This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Tosey, P. Articles by Mathison, J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Do Organizations Learn? Some Implications for HRD of Bateson's Levels of Learning

University of Surrey

Jane Mathison

University of Surrey

This article explores and appraises Gregory Bateson's theory of "levels of learning" and its implications for Human Resource Development, with reference to issues of organizational learning. In Part One, after briefly reviewing Bateson's biography, the origins and contents of the theory are described. In Part Two, three particular features of the theory are explored, together with their implications for Human Resource Development: (i) The significance of the recursive relationship between the levels; (ii) It not being a stage theory of learning; "higher" levels of learning are neither superior to, nor necessarily more desirable than, lower levels; and (iii) Its emphasis on the notion of context. In Part Three, the discussion emphasizes the holistic nature of Bateson's theory, in that the levels of learning combine cognitive, embodied, and aesthetic dimensions. Some limitations of the theory are reviewed and then concluded by considering its perspective on the question, "do organizations learn?"

Key Words: epistemology • recursion • emergence • complexity

Human Resource Development Review, Vol. 7, No. 1, 13-31 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1534484307312524


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?