Teaching Versus Learning: An Exploratory Longitudinal Case Study

Perceived teaching and learning flows across individual, group, and organizational levels over time were studied in a small manufacturing firm as its members developed the capacity to produce a newly redesigned product. Data were collected longitudinally from all employees to track teaching and learning flows across the entire organization, within departments, between departments, and between departments and the owner/manager. The results indicate that the emphasis on teaching was low at the beginning and end of the learning process and high during the middle, and that the emphasis on learning was high at the beginning of the process but gradually declined over time. A two cycle model depicting the teaching and learning flows is proposed. Implications are discussed.