The Self-Learning Process and its Implementation in a State Bureaucracy

Abstract

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it deals with issues arising from the application of a model of learning to the Greek public administration system (GPAS). Second, it suggests a process of organizational self-learning capable of transforming a state bureaucracy into a self-referential organization. That is to say, a process of self-learning which considers the organization as a social entity rather than the individuals who are members of an organization, and which is based on a critical and repeating cycle of knowing, reflecting, understanding and deciding. In order to explain the applied model of learning in the GPAS and its deficiencies, the analysis adopts an institutional perspective of organizations. In accordance with this perspective, it is worth noting that, while the GPAS belongs to the political system, it connects its learning activities with the wider education system, using the codes and programs of this system. This is considered an important inhibitor to the introduction of a self-learning process which aims at the modernization of the GPAS. The concluding argument suggests a methodological approach in order to progressively transform the GPAS into a self-referential organization and to establish within it a self-learning process.