The Contribution of Knowledge Management to Learning : an Exploration of its Practice and Potential in Australian and New Zealand Schools

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative research was to investigate the relatively new concept of knowledge management as it applies to schools as learning organisations. Literature on knowledge management abounds and is covered by authors in a wide variety of fields. However, literature relating to knowledge management in schools is limited, particularly literature by in-school practitioners. The study provides a teacher-librarian’s view gleaned largely from interactions with colleagues in the profession. The fieldwork for the study was undertaken in a small cross-section of Australian and New Zealand schools in 2001. Semi-structured interviews yielded answers to questions on how teachers shared their knowledge, on how ICTs enabled knowledge management, the implications of knowledge management for teacher-librarians and the concept of the knowledge-enabled school. The findings relate to the structuring of human resources and decision making processes, information literacy and knowledge construction, the critical learning community that optimises learning, the parallel development of social and ICT infrastructures, information management tools, the role of the teacher-librarian and the incorporation of knowledge management into systemic reforms. The study recommends that the ways in which teachers share knowledge requires further scrutiny, that research should establish the capacity for knowledge management in schools, that tools and systems are integrated as a KM Toolbox and that one particularly successful model of systemic reform based on knowledge management principles be piloted in South African schools. The study provides a singular record of knowledge management practice and potential in schools.