學習型組織對博物館之啟示與應用

The Revelation and Application of Learning Organization to Museums

「建立終身學習的社會」是當前教育改革的一個重要方向， 身為社會教育機構，肩負著傳承文化與傳遞知識的使命，博物館對此重責大任實責無旁貸。而博物館人既扮演著引導觀眾學習的角色，更應當率先終身學習，自我充實以求新求變。然而，博物館裏卻有一些令人擔憂的情形：有些人在官僚的科層體制下，承接舊有傳統的觀念，思想與行事日趨保守僵硬；有些人在無經營成本壓力、非營利機構的迷思下，滿足於現狀，因循苟且；而有些人則因為緊湊的業務，疲於奔命應付，忽略了繼續學習成長。

One of the main trends in the modern education is toward creating a life-long learning society. As an educational institution responsible for carrying on culture and knowledge, the museum cannot overlook this critical task. Museum personnel play a key role in directing the path of learning for visitors to the museum, thus they should be leaders in the trend toward life-long learning and always ready to accept things that are new and different. Yet, there are some things existing in museums that are worrying: some people keep traditional ways of thinking in the bureaucratic system of the organization, and their thinking gets even more hardened as time goes by. Because of the lack of operating cost pressures and the lost mentality of non-profit organization, some people cling to the present status and stick to old routines. Still others tend to overlook continuing growth in education to concentrate on the business end of operations. Peter Senge has advocated a 'learning organization' that gives us a lot to think about. He emphasizes that a learning organization is an organization which allows adults to continue learning and developing. It provides an environment where the adult can be free to find himself/herself and strive to excel individually and with other, in an ongoing process of growth and development. Senge also describes some directions and ways in which such a learning organization can be built and maintained. They are five disciplines: personal mastery, improving mental models, building shared vision, team learning, and system thinking. The learning organization can be applied in most corporate situations, and even some non-profit institutions can be very well suited for such an organization. It can certainly be used in a museum, to form an active, ongoing 'learning museum'. Actually, museums are like corporations in some ways, in that they must constantly struggle to keep up and adapt in an age where everything is changing very quickly. Museums should try to anticipate such changes and consider what kind of organization will allow them to take on new roles in the society and encouraging learning and new ways thought. This will help museums to become more vital and competitive, and ensure a better future for them.