Governmental learning spiral

The governmental learning spiral is a technique used to solve specific governance challenges.^[1] It is used during prearranged educational events such as conferences, e-learning, and trainings to improve performance in democratic governance.^[2][3] The governmental learning spiral—a heuristic and multidisciplinary tool—has been developed and implemented at international governmental learning events throughout the past decade.

Concept

The technique consists of a nine-stage learning process divided into three phases, which include the planning and aftermath as well as the learning event itself.

A major characteristic of this type of governmental learning event is facilitation by a learning broker^[4] who oversees all aspects of event organization. These include logistics, content preparation, drafting and implementation of the agenda, moderation of the learning sessions, and follow-up activities. The learning broker designs the learning process according to the specific governance challenge at hand.

The event must be structured based on several factors:

• The specific challenge a government is facing
• An analysis of the kind of knowledge a government needs to address it
• The particular political and institutional environment, which determines who will participate in the activity^[5]

The participants invited to the event must represent different substantive and organizational perspectives and play a precisely defined role as both knowledge holders and knowledge seekers. When this is achieved, participants have unlimited access to the collective wealth of the shared tacit and explicit knowledge.

The effects of applying the governmental learning spiral technique are threefold: The primary effect is that governments gain access to the latest knowledge in democratic governance, which they can then apply to specific governance challenges with concrete, practical action. A second effect is that—because of the iterative character of the learning process—the knowledge being learned is always validated and updated in real time to include the latest experiences on the subject. A third effect is that participation in the learning process evokes a sense of social belonging among the learning actors, which often leads to the creation of networks and communities of practice where governments continue to share their latest experiences and by doing so launch the next spin of the Governmental Learning Spiral.

Template

The governmental learning spiral technique consists of a nine-stage template.^[6] The stages of the learning process are organized chronologically in the template and split into three distinct sequences for a particular learning event.

1. Before (framing phase): The conceptualization, triangulation, and accommodation stages are the preparatory stages, where the specific governance challenge is defined, existing knowledge on the topic is framed, participants are selected and inivited, and trust is established between the learning actors and the event facilitator and between participants and the learning process itself.

2. During (reflection phase): The internalization, externalization, reconceptualization, and transformation stages represent the core of the educational process, where learning actors review and adapt new knowledge according to their personal needs. Thereafter the actors change their individual and organizational thinking and behavior in an elaborate inter- and intrapersonal procedure.

3. After (projection phase): The follow-up to the learning activity occurs in the configuration stage, where all the knowledge acquired during the event is made available and accessible to everyone involved in the event as well as to a wider audience. This new knowledge further serves in the final iteration stage as a frame for the next spin of the governmental learning spiral, as well as a feedback loop in the context of a new learning system.

Because knowledge in governance has a short half-life and has to be updated constantly, the learning process itself must also be ongoing. This iterative procedure, where knowledge is constantly reviewed, renewed, and transformed into political action in a real-time, multi-turn process, can be illustrated as a spiral. Each of the nine stages of the learning process is bound together by a "spin," which ends with the last iteration stage and restarts the next spin with its first configuration stage.

Application examples

• Second International Conference on Federalism^[7]
• A global dialogue on federalism^[8]
• Seminar on the Iraqi judiciary system and the second chamber of parliament^[9]
• Workshop about lessons of a decade of Public Sector Reform: Voices of African Client Stakeholders^[10]
• Global multimedia training and e-learning initiative in the area of private-public partnership in infrastructure^[11]
• Making a difference in minearal-rich areas of the Deomocratic Republic of the Congo^[12]

See also

• Knowledge transfer
• Policy transfer
• Community of practice
• Organizational learning
• Government Performance Management
• Public administration
• New public management

References

Sources

• Doornbos, Martin. 2003. Good Governance: The Metamorphosis of a Policy Metaphor. Journal of International Affairs 57 (1): 3–17.
• Dolowitz, David, and Marsh, David. 2000. Learning from Abroad: The Role of Policy Transfer in Contemporary Policy Making. Governance: An International Journal of Policy and Administration 13 (1): 9.
• Finer, S.E. 1997. History of Government from the Earliest Times. London: Oxford University Press.
• March, James G., and Johan P. Olsen. 1995. Democratic Governance. New York: The Free Press.
• Rose, Richard. 1991. “What Is Lesson Drawing?” Journal of Public Policy 11 (1): 3–30.

Further reading

• Andrews, Matthew (2008a). Creating space for effective political engagement in development. HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series. Cambridge, Massachusetts: John F.Kennedy School of Governance. OCLC 837129889. RWP08-015.
• Andrews, Matthew (2008b), "Effective political engagement", in Odugbemi, Sina; Jacobson, Thomas, Governance reform under real-world conditions citizens, stakeholders, and voice, Washington, DC: World Bank, ISBN 9780821374573.
• Lloyd S., Etheredge (1981), "Government learning: an overview", in Long, Samuel L., The handbook of political behavior, New York: Plenum Press, ISBN 9780306406058
• Leeuw, Frans; Rist, Ray C.; Sonnichsen, Richard C. (1994). Can governments learn?: comparative perspectives on evaluation & organizational learning. New Brunswick (U.S.A): Transaction Publishers. ISBN 9781560001300.
• May, Peter J. (October–December 1992). "Policy learning and failure". Journal of Public Policy. Cambridge Journals. 12 (4): 331–354. doi:10.1017/S0143814X00005602. JSTOR 4007550.
• Nonaka, Ikujiro; Noboru, Konno (Spring 1998). "The concept of "Ba": building a foundation for knowledge creation". California Management Review, special issue: Knowledge and the Firm. University of California Press. 40 (3): 40–54. doi:10.2307/41165942. JSTOR 41165942.
• Sabatier, Paul A. (June 1987). "Knowledge, policy-oriented learning, and policy change: an advocacy coalition framework". Science Communication. Sage. 8 (4): 649–692. doi:10.1177/0164025987008004005.
• Sabatier, Paul A.; Jenkins-Smith, Hank C., eds. (1993). Policy change and learning: an advocacy coalition approach. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. ISBN 9780813316499.

External links

• "sdclan". Sdc-learningandnetworking-blog.admin.ch. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
• IEG WorldBankGroup (18 June 2010). "Black Box of Governmental Learning". YouTube. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
• "Promoting system-level learning from project-level lessons". Environmental Impact Assessment Review. 33: 23–31. doi:10.1016/j.eiar.2011.10.001.
• "Learning from disaster: How governments gain insight and how regional and international bodies can help". Alnap.org. Retrieved 17 October 2017.