The possibilities of learning organizations in the Maltese context

Abstract

Adult education often happens in the world of work without us realizing it. When in the world of work, a task is executed by virtue of every employee operating within a team culture, then there is what is often referred to as the hidden curriculum which means that through the very process of negotiating and elaborating within a team, there are other processes that allow employees to be efficient and democratically effective in their duties and results. These processes are unconsciously learnt and hence updated within a team culture according to the situation at hand and this gives the working environment a sense of harmony which helps it to overcome the day to day challenges posed by the effects of the rapidly social change around the globe. Therefore as we shall see in this dissertation, one of the main bastions that keeps a learning organization surviving and on-going is team learning amongst its members who seek to overthrow the traditional top-to-down organizational hierarchy, thus engaging them in what Antonio Gramsci refers to in his works as a ''war of position" which is normally defined as a "process of wide-ranging social organization and cultural influence." (Mayo, 1994) In fact Gramsci's works instilled in me the interest to explore training, learning and human resources development in learning organizations within the Maltese context and this dissertation is meant to determine who "in Gramsci's view are the agents of social change." (Mayo, 1994). With respect to adult education, ''this issue is discussed in terms of an identification of who the adult educators are and whether there exists a learning group with whom the responsibility for training and human resources development lies." (Mayo, 1994) After reading this dissertation, it is hoped that readers understand that adult educators/human resources managers engaging in counter-hegemonic cultural activity in their respective workplaces should be committed to those they train or teach. Unless this occurs there can be no effective learning.