Collaborative Learning and Government

Social learning has been rarely studied within the public and governmental context. Specially, studies regarding the effect of cognitive and regulatory processes among groups. Most studies, including the sample included in this Series, have been focused on educational or business settings rather. However, there is, although limited, research regarding collaborative learning in government. In this post I highlight two different studies that reflect how collaboration both through inter-groups and inter-organizations can affect collective learning.

The first study was done by Speer (2011) where he conducted a review to explore international practices in Europe and Africa, macro-level peer learning among government organizations, and their implications at the micro level. Speer (2011) used the learning activities of the VET program that are organized by the ETF (European Training Foundation). A content analysis was carried out where four national peer evaluation and learning programs are found: The African Peer Review Mechanism, ENQA-VET, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and ETF. This research is useful for our Practicum given that it presents the option to investigate and explore if there are agreements, programs or transnational learning initiatives that use collaborative learning. It was found that these governments are nourished by external knowledge for their own policies. They are always oriented towards shared goals, implicit standards and learning through good practices.

The second study was conducted by Getha (2008) where the author examined the relationship between social learning and collaborative capacity in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This study examined collaborative capacity from active learning, which is a critical component of collaborative capacity. Getha (2008) used the Learning Organization Questionnaire and the Federal Human Capital Survey to examine key indicators of active learning at the federal level. Getha (2008) used data from the FHCS, previously collected, to examine indicators of active learning indirectly, after a confirmatory factor analysis. This research is relevant to our Practicum because it presents the option of exploring how active learning practices increase the levels of collaboration in teams. The data suggest that DHS employees lack their ability to assess gaps in the performance and collaborative learning practices, which could affect the ability to examine and address deficiencies in the learning and development of their teams.

It must be taken into consideration that learning between nations is not equal or similar to the learning of small groups in more traditional research schemes, such as the ones that have been previously discussed in this Series. However, I include these articles given that they contributes to the discussion on the development of collaborative learning, and in this context it gives us a perspective of group learning on a larger scale. After all, inter-organizational collaborative learning is part of the Social Learning literature. It remains to be explored if metacognition mediates active learning in teams or groups, and what is the effect that Shared Regulation may have on collaborative processes within government.

Sources and further readings:

Speer, S. (2011). Organized Governmental Learning: vocational education and training practices between peer review and peer learning. Research in Comparative and International Education. Vol (6) Num. 3. RCIE.

Getha-Taylor, H. (2008). Learning Indicators and Collaborative Capacity: Applying Action Learning Principles to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Public Administration Quarterly. Vol. 32 Is. 2.