Online Practice and Pedagogy

Background Information

2011-12-06T15:24:00.001+08:00

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Progress update

2011-07-05T13:43:00.000+08:00

Analysis of the process of empowerment.
Autonomous structure reinstated.
Alternative approach implemented.
Status: Observation

Yum :)

2011-05-24T17:31:00.000+08:00

Doing my best to keep up with requests, be patient k xxx

Kloppenborg, T., Tesch, D. and Manolis, C. (2011). Investigation of the Sponsors Role in Project Planning.

2011-05-11T22:46:00.002+08:00

Kloppenborg, T., Tesch, D. and Manolis, C. (2011). Investigation of the Sponsors Role in Project Planning. Management Research News, 34(4), 1 - 31. Retrieved on February 2, 2011 from http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/search.htm?st1=project%20initiation&ct=all&go=Go&

Introduction
Project leaders emerge as the individuals who take responsibility for ensuring the success of the entire project. Strong organisational skills depict projected success. Support and backing is essential to mobilise the community. Research indicates that initiation, planning, implementing and closure are significant stages in project management, but not much has been written about the activities or tasks that are embodied by leaders in their role of executive sponsor.

This paper researches the behaviour of sponsors during planning stages. Critical analysis of established practice linked sponsor behaviour with project results. The paper is organised thus: section one outlines the current role of sponsors; the method of research used, followed by empirical analysis of the results. Conclusions and the discussion drawn from the results propose recommendations for sponsors.

The project sponsor
Sponsors provide financial backing for the project, which is more than a provision of resources. Sponsors are key decision makers who locate stakeholders to share the role of delivery, and stakeholders to hold shares. Project managers and sponsors are responsible for creating an environment that encourages open communication and relationships based on the concerns and issues of the group.

On exploration, two hypotheses highlight that: project sponsorship can be characterised as external client-based activities and internal supporting function; and the more effort a sponsor dedicates, the more apparent the perception of success. Three factors of exploratory analysis are:

external stimuli (client activity);
internal stimuli (supporting activity); and
championing both together.

The results show a framework that is supportive of both external and internal focus. Project sponsorship may be seen as a multi-dimensional structure that maximises project success when the role of sponsor has been defined and determined so there is no ambiguity about direction and sustained activity.

Sponsors are entrusted with the responsibility of overall activity for the project to support and direct achievements towards the objective. Strong external alliances facilitate internal activity and communication. Ensuring a shared vision with the project manager stabilises practice that provides the framework of collaboration.

Sponsor capacity is enhanced when identity integrates experience with status and socio-economic-political backing to make significant professional connections. The ability to communicate and deliver this network, motivates and inspires group members to align with the objective.

Project planning stage
Initiation, planning, execution and closure are seen as phases of development that each project must meet through requisite deliverables. The initiating stage has been described in earlier research. Sponsor activity, while diverse, is more intensely felt during the planning stage post-project charter approval. The end stage of project planning is an undetermined boundary as execution occurs during planning.

With focus on planning activities, merit is based on how well deliverables integrate with the plan as this moderates success in all four phases. During active planning all factors should add up to the success of a project, staffing and trouble-shooting issues not withstanding.

Each project has its own unique feature making it difficult to assess exactly what will be needed. In a study that examined the relationship between planning efforts and project success, results indicate that project success relies very little on management activity and surrounding technology. Success correlated positively with developing and delivering technical specifications. Focused organisational skills facilitate and propel project goals.

Internal information communication systems are vital to the success of a project and the way top management use the system makes an impact during project realisation.

Each phase of project development has different requirements. Success criteria for one phase leads into the success criteria of the next. Criteria in planning account for the approval and commitment levels of stakeholders, the security of financial backing and a core that supports and nurtures the objective. Factors critical in planning are developing stakeholder priority, ensuring available resources, competence and effective leadership. For the purposes of the study, these factors were numbered and prioritised. Competency in project planners emerged as the number one priority.

Dimensions of project success
A method for measuring system performance expands the concept of time, cost and performance. Furthermore, details take into account satisfaction constraints. The system was viewed from an external perspective.

Project success reflects many attributes. When considering cost, schedule and performance, it was previously assumed that projects could deliver well on two of the three measures. Latterly, performance has come to mean quality in scope and project deliverables. In this frame are three dimensions:

meet design plan;
benefit clients; and
retain commercial success.

Time is used to consider the effectiveness of a project - is the current status of a project a valid representation of its potential? Will it continue to accrue new business or opportunity? Relevant dimensions to consider are project efficiency, impact to client, business success and realistic future targets as they relate to stakeholders. Holistic aspects of measuring the success of a project include what was learned, its value and how useful it was to the system.

Vision describes the forecast of a planned future that allows individuals to activate the plan with comprehensive meaning. Visions are necessarily easy to communicate, provide inspiration and motivation, and retain credibility to create a lead team to work smarter.

Necessary conditions for project success include a pre-determined criteria that has met and meets with stakeholder approval to ensure collaboration between sponsor and project manager. Relevant and consistent information supports the flexibility to insert coping mechanisms during the unforeseen. Guidance from the sponsor is a necessary activity. Commensurate interest levels direct sponsor behaviour, hence responsibility for the project lies with its owner.

An earlier study into the role of sponsor behaviour during initiation identified three multi-item measures that promote project success. This paper embraces what has previously been identified and validated to clarify the understanding required to lead sponsor activity during planning.

Research objectives and methodology
The authors tested identified sponsor behaviour with project results and predicted that planning behaviour significantly correlated with past experience.

Identifying sponsor behaviour
The research database provided sufficient information to extract eighteen types of behaviour that are associated with steering teams and sponsors during project planning. New research extracted additional behavioural patterns. Altogether, fifty six behaviours were evaluated by eighty practitioners, a large percentage of whom were certified project management professionals. A process of elimination ensued when examined according to the Method for Priority Marking as MPM reduces and categorises language data. The respondents identified thirty eight types of behaviour that supported project success.

The sample, procedure, and measures
To validate and test the list, a sample study of 145 respondents who represented project management professionals with active connections to a learning base was used.

The respondents were sourced from various areas of industry (e.g. consulting, manufacturing, healthcare, education, government, engineering, construction, retail, service, utilities) and more than half indicated that the life cycle of projects averaged one year.

Respondents were asked to incorporate behaviour that drives a successful project, beginning with a charter that seals commitment to a plan ready for implementation. The description of the framework included a high ranking executive sponsor interested only in project results and the associated budget.

A survey involving the 38 sponsor behaviours was distributed for analysis. The respondents were asked to prioritise the list according to relevance (e.g. 1 - strongly agree ... 7 - strongly disagree). The survey included outcome statements that respondents used to correlate project success with sponsor behaviour.

Based on principle component analysis, the authors identified 5 behaviour and 3 outcome variables. Cronbach coefficient alphas computed internal-consistency reliability. Sponsor behaviour factors are:

have a tight plan - shared vision on objectives, internal stability, discourse, leadership and endgame;
communicate plan through vision - clarity of expectations, delivery, issues and solutions;
professional unity - responsibility in maintaining internal connections, stakeholder ownership includes involved participation;
project champion - social and core identity are integrated; and
diversify - identify and locate the project manager.

Outcome factors are:

projections of the future - viable commercial success with opportunity to remain abreast of global patterns;
deliverables and schedules match - projected budget is relevant, commitments are upheld; and
commitment to client - ensuring deliverables match technical specifications.

Results
The authors found six separate sponsor behaviours that affect project results. Heightened awareness brings in to focus the strategy of planning ahead to align the group (e.g. forewarned is forearmed). How well a sponsor communicates strategy to a group corresponds to the levels of success attained. The behaviour of sponsors during planning stages is directly linked to project deliverables and schedules.

When a sponsor clarifies intended output the effect can negatively position the groups' future. The findings suggest that during planning, the sponsor directs project deliverables to a closed network that reduces future viability (e.g. improved market share). Furthermore, developing deliverables according to sponsor specification temporarily reduces the client base.

The last two behaviours the authors listed were the benefits of having a strong group culture and the delegation of operations and future transmission to a project manager. If the client is involved during the planning stage a better future can be predicted. The addition or replacement of a project manager predicts similar outcomes.

Discussion
This paper links sponsor behaviour during planning to project outcomes as part of a continuing study that previously tested sponsor behaviour during initiating with project outcomes.

There are three consistent outcomes that measure project success. This achievement depends on the standard of performance during the project. The initiating and planning stages co-create a level of expectation that conceptualises project outcomes. The enormity of the task is often under-appreciated until later (e.g. client waits for project deliverables, measuring the commercial success of a project requires time to assess market penetration).

There is a significant difference between initiating and planning stages. The perspective taken during the initiating stage is that the sponsor and project manager use core team members to plan a strategy of agreed action (e.g where the scope of work is drafted without detail, a.k.a soft-circling). The planning stage takes the perspective that stakeholders gain relevant and necessary information to generate comprehensive detailing within the framework according to financial capacity and schedules (e.g. where the scope of work is broken down into process and activity, a.k.a. hard circling).

The amount of detail accumulated depends on the stakeholders involved which places emphasis on the different demands that a sponsor can expect. During initiating, sponsors are expected to establish, align, define and prioritise stakeholders. During planning, sponsor behaviour includes five factors:

stick to the plan;
set a known standard for deliverables;
keep professional unity strong;
employ a project manager; and
champion the project.

There are a total of 31 items in the first four factors.

Meeting agreements
Ensuring there is a plan is the only sponsor behaviour to affect meeting technical specifications. Better planning leads to levels of organisation that increase performance. The following is an analysis of behaviour items that ensure planning and the relation it bears to meeting agreements.

The items include aspects of project planning that consider principles, discourse, flexibility, project goals and deliverables, also known as emotional quotient. Sponsor behaviour translated into verbs describes the activity sponsors focus on: "do, help, lead, ensure and validate" (pg. 17) where 'doing' includes establishing expectations and development reviews. The other factors focus on the leadership skills required to co-create and validate the framework with a project manager.

Customer success
Stabilising variable client success outcomes depends on meeting needs and producing deliverables that are of value. When meeting technical specifications, attention is required to understand the variables that the client places on outcomes, therefore including the client during planning directs deliverables towards a satisfactory result.

Firm's future
The focus on this outcome factor concerns business development and market share associated with clarifying the objective, stakeholder participation and the appointment of a project manager. Stakeholders engage actively when learning trajectories or the conceptualisation of a sequence of events is made available. Building and aligning stakeholders improves the quality of the communication network over time which minimises the cause of doing the same work more than once. The planning stage includes self-verification processes that strengthen the relationship network so that all stakeholders agree and commit to the planned objective and proposed method of activity. To guard the future, focus includes capitalising on project outcomes and the potential to secure market share. Knowing the demands of a group heightens situation monitoring.

The terminology used when appointing a project manager has negative connotations as it has been associated with initial project mismanagement or poor management performance. Good management practice is connected to project success.

Conclusion
Sponsors are executives interested in gathering a portfolio of successful projects. Timing activities to reach a satisfactory closure is paramount. Adopting behaviour that is associated with establishing and implementing a planned objective positively enhances favourable project outcomes. Included in planning is investment in stakeholder relations. Sponsors who also assume the role of project manager decrease levels of success. Having a project manager delegate responsibility increases successful outcomes.

The participants of this study were active members of their profession and had a diverse range of experience in project management. The authors question the potential of seeking a different demographic to understand comparisons. This paper has focused on behaviour specifically adopted during planning. A study of sponsor behaviour during project execution would prove useful.

This paper is a contribution towards new knowledge on understanding that sponsor behaviour is not static, but modifies to suit project maturity. As managers are trained in management skills, the authors suggest that similar information be made available for sponsors.

Fitsilis, P., Kirytopoulos, K. and Leopoulos, V. (2011). Assuring the managerial capability of public organisations implementing projects: The Greek case.

2011-04-03T22:46:00.000+08:00

Fitsilis, P., Kirytopoulos, K. and Leopoulos, V. (2011). Assuring the managerial capability of public organisations implementing projects: The Greek case. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 4(2), 1 - 33. Retrieved on February 2, 2011 from http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/journals.htm?issn=1753-8378&volume=4&issue=2&articleid=1905904

Introduction

Organisational success depends heavily on its strategy for performance. Without an initial core strategy, tacit knowledge cannot be made tangible. It is understood that while individual strengths are acknowledged and required, it is necessary to explore living knowledge and its relation to transactive memory.

Delivery of information, or the manner in which direction or knowledge is imparted is in general initiated through management. Managerial skills have been categorised as falling into two separate areas: managing mature projects and managing projects with maturity. Terminology is standardised according to governing bodies so international continuity is assured.

Unsurprisingly, the larger the scale of operations the more complex the solution becomes. Challenges facing leaders is to improvise methods that work and form the template for operations that can be carried forward as international standards to bind a global workforce. Clarifying group objective determines the types of organisations that adapt and align to culture and mission.

This paper describes the management capability and skill required to organise public interest projects. Standardising Greek public administration bodies developed the managerial maturity of EU funded projects. An overview of the assessment needed to understand the scope of managerial function reviews current and relevant models that have had international success.

Managing projects of public interest in Greece

EU funded projects not only provide economic support, but provide a means to generate greater social cohesion. Statistics reveal that from 2000 to 2006 17,000 projects were funded at an average cost of 1.8M Euros per project, and implemented by 2748 beneficiaries.

In 2005, cumulative knowledge revealed that 22% of beneficiaries were incapable of managing projects and between 30 - 65% were using outmoded technology. This problem is global. Main reasons cited for immaturity in project management are:

that tacit knowledge has not been made clear to novices, or methods/systems in place are incomplete or unsuitable;
the lack of internal auditing and review procedures;
loose project control;
informal communication through meetings or minutes;
project organisation and project teams not formally appointed or unavailable and project manager authority not well established;
lack of modern project management systems;
the unavailability of legal support in a rather complex legal and contractual context;
the inability to apply an effective and efficient change management system both at operational and contractual level;
difficult, complex and time consuming project initiation processes requiring involvement of many heterogeneous stakeholders;
the large number of involved public services, project stakeholders, and lack of a project champion.

Cumulative knowledge identified and categorised methods to propose structural changes to national programs drafted into projects that run from 2007 - 2013. Specifically, Greece prioritised:

improving national transport that converges with the trans-European network;
adopting EU standards on sustainable development and terminology;
raising levels of national ICT competence to integrate the EU;
increasing national entrepreneurial skills to match international trade;
using HRD to bind a unified civic consciousness; and
raising human capital potential through lifelong learning and education for sustainable development.

In order to focus on sustaining the objective, the European Commission funds a variety of regional programmes to:

improve and harness the characteristics and attributes of entrepreneurship;
extend and upgrade intraregional and trans-regional infrastructures;
improve human capital;
prioritise education for sustainable development;
foster economic growth;
adopt tourism and culture as a means of generating national and international progress;
promote and support technology based communication for entrepreneurs.

As the budget for 2007 - 2013 was capped at 31M Euros and addresses close to 10,000 projects, beneficiaries were deemed responsible for:

maximising the benefits gained as a result of supportive frameworks;
improving quality of service; and
raising the standard of managerial maturity levels.

ELOT1429: 2008 was developed to set national standards in public project initiation. Increased support in managerial capability was provided for beneficiaries who complied with the standard, while simultaneously offering focus and mature logic. Although EU members provide several working models in project management and implementation, the Hellenic Organisation for Standardisation developed their own model based on the following arguments:

choosing from the variety of international models would have caused endless debate resulting in pockets of disgruntled society as time limitations constrain full developing analysis;
existing Greek legislation prevents adopting standards that have not been transcribed with the relevant terminology;
identified problems were inherently cultural and localised knowledge was more in tune with environmental needs; and
it was more appropriate to create a country-specific standard that took into account national characteristics and relevant international standards.

Managerial capability models

Savvy communities recognise the efficiency of project management and use mature models from which innovative entrepreneurship enhances competitive capacity. Understanding of success as it occurs and identifying solutions has been described as maturity. Ergo, Project Maturity indicates the level of conditioning a community has had in dealing with projects, revealing mental agility commensurate with information, delivery and activity. Mature logic defines the perspective that strategy and planning is sourced from.

A mature model provides the structure, or template, that has assessed methods and levels of capability and provides the framework for future levels of performance which in turn sets development targets. Most models identify five levels of developing project maturity:

level 1 - the implementation of strategy and plan using feedback loops to diagnose and rectify or amend direction;
level 2 - repeated execution (i.e. single loop learning);
level 3 - methods are defined and are adopted as a community standard;
level 4 - situation monitoring to ensure standards are maintained; and
level 5 - group direction clarified and secured with maximum potential for development and growth (i.e. double loop learning).

Successful models retain the ability to stay agile by increasingly depending on internal insight to evaluate possibilities for growth (e.g. Hawthorne effect). Standards to assess a community's level of maturity have been designed after investigation linked maturity with improved performance. Standards are designed for upgrades and in general provide a service for a learning community.

The Project Management Institute propose OPM3 as an example of a mature model indicating that a detailed community portfolio integrates programme and project management that identifies and categorises an achievable work schedule.

Alternative terminology list the five levels as categories of:

common language;
common process;
singular methodology;
benchmarking; and
continuous improvement.

Literature reviews identify more than thirty models that have had success in different industries, but tellingly reveal the maturity of a community that has been conditioned over time.

The proposed system for assessing the managerial capability of organisations with respect to project management

ELOT 1429 standards' family

ELOT is the Greek acronym for the national governing body of internal standards (i.e. the Greek Standardisation Organisation) which is part of the International Organisation for Standardisation (i.e. ISO). To ensure egalitarianism, stakeholders represent both Private and Public sectors. In addition, ELOT is audited by the National Accreditation System and the Italian Accreditation Board. The ELOT family form:

ELOT 1429: lists the managerial capacity requirements for initiating public interest projects;
ELOT 1431-1: guide for implementing ELOT 1429 in public interest projects;
ELOT 1431-2: guide for implementing ELOT 1429 in public service and supply projects;
ELOT 1431-3: guide for implementing projects of a special nature; and
ELOT 1432: requirements for auditing communities that implement public interest projects.

ELOT 1429: 2008 overview

The ELOT was constructed from observations and practice of co-funded projects between Europe and Greece and serves the purpose of assessing managerial capability. As with all standards, it categorises the minimum requirements needed to execute public interest projects.

As these standards are expected to support the project through to completion, the ELOT holds knowledge or data concerning the functions and processes of:

the group holistically (e.g. from management to legislature and operations);
human capital, economics and group structure (i.e. includes lifelong training and safety);
implementing, planning, building and control; and
internal audit systems that nurture group function (e.g. best practice policies, feedback loops).

Compatibility with ISO 9001: 2008 and PMBOK - OPM3

The ELOT 1429: 2008 grew as a result of Greek Quality Management Systems upgrading and integrating their standards taken from ISO 9001 to enhance ISO 9001: 2008. Practice was re-written as it was introduced. This decision reduced the intensity of training needed to develop and maintain the ELOT 1429:2008. As the Greek Quality Management Systems is the brainchild of several organisations, continuity and integration of internal networks is assured. Capitalising on existing frameworks has notable success as human capital is conditioned or primed to change with the environment.

The processes of the ELOT 1429: 2008 and the ISO 9001: 2008 differ in clause 7 substantially. The ISO 9001: 2008 refers to Product Realisation with the following detail:

planning of product realisation;
customer related processes;
design and development;
purchasing;
production and service provision; and
control of monitoring and measuring equipment.

The ELOT 1429: 2008 categorise an altogether different perspective and refer to Project Implementation as:

project initiation;
project planning;
project execution;
project monitoring and control; and
project closing.

Maturity levels

Maturity models contain the ephemeral quality of experience. Each experience marks an opportunity to gather more insight that drives development. The ELOT 1429: 2008 identifies three levels:

level 1 - the minimum requirements of managerial capacity are recognising a project, understanding project needs, archiving best practice methods (e.g. includes terminology) and driving towards closure; one common practice within the group is yet to be determined;
level 2 - integrated systems where managerial capacity is known to be centrally operated, cumulative knowledge gained from past efforts is group ethos and a learning community has been established; and
level 3 - internal auditing systems are continuous and progress is chronic as checklists monitor incoming information; feedback serves multi-level activity as focus details both individual and group performance.

ELOT 1429: 2008 process groups description

Management and organisation

Centrally run management systems require dedication. Top management provide committed environmental support that perpetuates the appropriate learning structures. Archived standards are found embedded in activity. Project management success depends on how hierarchy responds and adapts to feedback. Traditional management schema prioritise the day to day activity that diminishes the reality of the project for group members. Management prepares individuals to accept full responsibility to act as leaders, however this training is commensurate with experience. Transforming communities integrate function with projections of expected activity. Role designation match job responsibility. Standards form the backbone of the group and integration of internal group function facilitates penetration of external environments (e.g. markets). Knowing relevant legislative practice and procedure is embedded in the activity of annual learning cycles as improvement and strategic practice occurs from connections and relationships with knowledge based learning communities.

Human resources and technical infrastructure

From a HRD perspective human capital, support, performance and safety is linked to group environment. Economic focus is maintained through the adaptation of external standards to fit the environment bi-directionally. These developments create integrated management and workflow subsystems that are archived.

Project initiation

The strategic planning of a project incorporates the short term, medium term and long term goals of the group. Forecasts for economic outlay add to the potential of realising the project. Value is ascertained from gathering tangible evidence of the benefits, the costs and the feasibility of the project as project finance may depend on licensing. Once the context of project initiation is finalised, project content assumes focus as objectives, schedules, deliverables and risks are identified and integrated with proposed activity.

Project planning

The ELOT 1429: 2008 define core subjects of a Project Management Plan:

the project charter;
the scope of the project that includes a detailed breakdown and structure of finance, human capital (e.g. work hours) and delivery;
role identification, task and responsibility, and training needs;
quality management systems with focus on role models;
embedded short, medium and long term goals (e.g. scheduling, achievements, timetables);
archived progress reports;
active archived strategy reports (e.g. artefacts that list analysis, response and consequence);
financing;
delivery of plan; and
change management plan.

Project execution

Some parts of a project may be out-sourced. The ELOT 1429: 2008 places emphasis on securing data that directs a solid plan based on task activity, environmental support, managerial capacity, economics and industry related legislation.

Individually financed projects by necessity require more attention to environmental capacity and delivery. Public organisations in Greece outsource project execution to contractors, so the ELOT 1429: 2008 highlights the focus needed for a system of procurement and are categorised as:

issuing tenders;
evaluating tenders;
claim management; and
contractual agreement.

Project monitoring and control

Active integration of project standards that chronically monitor and control prevent project deviation. Active use of archives reduces the risk of losing knowledge. As such, in-depth knowledge of the system produces measures that holistically create a dedicated path to the objective. The ELOT includes planning for delivery of quality, viable channels, communication and archiving, change management and financial control (i.e. inclusive of industry regulation).

Project closing

The ELOT defines closing a project as the completion of all managerial effort (e.g. finance is secured and exchanged) leaving only the physical manifestation of work. Closing a project equates to having met all obligations that are required for deliverables to be executed.

Systems results review, analysis and evaluation

Internal auditing systems are vital for continuous improvement and feedback loops that link internal and external function evaluate performance. Individual projects require standards that specify an evaluation of project objectives, stakeholder satisfaction, allowances for deviation and efficiency.

Discussion

Introducing new standards is a complex procedure, requires time-intensive process structuring and is specifically crucial when the public sector is involved and tied to a national project management system.

Expectations are that the ELOT 1429: 2008 defines managerial capacity required for project initiation in public interest projects to ensure improved delivery of objectives.

The ELOT 1429: 2008 is the strategy to bind Greece to a maturity model so standards are comprehensive archives of managerial capability and compliance is a prerequisite of EU funding.

Implementing the ELOT 1429: 2008 has caused an era of project management science as the entire Greek community address new stipulations for a more effective market. Inevitable certifications arise over time as the community become more proficient. Effective and efficient use of resources promise more projects with successful completion, as the performance index of Greece depends upon successful uptake.

Sergiovanni, T. J. (2005). The Virtues of Leadership.

2011-03-18T21:24:00.003+08:00

Sergiovanni, T. J. (2005). The Virtues of Leadership. The Educational Forum, 69(2), pp. 112 - 123. Retrieved on March 2, 2011 from http://pdfserve.informaworld.com.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/232940_751304989_790169940.pdf

Introduction

In writing best practice guidelines, groups introduce methods and systems that outline culture, ethics and obligations. Significant to this is that documents are written in a logical and precise manner that details the objective, but can be misrepresentative of the emotional attachment which links individuals to cause.

Role models prepare novices to integrate and accept group culture by embedding single-loop learning in group activity and behaviour. In other words, the constancy of motivation to perform relies on the flexibility that is derived from reflection in and on action to provide or introduce direction. Sergiovanni identifies hope, trust, civility and piety as core values of leadership practice.

The Virtue of Hope
When faced with the obvious, leaders are inclined to use hope to face reality from a positive position. Hope and realism together inspire a confidence in ability that enables leaders to discover alternative practice. Links to social networks are sources of support that provide encouragement and balance.

Hope and wishing
The difference between wishing and hope is that one is "grounded in reality" (pg. 113). Hope is based on current events and a positive perspective of what can be done to improve/change reality. Action taken by leaders who view events with hopeful eyes enable self to optimally monitor the situation to focus attention on new opportunities without losing empathy for fellows.

Faith
Commitment, or group alignment to cause, is used to describe faith. The bond between self and objective. In written form, faith appears as truisms. For example "all children can learn" indicates the direction and activity needed to prepare an environment that is commensurate with what is intended. The framework or structure provides the support required to sustain the motivation to achieve a successful outcome, and banishes the delusions of wishful thinking.

The responsibility of leaders is to create the environment where faith is supported by group activity. The stronger the assumptions made by the group, the stronger the bond of transactive memory. Community involvement is reflective of the values a leader holds, as it is their actions and attitude that models group learning. This forms the basis of group ethics. As the balance between choosing what is good and what is effective becomes apparent, trust in a leader is the foundation of group faith.

From hope to action
Faith functions as the impetus for increased readiness potential. The action taken based on hope serves our goals as we are primed to achieve an end objective. Activity means engaging in a predetermined plan in order to realise these goals, and recognising obstacles for what they are and the purpose they serve.

The sequence of recognising goals emerges from self-reflection. Consideration of self and individual aims are the primary focus when defining strategy. A reflection of achievement is the fit of plan to environment or framework.

A leader's efficacy is measured by the methods laid down to nurture the environment as a civic movement. Potential is enhanced through environments that are charged with energy. Therein lies the space for transformation.

Roles, role relationships, and role sets
While faith is the pre-cursor to group alignment, leaders must actively engage in accepting more ethical responsibilities that come from supporting a learning environment. Role models serve as guides and embody the qualities or attributes that bring static knowledge to life, making the intangible knowable.

In return, this clarity of function allows novices to understand the role guides represent to prepare themselves to accept group culture, to learn the attributes and characteristics that are enhanced to fulfill professional function.

Within an environment of faith and trust words such as commitments, responsibilities, and obligations become understood as meaningful relationships. Social networking develops an emotional level of security between guides and novices. Links that define guide and novice bear out the objective or group mission. Relationships that emphasise guide and novice activity create a learning environment that perpetuates group objectives. Shared vision is communicated through artefacts (e.g. UNESCO initiatives).

The practice of social networking resolves communication issues. How information is disseminated depends on the delivery of knowledge. Role models carry their purpose of clarity displayed through thought and action. As leaders reveal group purpose unconsciously, attention is focused on current affairs.

This unconscious behaviour sets the tone for novice practitioners who are visually stimulated by group activity. Imitation reveals competency in single-loop learning. As core group members work through experience, their knowledge is translated through subsequent activity transforming the group through double loop-learning. Contributions from group members, irrespective of status, allows leaders to enhance and improve localised environment which in return promotes the development of energy seen as motivation to action.

Transactive memory develops as the group matures, allowing a broader perspective that increases the capacity for diversity of thought. Learning communities require a strong and supportive network to hold in group objective. Roles change and adapt or are mutable. Effective leaders notice behavioural changes within the activity that are transferable skills. However, as these skills have been developed in different circumstances, novices require time to redevelop the skills grounding single-loop knowledge.

Relational trust
In groups with strong transactive memory, role models jointly assume the responsibility of managing group strategy and achievement. Trust between members builds a unique bond that ensures shared vision.

Communities of practice and learning communities depend on trust within the group. The relationship members create and perpetuate between the group is supported through communication. Emotional security correlates significantly with visual reminders of group objective as the ambiance becomes an accepted feature of the group.

Embedding activity that nurtures group culture both internally and externally is vital to energising the community. Accumulated knowledge reveals that at this level of group function members become significantly vulnerable.

When the group carries faith in the objective, feelings of vulnerability subside. Communication is representative of ambiance. In an environment where there is trust, sharing represents naturally occurring behaviour. Thus in environments where members cannot communicate trust or faith in the objective, self-protective mechanisms are activated that limit individual potential, group growth and achievement.

In situations where there is little trust, collaborative activity is stilted. When self-verification processes meet with resistance it is generally agreed that individuals reduce focus and redirect attention to situations/environments that are more welcoming. This leaves the group unclear about membership, relationships and direction.

Trust is fundamental for creating the discourse of the group (e.g. the methods used to communicate group objectives). Research indicates that over a five year period, trust levels in communication increase as novices adjust practical experience with transactive memory and develop increasingly creative methods of contributing. As alignment to group culture occurs, relationships become more supportive resulting in an environment where ideas are beneficial to the group immediately, and carry the potential for long term integration in core directives. Progressive discourse enhances group potential and the motivation to achieve goals.

When groups or communities work together bound by faith, transformation begins. Leaders undertake what is known as responsibility as interest is captured and the desire to pursue knowledge through exploration of situations leads to an understanding of effective planning.

Trust first
Successful transformation begins in environments that are dedicated to cause. Typically, environments that support only strategy and vision immediately incapacitate leaders and group members as trust is required for co-operation. Continuing without adaptation results in chronic performance monitoring that depletes attention from situation monitoring.

Groups that implement and initiate a framework where members are naturally inclined to co-operate, are more efficient in promulgating a shared concept. Strength of concept is embedded in multi-direction communication channels found in relationship links allowing successful group decision making that cultivates performance enhancing methods.

As trust is a valuable commodity, leaders stay focused on energy points (e.g. novices who display clarity and readiness potential) to ensure a stable relationship. In turn, the skills novices gain under master-apprentice guidance lead them to replicate a similar environment for other members. However, experience is a reminder that there is no stable state and groups wanting transformation must be satisfied with quality of training, the objective of which must be to gain a reliable base that is strongly connected to source.

Developing trust requires role models/leaders to behave within their capacity as nurturers. Social identity and professional identity are unified so there is no ambiguity of core values or ethics that may interfere with group objectives. This clarity and constancy of self is living knowledge that members use as the basis for transformation.

The virtues of piety and civility
Piety in this instance is described as the strong bond that develops as relationships mature. Group members gain the confidence and experience to make external relationships based on individually experienced group ethic.

This virtue permits leaders to understand the range of practical methods employed within the group to competently explore diversity of practice in other groups. The structure or framework of external groups provides a template for viewing alternative architecture of embedded activity. Tacit knowledge is revealed through communication that relays group intention and practice.

To keep from fanaticism, a level of maturity is required to ascertain the balance of faith and delusion. Leaders remain dispassionate about group objectives so that diversity can be heard. Clarity of direction encourages viewing contributions as potential to enhance the group.

Bonding and bridging community
With an awareness for the multiple ways and possibilities of accomplishing a task, the potential for group adaptability is nurtured. This framework of reference raises transactive memory as knowledge must be experienced and understood. Experience in accepting new concepts creates the need for an integration of diverse ideas that are amalgamated to generate new solutions that are in tune with fluctuating circumstance.

While groups are inherently similarly structured, diversity is recognised as the priority of group focus brought to attention. Groups that match focus find open communication channels that enhance relationships. Variety in practice is indicative of the support mechanisms in place to nurture local environments.

One out of many
Raw data is interpreted according to epistemic and ontological belief (i.e. the way we think and live life). As groups are influenced by environment and situated knowledge, universal standards flow as they are alternately accepted or rejected by group members. Collaboration between role models and members consolidates group faith in direction and objective. This process ensures commitment is strengthened through the significance of activity, goal and meaning-making.

Leadership and learning
Transformation is an ongoing process when the source of group energy is protected and nurtured. Leaders gain from positive contributions that have been derived from the framework embedded in daily activity. Evidence of progress is apparent in the development of contributions from members.

Without transactive memory, leaders lack the support needed to effect transformation. When transformation fails it is understood that the leader has set up inadequate means of delivering significant knowledge. Group clarity is only established when leaders are themselves clear about personal and professional objectives and the significance of choice. Single-minded focus reduces the effort required to take action.

Traditional group hierarchy supports a closed network to source with solutions dispersed as directives from power. Higher order thought is not harnessed and group culture is built on relationships of externally sourced meaning (e.g. a salary). Communities of practice and learning communities that align with a culture nurturing collaboration can depend on achieving tangible proof of progression from archiving artefacts. Interactive tasks promote higher order thinking and the impetus to increase attachment to group (e.g. initial contributions may appear naive, so leaders are encouraged to recognise progress as a sequence of professional and personal development behaviours).

Improving transactive memory creates the space and meaning for leader growth that comes with nurturing self. When individuals find satisfaction within, opportunities for self-development take place. Increasing leader knowledge commensurately increases transactive memory, channeling new data for members to create group meaning. Learning communities and communities of practice are adapted to enhance an internal stable state that protects the environment.

The power of a civic conscious movement

Ghazali, K., Cheong, S., Sattur, M., Reushle, S. and Duong , K. (2011). Islands in the stream: Wrestling with the challenges of the group process in an online learning environment

2011-01-21T00:49:00.010+08:00

Ghazali, K., Cheong, S., Sattur, M., Reushle, S. and Duong , K. (2011). Islands in the stream: Wrestling with the challenges of the group process in an online learning environment.

Abstract

If the future of work is to be more fluid with groups and teams being assembled and disbanded frequently, an essential skill will be the ability to formulate the best-fitting team. This will enable the group to move quickly through the forming, storming and even norming stages, to maximise time-on-performing-task. This paper explores the use of group work for learning and teaching through the eyes (and experiences) of several learners enrolled in a one semester, postgraduate, online course delivered via the Learning Management System, Moodle. The course relies very much on successful group work and sound group dynamics including understanding individual roles and responsibilities, sharing mutual experiences and developing a degree of trust that unites members and generates a sense of attachment to the community. When students are required to participate in online group activities, one of the frequent comments is the disappointment and frustration when peers do not contribute equally. This brings its own set of challenges for both the students and the teacher, particularly in terms of managing complex relationships, clarifying expectations and achieving learning outcomes within a defined period of time. Building in assessment strategies related to group participation and group outputs endeavours to wrestle with these challenges in order to reap the benefits of effective computer mediated learning environments.

Introduction/Background

This paper reviews the use of group work for learning and teaching through the eyes (and experiences) of several learners enrolled in a postgraduate, online course. The success of the course relies very much on group work and sound group dynamics including understanding roles and responsibilities within a group. When students are expected to participate in group activities, one of the more frequent comments that emerges is the disappointment and frustration when others do not participate equally. By building in a degree of assessment related to group participation, the course designer/ facilitator has attempted to address this issue.

Learning through communities or technology is not a new phenomenon (Ala-Mutka, Punie & Ferrari, 2009). With the availability of web-based technologies, a community is no longer limited by physical access. Communities of Inquiry (COI) have been used as a framework to develop online collaborative learning processes. Activity theory is viewed as a complementary framework to approach online collaboration. Actions and interactions are approached from historical and cultural perspectives. The division of labour, rules and instruments actively engage a transformation process, while the analysis of elements and relationships facilitates the understanding and development of the activity holistically.

Interactions in groups depend on the varying degrees to which individuals experience role and function, and social adjustment during the initial stages of membership. As individuals observe group behaviour (or modeled behaviour) personal perspectives of interaction are formed. The progression in group learning, and consequent performance depends on the overt functional behaviour (e.g. type of behaviour the group display to a newcomer). Ala-Mutka, Punie and Ferrari (2009) propose that traditional education establishments target development and measurement without encouraging informal interaction and collaboration. While online collaborative objectives may differ, the goal is to build a joint product. Social interaction is an integral part of the process that should be regarded as an outcome of the project (e.g. friendship develops) and not a priority. Professional and personal development skills are gained during the process hence a framework that is supportive of narrative interaction is critical.

Human Capital Theory
Human capital has been defined as the knowledge and skills that individuals acquire and accumulate through formal and non-formal learning (e.g. paideia). Deliberate investment in human capital yields an improvement in nutrition, health and a better quality of life. Productivity increases incrementally supported by knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for economic and social development that engages a more holistic view of human capital. An educated society contributes to social and political processes.

While education levels are viewed as a source of productivity and growth, a distinction must be made between what is termed as general and specific knowledge. General human capital refers to overall education and experience, while specific human capital refers to education relevant for application within a limited activity or context. Individual learning has been identified as an integral component to group function and performance. Novice members develop through knowledge and skills from progressive evolution of practice. Time spent on task performance (Smith & MacGregor, 2009) becomes the praxis of acquired knowledge (e.g. developing the practice of expertise). Specific human capital contributes to the core competence of an organisation (Holton & Yamkovenko, 2008).

Group interaction in a computer mediated environment

Claims that digital natives (Bennet, Maton & Kervin, 2008) use technology in different ways from their predecessors address the need for reforms made based upon using the significant skills that this generation have gained. New technologies facilitate collective learning and provide current access to viewpoints. Artefacts collected during the use of technology (e.g. information shared in messages may contribute to new conceptions and behaviour) have not been fully recognised as significant to the learning process (Aubusson, Schuck & Burden, 2009). Different viewpoints and perspectives can be gained by deconstructing and reflection (e.g. reviewing a recording after the event). The process is both transforming and disruptive. By learning and associating context in different environments individuals are able to interpret and negotiate sense-making from a wider perspective. Simulating activity is an innovative alternative approach to assessment (Cornelius & Marston, 2009). Heuristic learning (Anderberg, Norden & Hansson, 2009) complements sustainable development in concepts such as environmental education, education for sustainable development, global learning and peace education.

Learning conditions

Practical approaches in generating community learning has several functions. Priorities are established according to the groups’ ultimate objective. Task-based, knowledge-based and practice-based learning communities perform different tasks, but commit to the same purpose (e.g. university can be seen to have all three components). The roles and functions that individuals are responsible for within the community dictate the approach taken to achieve the groups’ mission (Jawitz, 2009). As such, learning approaches will vary. Coaching and mentoring (Kyndt, Dochy & Nijs, 2009) are known to be effective strategies for enhancing performance as the differences in knowledge acquisition occur based on individual maturity levels that lead to alternative approaches. Group learning leads to establishing differentiated and specialised knowledge. It increases in 1) memory for task related information and 2) accuracy in completing projects. Members trained on an individual basis do not achieve similar levels of interpersonal congruency. Both positive and negative experience adds to a growing knowledge base. Reflexive practice stimulates situation awareness and self-monitoring regulates subsequent action. Repeated activity embeds knowledge and performance until it becomes an unconscious process.

Technology assists by providing the framework for communication and a source of reference. Community success depends upon an open-learning culture to support activities and discourse. Archives and manuals provide explicit forms of tacit knowledge (Baxter, Connolly & Stansfield, 2009). Adaptive systems benefit the user in the long term by automatically modifying (e.g. last used file is placed in a priority queue system that lists according to frequency of use). Differences in individual levels of information-processing are taken into account when designing curriculum software (e.g. individuals with low working memory fair worse than individuals with a higher capacity when performing a variety of tasks) .

Online group work

As learning is understood to be a social act, there is emphasis on context when conducting learning activities (Laine, et al, 2010). It is an area of research developed by educational psychology, and has primarily been attributed to Vygotsky. Our response to changing systems and requirements must incorporate invented and developed learning systems (Riel & Polin, 2004). In expecting our social systems to learn, we also require that transformation occurs with a minimum of disruption. That is to say that the identity of the social system, and therefore its members, must be retained during transformation. An example is of governments learning for society - a learning system that carries the idea of public learning - the ongoing process of directing investigation as to probable causes, nature and resolution of issues (e.g. World Health Organisation).

Interpersonal congruence or social interaction in group development facilitates group process and enhances performance outcomes. Behavioural and cognitive reflection enhance self-disclosure and shared feedback that leads to self-verification - seeing ourselves in others. The processes of identity negotiation are located within interaction and lead to interpersonal continuity.

Stages of group development

Team learning is more than the aggregate of individual learning - it is an interface between the two that has effects at multiple levels. There is an emphasis on tacit learning that is unstructured and informal, with particular focus on the community (Garavan & McCarthy, 2003). Instead of looking at activities, focus should be moved to the interplay of activities and their groups or contexts (e.g. yoga may be seen as a sequence of practised moves, yet each move may be seen as a complete exercise in meditation). This provides the opportunity for reflection and meaning-making. The dysfunctional aspects of reflection depends on the lack of time an individual has to make decisions that arguably cannot take into consideration all mitigating circumstance and analysis of permutations.

Groups that stay together over an extended period for the purpose of creating an artefact are prone to change naturally. It is useful to be aware of this process of development in order to minimise conflict. There are variations in perspectives on group development literature, but Tuckman’s (1965) model has withstood the test of time. Its simplicity and vivid imagery conjured up by the labels Tuckman used - forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning - have contributed to enduring popularity.

In the forming stage, group members get to know each other. Individuals acquire basic information about each other and become familiar with member personalities and preferences - the processes of self-verification. That is to say that individuals use recognised prior learning (RPL) to interact with group members to identify strengths and role assignations based on cognitive ability. Experience motivates the learning of team members, and viable open communication depends on frequency, depth and quality of dialogue. Shared vision and communication are key in facilitating collective learning. The barriers to online practice and sharing are overcome with the development of interpersonal skills, technology and culture. Trust is a significant attribute when developing and sustaining the networks that support collective learning. Epistemic beliefs concerning environment, current affairs and societal underpinnings bring a sense of the familiar and known that establishes a basic foundation for trust.

Individual differences are revealed during the process of identity building. Individual contributions in collaboration are valued as strengths of the group that work in conjunction with role placement. The program framework provides the support (direction) required. Embedded activities align members to group structure. Characteristics optimal for group work lie in congruence, clarity of purpose, equity and fairness, feedback, empowerment and autonomy (Fornes, Rocco & Wollard, 2008).

In the storming stage, people may come into conflict. The differences people initially found interesting about others may begin to annoy them. Disagreements may arise and some groups cannot survive this stage, especially if there are fundamental discrepancies in values and beliefs. Structure embedded in daily activity reduces self-enhancing tendencies that minimises conflict by allowing working memory to focus on setting learning goals and identifying the value of each individual contribution as it relates to the project. Edward Thorndike understood reinforcement processes (i.e. Laws of Effect and Exercise) that stimulate response. Learning takes place even when the individual is unaware of it (Shanks, 2010). As a result of learning, the normal response to an unconditioned response is evoked by a conditioned response (e.g. Pavlovian context - dogs are conditioned to expect food or a shock on hearing a tone). Achieving goals generates a sense of agency or willfulness in individuals as realisation that their accomplishment is a result of direct action and consequence (Dijksterhuis & Aarts, 2010).

The third stage, norming, finds the group learning to work with each other. Group norms on what is acceptable and what is not, are established. People take on certain roles to keep the group functioning. Successful integration of the individual within the group occurs through socialisation. Constructivism is the theory of learning by observation and interpretation of the world relative to the individual, a concept that allows learners to contextualise experience in order for it to be meaningful/useful. Connectivism is the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, complexity and self-organisation theories. It indicates that individuals learn and work within a network that is constantly changing and developing. New methods adapt to or replace existing models.

In the performing stage, participants work together effectively and efficiently. They complete the task, solve the problem, create new knowledge, or help each other question their beliefs and assumptions. Alignment to group ethics is founded in embedded activities (e.g. the exchange of information and interaction that completes understanding of the task at hand). When individuals have clarity on the outcomes of group work, they are more likely to understand that self-assessment facilitates progression. The sequencing of materials (e.g. the component parts of the task at hand) progress from simple to complex instruction. Individuals are examined to measure their achievement and performance, with constructive feedback monitoring the need for corrective action.

Mature and well-developed systems are defined by the complexity of a group. Expertise in specialisation and the extent to which group members can accurately describe collective knowledge increases the efficiency of the group. Recognition and use of relevant knowledge enhances collective reputation for competency and productivity through accurate understanding in solving complex problems. Experience motivates the learning of team members, and viable open communication depends on frequency, depth and quality of dialogue. Shared vision and communication are key in facilitating collective learning. Issues preventing interpersonal congruence explain the under-development of transactive memory. As identity negotiation leads to self-verification and development of memory systems, interpersonal congruence, behavioural routine and knowledge sharing systems are proposed as key factors in successful outcomes.

Adjourning and mourning ...

Communities can be regarded as environmentally dependent. Success is viewed in Darwinian terms where survival of the fittest determines a healthy competition. Groups that sustain community interest retain a steady flow of participation. Teams that have more than six members are prone to suffer the effects of social loafing, where individuals are lax in responsibility & commitment and undertake a minimal role (Roberts & McInnerney, 2007). Capable members assume the majority of the workload as individuals with less motivation piggyback on the performance of group success. Exploitation reduces individual effort and leads to self-marginalisation (Ruel et. al., 2003).

In situations where unresponsive group member reaction to availability, communication and presence leads to withdrawal, issues need to be resolved in real time. Little or no interaction between members reduces activity & participation levels. Group members develop topical interest elsewhere. Strong leadership, or group ability to form a consensus, averts dithering and re-aligns members.

Individual and group identity

The development of the individual and group transforms when negative belief is overcome, and others are viewed as reliable sources. Group processes are more effective when members have more understanding of each others strengths. Individuals who self-evaluate favourably enhance individual and group performance.

The growth of group culture is a naturally occurring outcome of interaction. Individuals join communities to express themselves and to be with others. Understanding the activities/tasks helps individuals from the outset. Leaders form a pivotal role in facilitating the function and values of building a sense of community. Epistemic beliefs, or the social and formal learning that an individual defines as identity, guides emotional and psychological attachment to the community. Supervisor attributes provide a display of behaviour that individual group members use as a working model to adapt and transform (Fornes, Rocco & Wollard, 2010). Attributes that are congruent with the individual are more likely to be adopted. Commitment to organisational values indicates that team, job and career commitment are closely knit to attitudinal commitment. Mutual rules of engagement and language develop as self-verification (identity-building) progresses.

Stable community equilibrium is achieved through members’ acceptance of culture (Jorgensen & Keller, 2008). A ripple effect is felt through the group as novice members make the transition to conform. Individual creativity in adapting to culture may change or affect the organisation as a result of structured processes.

Group activity may be experienced by individual members in very different ways. According to Wenger (2009), learning together leads to disagreement and the discovery that people see the world very differently. Disagreements and divergent views can either serve to broaden the perspective of all members of a group or pose a threat to the progress of the project. On the other hand, cohesiveness in group activity does not guarantee a better product . As all projects have deadlines, a group must move through each of these phases at an optimum pace. Groups with longer processing time during early developmental stages do not perform well (Choi & Kang, 2009).

Purpose of group work

Knowledge creation, knowledge sharing and feedback

Groups function effectively with clarity of self-disclosure and knowledge sharing (e.g. getting to know each other in a professional capacity). In providing the infrastructure to learn, individual and group learning continues through tacit knowledge that is embedded and interpreted in associative and cognitive knowledge (e.g. by archiving research or narrative communication, it is available for others to share, extend, and improve upon).

London, Polzer and Omoregie (2005) state that group members with high self-esteem accept evaluation on both positive and negative characteristics; those with low self-esteem react well to assessment on positive characteristics. When accepting feedback, group members preferred constructive criticism on unfavourable characteristics, and preferred working with partners who offer suitable comment.

By establishing high interpersonal congruence and feedback, recognised skills and knowledge become available to the group. Transactive memory rests in the belief group members' have about each others' expertise. It is the accumulation of group knowledge that cannot be held by a single individual, and can be drawn upon as a resource. Acquired skills and knowledge are shared and maintained for the benefit of the group. Core members maintain transactive memory. Novice members observe experienced group members to increase individual knowledge. Individuals develop distinct knowledge or specialise within their chosen field. This enhances collective knowledge and individuals function at deeper cognitive levels.

Research on knowledge creation in organisations indicates that learning transpires from the bottom up and is generated in principle by individuals. Learning can be driven by individuals, teams or the organisation where the shared objective is to facilitate change or improvement. Expediency and efficiency are used as typical and universal measures of effectiveness and success. Bureaucracy handles change with efficiency, while systems cope with delay. This creates a bottleneck in gathering new information and knowledge, in raising learning levels and in the application of wisdom. Human fallibility is overcome through dehumanisation processes. Dehumanisation leads to aggressive behaviour and is significant in altering perception. Major barriers to change lie in commitment and active participation (Dhir, 2006).

As organisations are built on values, norms, traditions and other traits of individual members, standardisation facilitated by policy and procedure are established as best practice. Individuals with different functions encounter different learning conditions (e.g. the different role assignations of a research analyst and a secretary). Improving practices requires reflection on feedback and knowledge acquisition which undergirds learning. Adaptation and innovation depends upon constantly revising tools and finding solutions through reflective and reflexive practices (Johansson & Heide, 2008). Research suggests that the main barrier to new thinking is ontological and epistemological commitments, or the adherence to prior learning.

Group work for assessment activities

In this case study, students were asked to form groups and support group members throughout the course in sharing ideas; by demonstrating skills in facilitating and managing an online learning event; and, in preparing and presenting a seminar paper. Collaboration in the preparation and presentation of both event and seminar paper was encouraged.

In some communities, a large proportion of assessment is significantly linked to individual input to projects. Online environments are an effective setting as artefacts are documented or archived providing easy access for review. Assessment may include self-relfexive offerings (e.g. blogs) that are submitted.

Techniques that enhance self, peer and group assessment benefit both teacher and student, as individuals are aware of all contributions made. As assessment strategies have been developed to assist peer review, the information is used to help assess learning outcomes. Popular rating systems are anonymous and allows the teacher to maintain the responsibility for allocating marks using student feedback to implement reward systems.

Anonymity allows for student introspection if the criteria & rating system are clarified. Thompson and McGregor (2009) suggest that student feedback altruistically facilitates and improves group performance. Group consensus promotes team spirit that results in higher order thinking and the flow of discourse. Knowledge gathering acquires richer detail and focus, enabling succinct participation and activity. Tasks are performed with clarity as individuals understand and undertake the responsibility to contribute with more accuracy.

A collective idea is greater than the sum of its parts...

New technologies facilitate collective learning and provide current access to viewpoints. Artefacts are the data that allow individuals to access different viewpoints and perspectives gained by deconstructing and reviewing the recording after the event. The process is both transformative and disruptive as individuals learn through successive failure. By learning and associating context in different environments individuals are able to interpret and negotiate sense-making from a wider perspective.

Reflection time is required to understand how the individual can personally apply what has been learned to monitor situation awareness and make changes that prepare the sequence of progress. Internal motivation comes from desire and interest that can be self-regulated and encouraged though dialogic interchange with others of similar experience, aptitude and capability.

Assumptions about group work, group dynamics, roles and responsibilities

Individual presence and group identity are significantly linked. Part of current research stems from inception in the 1960's (Tuttle, 2002) - an era that had a very different feel to the way life is conducted in the 21st century. Lines of thinking were much more dispassionate and many theories that started out strong cognitively have had adverse behavioural consequences (e.g. dehumanisation). The notion that we must have roles should be identifiably linked to individual knowledge and strengths. Individual knowledge is considered data that the group makes knowledge from. Goal directed pursuits are unconsciously activated when individuals are placed in situations/context that support these goals. Three concepts required for self-regulation are:

self-confidence;
confidence in self-other relationships; and
self-development.

In order to set goals to develop a professional unity, individual group members monitor situation awareness in order to clarify the end objective in a manner that sustains goal-setting behaviour. Goals emerge from participation of knowledge networks. The context itself is representative of intent, thus it is the actions, procedures, situations and objects that help manifest the goal. Goal-directed behaviour is also activated by influences external to the individual (e.g. viewing and aspiring to role models). Knowledge networks motivate individuals to act with intention. Therefore, goal representations can be primed to interact with behavioural and contextual information.

An element of research in unconscious goal pursuits deals with habit forming processes. It is the identification and practice of taking effective action in relevant situations. Unconscious instigation of a goal occurs when goal-directed behaviour has been performed frequently and is a habit. Self-evaluation is critical when reflecting on performance. Individuals find it easier to accurately self-assess when the focus is on specific skills rather than general ability (London, 2003). Areas of difficulty in self-assessment occur because of leniency, self-enhancement motives and self-delusion.

Recognised traits of self-evaluation are:

self-esteem - individual self-worth;
generalised self-efficacy - how versatile an individual feels;
the tendency to be positive or optimistic; and
the locus of control - internal factors that influence behaviour.

Communication of self-concept is required in self-verification. Self-verification processes benefit behaviour retrospectively. Group processes are more effective when members have more understanding of each others strengths. Constructive feedback is critical as it creates a favourable image and protects self-esteem. The information is used for personal development allowing adaptation or transformation in behaviour. New learning goals are set, regulating and exploring new behaviour to determine the direction for learning. Negative experiences that promote self-reflection are valuable in creating learning opportunities. Communication streams allow gathering of information on self and others' view of self. Building stronger relationship ties leads to determining intervention practice when facing alienating behaviour amongst group members.

Choi and Kang (2009) suggest Activity System, proposed by Engestrom, as a unit of analysis to understand learner behaviours in an online collaborative environment. The types of behaviour associated with group work define individual strengths in sharing, organisation, the division of labour, and having confidence to ask questions. A strong internal relationship between the individual and her community develops from a sense of belonging fostered by empathic attitudes and values. Responsibility and commitment are co-dependent attributes of reflected attitude. Groups that perform effectively, or are perceived as high functioning, integrate fully and start on tasks immediately whereas perceived low functioning groups lack organisational skills that allow them to generate and sustain the motivation to persist in full participation.

The most frequently observed conflicting factors resided between subjects and the tools used in a capacity considered inefficient; that lacked resources; where individuals were untrained; were subject to mismanaged technology; and, network failure. The next most frequently observed conflicting factors that occurred between the individual and output stems from an inability to collate enough information to produce a relevant and meaningful document. Impediments to achieving this outcome include distractions of a personal nature, and low levels of individual connection to material.

Chiu and Hsiao (2009) conducted a study on the differences that group work in an online collaborative environment had among elementary school students. Student were randomly divided into groups of three members each and tasked with creating a concept map entirely through online collaboration. Cluster analysis identified distinct patterns in group behaviour. The majority of students were categorised as passive or reticent and displayed very little participatory behaviour. Positive scaling in behavioural attitudes were shown in groups that conducted discourse in knowledge gathering (e.g. discussing concepts that relate to tasks), and in groups that had full participation and focus on management and coordination of tasks rather than on the task. Groups that focused on developing social aspects of interaction were seen to be off-task. As overlapping task knowledge occurs, less information is retained and completed tasks are inaccurate.

These studies indicate that benefits of collaborative learning do not happen automatically and a sound instructional design is needed to make it happen (Wang, 2010). To facilitate interaction and improve the quality of discourse, some training or intervention may be necessary.

Sun, Cheng, Lin and Wang (2006) recommend that opportunities for interaction need to be specifically developed for the online environment. Space and time are reflective values of society that do not limit the learning period. Individuals are free to access resources at any time that is convenient to personal schedules. Similarly, isolation (e.g. due to race, gender or profession), or geographical remoteness is remedied through available asynchronous or synchronous communication.

In a collaborative group project, there is no formal leadership structure to start. As the group progresses with the task, members who contribute more or have higher technical competencies assume the responsibility of leadership (Curtis & Lawson, 2001; Lea, Rogers, & Postmes, 2002 cited in Wang, 2010). Formal and vocational institutions of higher education have acknowledged that while experience and proactive behaviour plays an important part in professional development, individuals have not been taught how to manage (Blenkinsopp & Stalker, 2004). Practitioners make the transition to academia, and become role models by using practical experience to develop solutions within the community. Students who have access to subject matter experts (e.g. working alongside scientists) are more likely to accept group culture and ethics (e.g. legitimate peripheral participation).

Expertise defines self-views and identities

Kelly's (2009) work on multi-ethnic student groups reveal that ethnic values include the epistemic beliefs of heritage and tradition. Cultures where education is focused on rote memorisation (Andersson & Hellberg, 2009) produce generations of students who have aligned themselves to this dedicated approach to learning. In groups where ethnicity is homogenous, innovation is restricted to epistemic values so groups may be seen to lack creativity. Groups that have diversity are recognised for their capacity to draw upon multiple perspectives (e.g. UNESCO). However, as blended learning depends on technology as a reliable resource in education, and as rote memorisation is phased out of formal learning, collaborative work will instigate the value of critical analysis. For example, in Australia students of music (TaikOz) were introduced to a traditional form of drumming from Japan. Their study of music included deconstructing the culture, the environment, and the purpose of daiko to create their own knowledge, expressed in their creative variation of music from an alternative culture.

Social implications

Social factors are considered significant when studying task and activity performance. Social cognition is the identified way in which individuals make sense of each other. Current research has taken particular focus in considering human characteristics when designing IT systems. Research on cognitive paradigms in the 1960's was undertaken by "cold, affectless thinking" representative of the era (Proctor & Vu, 2010; Tuttle, 2002). Research on the cognitive aspects of emotional vulnerability has grown extensively since then, and has kept abreast by analysing selective processes of emotional information. Mental workload assessment has received general acceptance when evaluating how new tasks impact the effects of different design elements or exploring the consequences of using different levels of automation. Interfaces are designed to interact and adapt to individual habits and performance needs.

Learning in a social context is often referred to as situated action. The perspective is drawn from the foundation of anthropological and sociological research. The aim is not just to build models of knowledge and action, but to explore the relationship between knowing and acting as it applies to context or circumstance.

Issues with group work

Buddy systems have been devised to use the strengths of students to initiate cooperative learning. Students who display strong extrovert characteristics, but who lag academically are typically well suited to peer pairing with individuals who fare better academically and are introverts. The community can focus on assessment of both academic progression and affiliation to group culture. For example, if learning is not an individual priority, community spirit links the individual to an environment that is supported by academia (e.g. an environment that supports goal-setting behaviour). The effects of mentoring positively increase assessment rates.

While results seem to justify the means, mentoring programs are both time and energy intensive. Observations include bridging social patterns (e.g. the buddy system) to satisfy intellectual incentive. Students who are more well-versed academically may feel stifled without higher levels of stimulation and leave assigned peers in favour of other groupings. Empathic communication determines whether students will use the pairing as a bonding experience even if the benefits are not academically assessed (Mandzuk, Hasinoff & Seifert, 2003).

If individuals are uncertain of the concept 'discourse analysis', the manner in which individual communication is understood within context and intellect (Nguyen, Terloewb & Pilot, 2006), then a strong support structure is required as they have identified and explicit ways of understanding knowledge gathering and work towards precise objectives that have been clearly defined. Tasks have clarity, and eliminates the need for higher order thought (Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005; Munro-Smith, 2003).

Conclusion

Regardless of the situation or environment a group may be in (e.g. academic, professional), individuals are sentient beings. Theory helps align, but systems that are embedded within daily activity are the foundation of structured learning. Our basic work premise is to "See One, Do One, Teach One". Translational learning, or learning that significantly correlates to behavioural change, occurs in cyclical patterns. Single-loop learning educates individuals in the ‘know what’ that becomes a mechanistic behavioural output; double-loop learning embeds reflection revealing the ‘know how’; and triple loop learning divulges ‘know why’.

Particular attention to working as communities of practice (COP) within groups greatly enhance the learning community. What is needed to understand the practice of practice is the language that identifies tacit and informal learning (Jorgensen & Keller, 2008). Novices who join communities must not only consider their role in a professional capacity, but understand tacit culture that is displayed by members. Working memory is easily distracted, indicating that goal-setting is a crucial component of collective consciousness. Without clear targets, both personal and professional, individuals are unable to identify their locus of interest. Situational activity facilitates subliminal priming that leads to increased opportunities for relevant meaning-making. Role models provide examples of best practice living knowledge that complement static knowledge.

As online learning develops from the competencies and skills that are required for lifelong learning, communities would benefit from initiating and encouraging active participation as part of self-directed learning. Methods of assessment that measure traditional learning on an individual basis should recognise different ways of recognising competencies. Traditional methods of evaluating knowledge acquisition have primarily been unconcerned with more than static delivery of data.

Transformational learning adjusts the perspective of assessment. As new knowledge generates innovation, the variables of what has been learned must be considered. A well-designed framework that sustains daily activity embeds a culture of clarity. The positive movement towards mobile learning has resolved many dysfunctional issues as asynchronous communication negates the need for immediate contact, thus the space and time needed for reflexive practice is created. Archived artefacts build up bifurcated developmental lines: the community generates practical discourse, and individuals apply cumulative knowledge to develop further insights.

Self-verification processes are of primary importance in group activity as trust and unity must develop before collaborative sharing can take place. Knowing team member abilities creates transactive memory that is the summative knowledge of group potential. The strength of transactive memory depends on the prevalence and active participation of individual members that attracts a shared vision. Positive self-evaluation and self-regulation diffuses the turbulence that can occur as a result of close proximity. However, it should be noted that interpersonal congruence is not a measure of performance, but an approach to professional unity.

Sustainable development of communities depends on the capacity of individuals to adapt to cultural principles and values. As learning is generated from the bottom up, accepting individual innovation generates the clarity to understand that diverse perspectives, framed within a dedicated context, introduce a multiplicity of approaches for solving a range of issues.

Accepted 11/10

A Metaphorical Perspective of Organisations by Deborah Gordon

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Ghazali, K. (2011). Transformative learning via eportfolios: a critical review of communication and technology to inspire confidence in novice practitioners

2010-12-10T12:25:00.020+08:00

Abstract
Development in the corporate world has instigated changes that have had a ripple effect globally. Government and corporate strategy are inextricably integrated, meaning that a rise in ideologies which are embedded in commerce supports the network of communication. It is these corporate-centred ideologies that heavily influence and significantly correlate to the reforms required in education. Globalisation has steered a way forward for transformation in higher education to fit pedagogy and technology with Communities Of Practice and delivery. While there are ongoing difficulties and challenges, supporters keep faith that good change comes from the stimulation of tension and uncertainty. UNESCO programs (e.g. Education for All, Millennium Development Goals, Education for Sustainable Development) are regarded as opportunities for sustainable change. The dysfunction and potential source of resistance to the development of sustainable policy stems from the considerable amount of pressure on people who teach to restructure professional practice in order to contribute towards Education for Sustainable Development. Eportfolios are widely used in corporate strategy, and may be considered a method by which transformation and integration of education occurs through its introduction to preservice teachers.

Introduction
Diversity may be seen as policy that either follows, or is followed by, innovation. Policies on lifelong learning and capability are sourced from national level debate and are prioritised as policy that leads innovation. The focus of the 2002 World Summit was on how to prepare education for sustainable development, how to set benchmarks and standards, and how to build control mechanisms that assess progress. The objective of the Summit was to venture into the collaboration of strategy immediately which meant that participants were required to generate draft policies. The situation revealed that several preparatory steps to enable strategy driven sustainable development would have to be implemented and monitored. Specifically, the overriding impression left from the Summit was the complexity of global management and the time needed to implement development programs to raise awareness.

Current debate questions whether social reproduction or transformation is part of education and is reflected in the educators’ professional attitude. Noticeable themes are relationships between social workers and clients (Shardlow, ed. 1989). New methodology relates the needs of a community with relevant support structures that are more in keeping with developing the environment holistically (e.g. support comes from active participation in a community; taking individual responsibility for community belongingness). Exploring the meaning that sustains these relationships brings an awareness of the implications that effective professionalism creates the unity required to integrate values that translate as collaborative achievement (Wadham, 2003). By placing social reproduction in context, individuals maintain participation levels and arguably demonstrate a responsible and committed attitude born of obedience and deference (Trigg, 2001). The more varied and diverse an individuals' network is, the more stimulation there is to respond to. Some research analysts prefer to view education as more transactive and transformative with a distinct sympathy for social constructivism and cognitivism (Garavan & McCarthy, 2003). Social networking shapes learning through translational learning and diversity of cultural perspectives. Education that leads to transformation is open and self-directed (Montague, 2008). Delivery of static knowledge is the platform used to integrate individual knowledge with group knowledge, making tacit knowledge explicit in curricula and students. Therefore, environmental education defines the perception from which individuals view the world (Martin, 2007). While discomfort surrounding the Education for Sustainable Development agenda is tangible, the aims for ESD cannot be discursively debated until the concept of education has been explored. Tension (Leuenberger & Wakin, 2007; Duncum, 2008) caused by opposing views concerning the nature of education emerged when scholars analysed 20th century theory and its dominant tendencies, and noted that new perspectives were developing towards the close of the century (Bennett, 2008; Davies, 2010). Memetics (Barton, 2004; Jahoda, 2002; Poulshock, 2002; Walter, 2007) suggests we think of education as transmissive, meaning that skills, knowledge and values are transmitted to students. Participants are steered towards a committed objective via a closed learning process that affords bi-directional communication between master and apprentice (Carlson, et. al, 2003). From a transmissive perspective, education is a tool through which to deliver messages to open minds and examples can be found in government, industry, and special interest groups.

Transforming pedagogy to fit objective
Education is used for implementing a set strategy, the standards for which correlate to ideologies that represent a segment of society (Waging War over Public Education and Youth Services: Challenging Corporate Control of Our Schools and Communities, 2005). Implanting ideology is counter-productive in education for personal development, as transformation is the result of holistically training minds to develop analytical skills and insight rather than narrowing focus to content (Byrnes, 2006). Allowing personal diversity as a means to sustain and maintain sense-making, identity (Collin, 2009) and developmental progress creates naturally occurring overt personal behaviour supportive of Education for Sustainable Development activities (Terry, 2007). Reflexion is stimulated by a multitude of perspectives and transmission is more readily accepted as a result of preparation and clear, bi-directional understanding of objectives (Anderson, 2008). While it may be easy to denounce transmissive and deterministic goals, much of the literature available is written by people who have themselves been challenged by the structure of existing pedagogy and provides a foundation of experience for those committed to transformation and reformation in pedagogy (Macleod, 2005). Evans and Powell (2007) value eportfolios as a means by which we can share knowledge and preserve authentic practice. They suggest a healthy critique of the practical aspects to online teaching (Riel & Polin, 2004) that supports and maintains additive training for holistic attributes of nextgen learning. As communities of practice are integrated networks that sustain culture, knowledge and objectives (Rudsberg & Ohman, 2010), preservice teachers are nurtured as a means to develop and archive an expanding knowledge base. In creating and archiving artifacts (Aubusson, et. al, 2009), novices gain the necessary experience to analyse and self-evaluate individual work. The National Board of Professional Teaching Standards places emphasis on recognising that teachers form learning communities as part of their professional duties. Inculcating the values and group unity of communities of practice for preservice teachers facilitates progression to learning communities although analysis reveals that understanding the composite function of communities of practice has not been fully grasped.

Embedded learning
Instructional technologists propose that preservice teachers embed class and program level mediation as a means of integrating knowledge and communication technology (Laine, et. al., 2010) through eportfolios before employment (Franklin & Hopson, 2007). Recent literature (Barnett, 2006) indicates that preservice teachers demonstrate strong individualistic behaviour commensurate with initiating pedagogy that embeds mediation and aids learning and teaching (Winch & Ingram, 2002). Experience in eportfolio management (Anderberg, et. al, 2009) reveals a weakening effect if novices imitate without comprehension, which invalidates pedagogy and renders the artifact an unreliable source. The strength of eportfolios lies in the ability to connect novices with their product drawing attention to the student-teacher network that include themes on mentoring and guidance through existing technology (Cornelius & Marston, 2009). As reflection allows deeper cognitive processing, preservice teachers adopt behaviour that is valued in the profession gained from activity designed to generate strategy (Milman, 2005).

Eportfolios and the integrated COP
Phenomenology is the science of observation made popular in the 19th century. Its foundation lies in an ecological balance of rational thought and embodied learning (i.e. living knowledge) that proposes all thought ( i.e. tacit knowledge) must first be lived in order to process knowledge. Turning focus from activity to intention, phenomenology highlights the interaction between group members and the artifacts-in-use (Voulalas & Sharpe, 2005). Learning is based on experience that has been performed by the individual (Yechiam & Busemeyer, 2005). Each time an individual has cause to use artifacts and interact with other members is an opportunity to embed the activity (Keough, 2008). Embodied learning is the result of behavioural processes that facilitate individual meaning-making, and tacit knowledge can be described as the daily encounters an individual has that bring about holistic meaning (Kupers, 2008). To formulate a concept, individuals use examples taken from the environment. Theoretical knowledge provides the framework for debate, while critical analysis of content and context create a deconstruction of perspectives that shapes the design of solutions. Thus eportfolios develop flexibly according to individuality and program requirements. This function is of primary importance when considering the attributes of communities of practice. (e.g. active participation and open communication). In addition, eportfolios provide active encouragement that supports lifelong learning (Fitch, et. al, 2008); facilitates and embeds triple loop learning (Dubinsky, 2003); maintains constructive feedback from peers (Chatel, 2003); and activates professional and personal identity (Chambers & Wickersham, 2007). Peer interaction sustains the development, diffusion and dispersion of new knowledge (Miller & Benz, 2008). Traditional assessment methods undermine the efficacy of eportfolios by implementing standardisation as eportfolios should be regarded as more than a compilation of artifacts to be assessed out of context by rubric marking systems.

Design accentuates learning and assessment
Students have ownership of design layout and links as eportfolios are used to accentuate learning and assessment, in favour of assessment systems that are only supportive of assessment (Lyons, 2008). Design solutions arise as a means to support sustainable practice from within the community (Selby, 2006). Current use of eportfolios stems from learning communities archiving the range of teacher performance that has instigated reforms in the way technology is used (Wolf, 2006). Setting standards for eportfolios may be viewed as contradictory to learning and sustainability as feedback suggests that eportfolios are regarded by preservice teachers as an expression of formative learning. Historically, formal education has looked upon eportfolios as a means for summative assessment which places emphasis on institutional needs rather than on student requirement (Hoeltzel, 2004). Disparity in views regarding eportfolios stem from a distrust of ICT that is generated by Digital Immigrants who have had access to an era of education without technology (Matthies, 2010). Portfolios become the identity of the individual and are subject to change and influence directed by learning. Continually updating an eportfolio requires careful planning in order to stay true to its objective. Eportfolios present an authentic form of assessing activities and methodology in relation to pedagogy and practice. Literature reviews on this subject reveal that many practitioners have failed to see the connection between learning, eportfolios and communities of practice until recently (Lipscomb, et. al, 2007). For many students, the problem in creating efficient use of eportfolios has been in identifying and making the transition from paper. Lack of familiarity with software and other issues have prevented students from archiving projects culminating in an obvious lack of sharing. Much work has been invalidated by institutional expectation that is shaped by assessment rubrics as student work is limited to linking proficiency with standards. Reflection reveals that tacit knowledge (Simons, et. al., 2003) is left out by preservice teachers in order to abide by standardised assessment. Eportfolios are the potential to drive the values of a sharing, nurturing environment in such a way that promotes active participation and public sharing of knowledge. Learning the art of teaching through eportfolios has a student-centered approach with rapid prototyping that removes some of the anxiety and deterioration associated with inhibition.

From novice to practitioner
Blenkinsopp and Stalker (2004) state that as novices make the transition to professional, current knowledge and identity is subsumed by ongoing working knowledge that develops from acceptance of their new role. Challenges for novice practitioners lie in finding suitable expression within the community, where experience is acknowledged as valuable. Working knowledge helps the individual transition to the fresh setting as new identities are constructed within the framework of function. Group culture and identity become linked as individuals address mission statements to adapt and transform with the community. Accepting community policies indicates a responsibility towards the group that results in an emotional attachment to performance outcomes (Bonnette, 2006). Individuals become a representative state of the organisation. Learning trajectories (Andersson & Hellberg, 2009) evolve from day-dreaming about future events based on the potential of self. Projections of future identity (e.g. rise in seniority levels and commensurate status) facilitate in forming prospective values, attitudes and philosophies that depend on behavioural commitment. Praxis constitutes the embodied knowledge of individual and group that is enacted on a daily basis, and transactive memory (London, et. al, 2005) guides members to make community-centric decisions based on experience and learning. Cumulative knowledge is reflected in individual styles of effective pedagogy (Freebody, et. al, 2008). Knowledge creation develops new skill sets that maintain the desire to fulfil potential (Clark, et. al, 2008). In order to achieve individual potential, learning trajectories are the design of planned and sequential events (Geels & Raven, 2007). Implementation of activities that facilitate achieving goals reveal individual passion and interest (Latham, 2001). Practice and experience are transferable skills that are significant to constructing identity where reflection offers insights to discuss living knowledge in honest and open communication.

Conclusion
Globalisation has made apparent the need for continuous and connected learning to stay abreast of ongoing practice. Gathering the knowledge required to maintain strong external links also initiates insight for forward thinking practice. Insight developed from archived artifacts has been widely recognised as a means for investigating adaptability and transformation. Kupers suggests that one perspective is to view organisational learning as Gestalt. Gestalt unveils the relation the body plays in individual and collective learning. Rational strategies are often unaccommodating of human behaviour. Inclusive practice integrates mind and body, and offers an alternative. Design and planned methods of pedagogy have been based on linear approaches to instructional design. Models for instructional design should therefore reflect the complexity and chaos of any given community and technology should be considered a boon to the betterment of society. However caution is required when used for initiating intervention. Latterly technology has come to include wireless devices that reconfigure communication strategies that were unavoidably omitted from earlier research. We require a thorough understanding of communities of practice before solutions can be effective as social connections are not based on the idea that individuals think about projected behaviour. There is a link between what is done and what is felt. A logical starting point is when the individual makes a choice between what can be done and what cannot. This stage of learning precedes what is known, indicating a learning process that occurs between choice and acquiring knowledge. Correspondingly, there is a strong connection to intention, context, and performance. Individuals who embody knowledge are inclined to engage in active participation, where active participation encapsulates the study of process and meaning-making. Learning trajectories develop according to motivational needs that emerge from personal capability to transform. Maturity leads to more responsible acceptance of function and role that benefits group and community. While the strength of knowledge acquisition propels learning trajectories and ongoing developmental lines, weak areas become apparent and may hinder performance or further learning. For example, an individual may have attained a high cognitive stage of self-development, but have low to weak stages of development in self-verification processes. Phenomenology has an integral approach to analysing and understanding coherent discourse in learning. Embodied learning stabilises cognitive and behavioural methods of delivery. As sentient beings, humans embed what has been learned by performing daily activities until it is an habitual and unconscious process. The potential for multi-disciplinary learning offers the nexus for considered learning methods that add to, increase, or replace epistemic philosophy. Novice practitioners are advised to draw on their wealth of experience in technology and new knowledge to manage participation in communities of discourse.

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Selby, D. (2006). The Firm and Shaky Ground of Education for Sustainable Development. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 30(2), pp. 351 - 365. Retrieved on September 18, 2010 from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03098260600717471

Narrative

"There was a large clearing in the forest, a large open area from which many footpaths led off in many directions. The people were disputatious. Some argued the merits of taking one footpath, some the merits of taking another, and yet others the merits of taking a third. They milled around in a confused and contentious mood. Then they discovered what looked like a broad, firm and easy path that all might take, where all kinds of folk could walk together shoulder to shoulder. Many hurried towards it, relieved that their arguments could be brought to an end. In a sigh of collective relief, few were disposed to enquire whether the path was really heading in the right direction and whether the undemanding way it seemed to offer might discourage the further seeking and exploration of alternative pathways. Even fewer bothered to ask whether going down the path would really be good for the forest and its inhabitants" (pg. 2).

The Firm Ground

Selby states that the strategy and planning done for tomorrow (i.e. future generations) is based on projections of today. Sustainable development achieved priority status at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, 1992. Under key principles one, three and four of Agenda 21: Programme of Action for Sustainable Development, humans are at the center of concern but ecological development must be allowed to ensure sustainable progress. Both nonformal and formal learning integrate through culture to stabilise local environmental issues. Reaffirmations were made at the World Summit in Johannesburg, 2004 where a proposal for a Decade for Sustainable Development (DESD) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at their 57th Session held three months later. The DESD began in March, 2005 with key guiding values for ESD:

respect for the dignity and human rights of all people throughout the world and a commitment to social and economic justice for all;
respect for the human rights of future generations and a commitment to intergenerational responsibility;
respect and care for the greater community of life in all its diversity, which involves the protection and restoration of the Earth's ecosystems; and
respect for cultural diversity and commitment to build locally and globally a culture of tolerance, non-violence and peace.

Within the United Kingdom, DfES was launched in 2003 and by 2005 the HEFCE had developed and published a draft proposal to support a framework for strategy and action across curricula, teaching, learning, and estate management in higher education.

Selby asks how ESD became so popular, so quickly. As a global development it has provided some structure though critics suggest it is wallpaper. Selby proposes that within the given circumstance, the amorphous concept allows for innovation that leads to constructive action - a theme "vague and diffuse enough to enable everyone to invest in it with their own meanings" (pg. 4). He uses metaphorical terminology, such as 'the North' and 'the South', to categorise the division between environmental lobbyists and ecological developers. Since global decolonisation, development has been in the name of social justice, and in the political correctness of concessions. Establishing a system for developmental discourse has imbued progress with Western values, further alienating the reality of global consumption from ideology. Representatives of both Northern and Southern culture collaborated to jointly form a framework that encompassed developmental goals based on the hegemony of Northern culture. A parallel forum, the Rio International NGO Forum, produced guiding principles based on holistic environmental management for the development of communities:

Principle 1: environmental education is not neutral but is value-based. It is an act of social transformation;
Principle 9: environmental education must recover, reflect and use indigenous history and local cultures; and
Principle 16: education must develop an ethical awareness of all forms of life with which humans share this planet, respect all life cycles and impose limits on humans' exploitation of other forms of life.

Long standing suspicion of others' efforts at ESD are drawn from distrust that the end objective has not been analysed. Integrating economic improvements with environmental protection and justice has resulted in a range of socially active interest groups from North and South willing to negotiate differences through collaboration. Selby proposes that ESD supporters have the potential to form a confederation amongst educators to discuss development; human rights issues; human welfare; and, the environment.

With the advent of ESD, environmental education has moved from its original domain within the sciences. As such, teachers have more opportunity to include various lenses (e.g. political, economic, and social) as a point of entry into ESD. Selby firmly states that ESD is founded upon solid ground that has captured and sustained interest globally, bringing diverse focus-specific interest groups together.

Narrative

"So, many forsook the narrow paths and took to the broad path. But is the path proving as firm as was hoped? Is it realising its potential as a way forward? Is it benefiting the forest and the trees?

Lingering in the forest clearing are folk who have concerns about the broad path. Their concerns vary. Some know what 'development' without the qualifier 'sustainable' has meant, and continues to mean, and worry if 'sustainable development' will really be very much different. Some - environmentalists and ecologists in particular - worry that they have taken a broad path without the interpretation abilities and markers required to make sense of the path. Others worry whether the song of sustainable development can really capture the song of the Earth; whether it has been worth losing the turns, complexities and irregularities of the many paths they used to tread. Yet others worry whether the idea of 'sustainable literacy', much vaunted by ESD advocates, is a sufficient and appropriate educational response in the light of the global environmental crisis and global crisis in the human condition" (pg. 5).

The Shaky Ground

Sustainable Development as Oxymoron

Despite numerous attempts to define sustainable development, the concept remains open to interpretation and perspective. Dobson argues that sustainable development has been framed by economists who categorically state that sustainable development is about the conservation of development, and not the preservation of nature. It is proposed that this view is not one that requires a material reduction of living standards, nor does it appear to abate economic progress. The approach uses resource management to curtail intense use, or seeks new measures to increase natural capital.

While environmental and ecological activists bemoan diminishing resources, economists are actively supportive of implementing alternative greening measures. Critics argue that ecological sustainability is not only about measurements, but about "beauty, awe, enchantment, reverence and sense of wonder" (pg. 6). Selby refers to Jickling who states that there are some things that are to be considered in spite of measurements (e.g. not an exact science). The difference between economists and ecologists is that economists have envisioned a positive and sustainable future which allows them to adapt and design for tomorrow, while ecologists and ESD teachers are debating who should lead. Worster wrote in 1995 "I fear that in partnership it will be 'development' that makes most of the decisions, and 'sustainable' will come trotting along, smiling and genial, unable to assert any firm leadership, complaining only about the pace of travel" (pg. 7). Selby states that rendering cultural, spiritual or personal development as reasons to challenge this discourse would be marginalised.

He instead suggests that we view sustainable development as sustainable growth to further clarify this discourse. Selby discusses the concept as sustained growth within a limited time frame, with general consensus in identifying location.

The fears felt by some eco-theorists and environmental educators are value judgments based on the perceptions of a Western culture heavily dependent on materialism and obsession. Rigby suggests that 'development' does not mean the automatic acceptance of these attributes and makes the distinction between weak and strong memes.

Alternative terminology is appearing - 'education for the development of responsible societies', 'education for sustainability' and 'education for sustainable futures' have been adopted in favour of sustainable development. Whatever it's called, Sterling indicates that the focus should remain on whole systems thinking rather than in mechanistic, managerial or transmissive practice.

Sustainable Development as Denial of Intrinsic Value

Selby proposes that much of the controversy surrounding environmental ethics concerns the reasons for wanting to save nature. Potentially, it may have more to do with identifying cures for human malaise rather than the intrinsic value nature presents. He reminds us of Principle 1, and argues that worldview is primarily ego- and technocentric. Selby proposes that the perpetuated view is of nature as a resource (i.e. a.k.a. natural capital or ecosystem services).

The concept of sustainable development therefore, can be interpreted as the ability and capacity of humanity to manage the future of the planet. Even as educators accept Gaia, an autonomous self-regulating conscious entity, they are equally attracted to human endeavour.

Education for Sustainable Development as Lacking in Thematic and Epistemological Breadth

ESD has often been presented as a complete and holistic experience, when in reality the domain is still in formulation. Most arguments stem from the fact that there are educators who don't believe that education should have a determined outcome, and who instead suggest a range of possibilities be made available for student evaluation and subsequent choice be the determining manifestation of action. It is possible that there is a lack of concrete definitions due to potential "instant fossilisation" of key understandings (i.e. ideology trapped under microscopic inspection). Selby indicates that it is a source of concern that so many government policies are initiated based on a report archived more than nineteen years ago, to address current issues. The HEFCE support the document stating that a high level document such as the Bruntland had produced a concise and flexible model with multiple points of entry that would only warrant further discussion at some later date.

A training perspective suggests there is a predetermined and achievable goal to education, especially valid as economic and technical progress is in the process of transformation based on sustainable development. Meanwhile, Selby ponders academia's choices - if sustainable development concerns the issues that challenge the very nature of human existence, then ESD may seem a reasonable and justifiable response. Education has always been linked to desirable outcomes (e.g. linking HIV and venereal disease with unprotected sex). Structuring a framework that is flexible enough to withstand challenges and individual determinism achieves the objective of academic goals and alleviates some of the pressure felt by educators who don't know where to begin. A list of philosophies derived from public voice on sustainability offers popular challenges to students who lead ethically sustainable lives. Included are:

animal liberation philosophies, which claim that animals have rights, and offer a philosophical basis for the claim;
bioregionalist philosophies, which call for humans to live simply and convivially within the place they have inhabited since birth or, if they have moved, reinhabited, i.e. through conscious processes have become native to;
deep ecology, which calls upon us to think deeply about the human-nature relationship and to renounce the anthropocentrism of much of our thought and behaviours in favour of biospherical egalitarianism;
ecofeminist philosophies, which, running counter to the thinking of many deep ecologists, identify the problem as patriarchy rather than anthropocentrism, and argue that oppression and exploitation of women, minorities, peripheral groups and nature are mutually reinforcing as well as intersecting in their dynamics;
environmental justice theories, which identify environmental problems as social justice problems whenever class, race/ethnicity and gender are significant factors in determining who experiences the effects of, and who controls the causes of, environmental degradation; and
social ecology theories, which argue that environmental degradation is the outcome of inequalities and injustices within human society and that, if the latter are properly addressed, environmental degradation will go into reverse.

It is proposed that by placing these philosophies under sustainable development, nature's value increases. Systematic degradation leads to a moral paradox, infusing the situation with delusional attributes that has negative impact on sense-making for students. "We stunt the potential of the broader fields of environmental ethics and philosophy by an over-concentration on sustainable development and sustainability that, by definition, do not in and of themselves lead us to consider what we may need or want to know about beauty, culture, the spiritual and life purposes" (pg. 11).

It does not take much to understand the emphasis on sustainable literacy as:

an holistic understanding of the need for transformation, individually and collectively;
having comprehensive knowledge and skills to activate situation monitoring to engage in behaviour commensurate with sustainable development;
the wisdom to recognise and reward decisions and actions that favour appropriate measures for sustainable development.

Selby indicates that the issues raised in these definitions relates to the need to have closure in understanding the objective goals of ESD. The term 'literacy' is arbitrary and obscure, as historically it has meant the ability to read and write. Is it widely accepted to acknowledge literacy as a multimedia, semiotic experience? Is 'text' a metaphor for the environment/culture/society? Selby notes that the definitions listed previously refrain from active engagement with environment/culture/society, observing tongue-in-cheek that neither is there instruction on identifying and reading the meaning of trees, biophysical phenomena or ecosystems.

Selby links 'literate' with 'literal' and wonders about the emotional attachment the term 'sustainable literacy' engenders, and how it may differ from the attachment we have to the words 'awe', or 'wonder', or 'beauty' that are typically associated with nature. Selby takes comfort in Jane Austen, declaring "definitions and conceptions are too much about sense and not enough about sensibility" (pg. 12). When we adjust our perspective of environmental sensibility to fit our aspirations for sustainability, additive dimensions increase holistic understanding of epistemology. Initially, these dimensions feel counter-cultural as they were long abandoned by modern practice.

Education for Sustainable Development as Falling Short of its Promised Scope

Selby feels that within ESD, several aspects relating to learning have been under represented. Furthermore, discourse on peace and social justice is inflammatory to current advocates of ESD. The voices of indigenous peoples extol the virtues of sustainable living, but are unheard in Northern discourse. The South, proponents of non-accumulative sustainable living, are similarly disregarded. Selby proposes the examination and validation of alternative methods of knowing.

Discourse on:

probable futures - futures that are likely to pass;
possible futures - visions of the future that are inclusive of countercultural infringement; and
preferred futures - based on given ontological belief

has not drawn from existing models of future representation that enable students to reflect on their own version of a possible and sustainable future.

Sustainable Development as inheriting an Outdated 'Orderliness' Conception of Ecosystem

Early scientists developed a structure for understanding the comprehensive meaning of ecosystems that make sense of a 300 year old mechanistic worldview. From this perspective and holistic understanding of the nature nurture debate, humanity can realise its own potential to guide an integrated pedagogy of economics and social progress in balance with the harmony of nature.

Equilibrium and disequilibrium, caused by fluctuations in weather conditions (e.g. tsunami), is nature's gentle reminder and regulation of the balance. Selby proposes that investigation into 'education for ephemerality', 'education for elusiveness' and 'education for ineffability' is warranted. Ethics that promote the intangible quality and pureness of feeling that is associated with belonging and tenderness. Transformation is the enactment of integrated processes and goals to relinquish control in the face of transience and maintain focus. To captivate the hearts and minds of poets in the aftermath of the industrial revolution, sustainable development requires the unification of spirituality and the sciences. Holistic knowledge comes from utter acceptance of the absolute, the lived experience. It is the very transience of nature that inspires awe and appreciation for beauty.

Narrative

So some stayed in the clearing bemused and troubled. Were their worries big enough and deep enough to avoid the broad path? Should they look for an alternative path that would be more congruent with what they valued? Or, should they be pragmatic, join the throng on the wide path, and seek every opportunity to make gains even against the give and camber of the path?

Some wrestled and wrestled in their minds with what to do. But the application of reason was not enough. Others smelt flowers, watched the busy-ness of insects, the silk of a butterfly's wing (the flap of which could touch off a weather cataclysm thousands of miles away) and touched the smooth bark of beech and the rough bark of oaks. Feeling the flow of life through themselves and what they witnessed, they declared that the key was to embrace a fundamental change in our attitude to nature based not on what we can extract from her but on what we can learn from her. Her lessons of cycles, flows, networks, partnerships, diversity and, yes, unpredictability, uncertainty and turbulence can and should infuse both the curriculum and process of our learning and teaching, as well as the way our learning institutions work. As long as we are sure that our way is deeply informed by the dynamics and processes of nature, we can walk the firm and shaky ground of any path.

Choose Not To Fall