Leaving school with 2 leaving certificates at the age of 16 I worked in
two low level clerical administrative jobs until I was 22. Post 1973
economic crisis in the UK and elsewhere resulted in redundancy and the
search for security which was foiund in low level manual work in waht was
to become British Telecom. After 12 years of I won a trade union
scholarship to attend university in 1995 and gained a First Class Honours
degree in Sociology with Industrial relations. A further scholarship in
1989 led to a PhD in 1993 and it was during this period I became involved
in a pan-European project on new skills and qualifications for skilled
workers in manufacturing industries. The concept of the learning
organisation was still relatively new ground for many of us in the early
1990s and I was invited to the first workshop of the European Consortium
for the Learning Organisation in 1993.
As my interest in the learning organisation concept grew I realised that
for the first time there was a framework to build on my inter-related
interests in industrial relations, training and learning and
organisational change. I have been the General Secretary of ECLO for one
year now and have begun to realise the enormous challenge facing us as all
as we attempt to alter the balance between training paradigms and their
short-term sporadic impact and learning which is self-owned and for life.
My own learning during this period has been profoundly affected through
working here in Wales with a friend and colleague, Simon Griffey, who has
guided me through the range of theories pertaining to learning at the
individual and team levels. If I know anything to do with learning it is
due to his coaching and a shared determination to ensure that our work is
informed by an understanding of how people learn.
Buzz Lightyear would probaly advise Tony to look `onwards to infinity, and
beyond'. My experience would suggest that your PhD work is the start of
yet another personal journey which will bring new friends, new challenges
and opportunities which you cannot yet foresee. Keep channels open to
consultancy firms but also keep looking and listening to your own thoughts
and feelings. It is from within your own model of yourself as a learner
that a new Tony will emerge. Good luck and enjoy the journey.
Dr. Michael Kelleher
General Secretary
ECLO
--Michael Kelleher <101667.456@compuserve.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>