The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the dominance of the participation metaphor for learning in the literature on learning organizations and to propose a working model of the teaching organization with conceptual input from educational science and the sociology of professions.
The paper combines theoretical critique and a selective review of literature that is relevant to the discussion of the concept “teaching organization”.
Concepts referring to teaching as a systemic attribute of learning organizations are not made explicit in texts on organizational learning and knowing. Key concepts from educational science are almost completely absent from this literature.
The paper describes elements from educational science and the sociology of professions and proposes to integrate them in a model of a teaching organization that could serve as a theoretical platform for further empirical studies.
