Building a Culture of Evidence The Wisconsin Technical Colleges November 4, 1999 John Tagg Associate Professor of English Palomar College

Why is it hard to change? Not enough time; everybody already has a full-time job. We were hired to maintain the organization in its current functions, not to create new ones. The structure of the organization is designed to serve the paradigm that created it.

Conventional/ Instructional Conventional/ Learning Mission Instructional Mission Learning Mission Conventional/ Instructional Conventional/ Learning Conventional Organization Organizational Type Learning/ Instructional Learning/ Learning Learning Organization

A learning paradigm college will be a learning institution in a double sense: . an institution that produces student learning and an institution that learns

How do you become a learning organization? You model the behavior you want from your students. (Critical thinking begins at home.)

Deal and Kennedy: Corporate Cultures, 1982

Organizational Culture High Risk Low Risk Tough Guy-Macho High Feedback Work Hard-Play Hard Low Feedback Bet the Company Process

What Is a Learning Organization?

Theories of Action Action Strategies Governing Values Consequences

Single-Loop Learning Governing Values Action Strategies Consequences

Double-Loop Learning Governing Values Action Strategies Consequences

Defensive Routines Chris Argyris, Knowledge for Action, 1993: “An organizational defensive routine is any policy or action that inhibits individuals [or] groups. . . From experiencing embarrassment or threat and, at the same time, prevents the actors from identifying and reducing the causes of the embarrassment or threat. Organizational defensive routines are anti-learning and over-protective.”

Typically, in using defensive routines we Evade the real issue Cover up the evasion Cover up the cover-up.

Most public colleges exhibit a particular form of process culture: The Culture of Compliance

Some characteristics of a culture of compliance: Lack of feedback on important goals. Lack of reward or risk—no clear consequences from actions. Lack of local autonomy in important areas of policy. Separation of mandates from mission. Separation of rhetoric from reality.

Defensive Routines in a Culture of Compliance: Evade the issue of learning by boasting. Evade the issue of learning by shifting to finances. Evade the issue of learning by shifting to mandates. Evade the issue of change by shifting to the demands of maintenance. Evade the issue of learning by blaming the students

Skepticism About Change Learning Challenge Evasion or Shift Skepticism About Change Cover-up of Evasion

How to break out of the Vicious Oval? Create a culture of evidence.

Creating a culture of evidence Raise awareness of defensive routines. Seek consensus on the criteria for success. Systematically provide feedback to your staff and students about the important outcomes you seek. Increased feedback will raise awareness of risk and reward

Systematically raise awareness of defensive routines and develop strategies to disable them

Defensive Routine: We don’t have the time/money/staff to change. Recalculate costs and benefits in terms of student learning. Examine the costs of present policies in terms of student learning. Weigh both costs and benefits of alternative policies.

Systematically provide feedback Assess learning. Track the results of assessment over time. Define goals in terms of data.

Raising awareness of risk and reward We already work in a high-risk/high reward environment, but risk and reward are camouflaged by organizational defensive routines. The risk is student failure; the reward is student success. Systematic feedback can spur the culture to effectiveness by disabling cover-up.

jtagg@palomar. edu http://daphne. palomar jtagg@palomar.edu http://daphne.palomar.edu/di The Fourth North American Conference on the Learning Paradigm http://palomar.edu/learn/ Copyright © John Tagg 1999