DEVELOPING IN LEARNING ORGANIZATION OF SMALL SCHOOLS.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop small schools to be learning organization. The research methodology was as follows. The population was the small schools that had maximum of 120 students under the Office of the Basic Education Commission in the academic year 2011. The sample group comprised of fourteen small schools under the Office of the Basic Education Commission. These schools had fourteen directors and 61 teachers with the total of 75 staff who were purposively selected in this study from the small schools at Kham Sakaesaeng District under Nakhon Ratchasima Primary Education Service Area 5. The development procedures emphasized on improving directors’ academic leadership, teachers’ motivations and positive attitudes towards the schools’ learning organization which considered as the independent variables affecting the learning organization. The procedures consisted of arranging the workshop for directors and teachers, and acknowledging the participants on the topics of the learning organization, knowledge management, academic leadership of the school director, academic article writing, classroom action research and exchanging the knowledge from different academicians. Additionally, the results of the classroom action researches and the academic articles were presented; and brainstorming on the development procedures for the schools to be the learning organization was arranged. The pre- and post-development procedures were as follows. (1) Measure the levels of the learning organization of the schools, (2) Measure the levels of the academic leadership of the school directors, (3) Investigate the levels of the motivation of both the directors and the teachers, (4) Examine the levels of the attitudes of the directors and teachers towards the learning organization, and (5) At the post-development procedures, investigate the satisfactions of the school directors and teachers on the workshop. Sign Test was employed to investigate the differences of the pre- and post-development scores.

The findings revealed that The model of the learning organization development was derived from the directors’ academic leadership, teachers’ motivations and positive attitudes towards the schools’ learning organization. Therefore, these three variables must be developed by arranging the workshop for directors and teachers to understand the concepts of the learning organization, knowledge management, academic leadership, academic article writing and classroom action research. The results of the developments were as follows.

1. After the development of the         learning organization, the small schools were increased higher levels of the learning organization with the statistical significant at α =.01 level.

2. After the development of the directors’ academic leadership, the levels of the academic leadership of small schools directors were increased at the statistical significant at α =.01 level.

3. After the development of the directors and teachers on the learning organization, knowledge management, classroom action research and academic article writing, the levels of the motivation of the small schools directors and teachers were increased at the statistical significant at α =.01 level.

4. After the development of the school directors and teachers on the learning organization and knowledge management, the levels of their attitudes towards the learning organization were increased at the statistical significant at α =.01 level.