according to different perspectives. First, Titchen (1997) reports, a successful strategy, in
hospital nursing, for creating a learning culture and transforming the traditional way of
nursing practice. As the reader can see, this is a completely opposite result from
Shamim’s outcome. The main difference lies in the fact that, apart from accepting that
“cultural change was slow (three years) and painstaking and required tolerance and
patient repetition,,(254), Titchen states that there were three principles, or facilitators of
change, that helped in the creation of the learning culture.
a) a commitment on the part of the facilitator...
b) explicitness of values, beliefs, attitudes and norms, either from the
current learning culture or from the proposed one....
c) .. .building ‘time-out’ Opportimities for reflection and discussion (ibid)
Point a) seems to be pretty obvious. To be successful, any innovation should
necessarily count on the commitment of the facilitator. Some innovating attempts,
however, seem to take this for granted, for political and economic reasons.
Points b) and c) are, to my mind, essential for the positive results in the creation
of a learning culture. They imply awareness; they rely on human beings’ capability of
metacognition. That is to say, they are based on the learners’ potential ability to reflect
on cognitive activity (see Flavell, section 3.3.2.2, p. 56). I strongly believe that when
dealing with learning issues, it is essential to bring about metacognitive awareness.
In relation to the Oaxaca/97 project, I believe that the exploration of shared
concepts and current values and norms (during group discussions, section 7.1.4, p. 205),
was a good way to make them explicit. Moreover, the introduction of new concepts, such
as self-direction, metacognitive knowledge and strategies, awareness, etc. (during input
sessions, section 7.1.2, p. 192) offered the possibility to relate and contrast old and new
norms and values. But, above all, the participants’ experience of learning with a different
approach (by themselves, in one-to-one interactions with the counsellor and as members
of a group) was a good demonstration of the theory in practice. Furthermore, the
processes of communication and negotiation, along with the realisation of conflicts and
misunderstandings, helped to set the foundation for the set of norms and values that
constitute the new culture.
Apart from the empirical research, Thelen’s scheme offers a theoretical and
reflective account for improving educational quality, in his own words, “a
conceptualization of...the way of life of students in classrooms to be changed” (1981,2).
In Thelen’s scheme, there are three “education-relevant values” that should be bom in
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