5

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 6

APPENDIX C: SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS 9

APPENDIX D: THE LEARNING HISTORY CRITIQUE SESSIONS 13

APPENDIX E: RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS 14