Teacher empowerment, horizontal and vertical organisational learning, and positional mobility in schools

Purpose: To examine the contribution of horizontal and vertical organisational learning and its timing to the effective integration of teachers in classes they have not previously taught. Three hundred and forty-five teachers from 64 schools, with at least 4 years of teaching experience, completed questionnaires about the extent of horizontal (OL) and vertical (KCM) organisational learning, its timing and its benefits to teachers as they began to teach classes they had not taught before. The hypothesis was confirmed that independent components of OL and KCM contribute to preparing teachers for their classes. The timing of teachers’ exposure to this learning was found to serve as a mediating factor between OL/KCM and the benefit that teachers gain from the information. The organisational learning process is presented in a broad theoretical perspective that clarifies the reciprocal relations between vertical/horizontal dimensions and their benefits. More effective ways are discussed for introducing educational knowledge.