Learning to be, learning about:A sociocultural approach

to board practice

Debra Beck, EdDUniversity of Wyoming, USA

“Learning…doesn’t just involve the acquisition of facts about the world, it also involves acquiring the ability to act in the world in socially recognized ways…Learning, in all, involves acquiring identities that reflect both how a learner sees the world and how the world sees the learner.”

Brown & Duguid (2001)

Sociocultural learning

Small, community health clinic◦11 board members◦Four staff members

Located in university community Sought a functional, thoughtful board

◦Understand governance responsibilities◦Active, engaged members◦Good examples offered

The board studied

Multi-month case study◦Five meeting observations◦Two focus groups◦12 individual interviews◦Content analysis,

including: Meeting minutes Agenda Executive director’s report

The methodology

Mission-supportive prospect recruitment

Mission-focused interactions Connecting personal, organizational missions

Mission stories

Learning to be

Peer-driven learning◦Sharing expertise◦Expanding group understanding of issues

Posing, responding to questions◦Expanding capacity to think broadly,

critically

Learning about

Mission-supportive prospect recruitment◦Confirmed support of mission◦Clarity about why asked, willingness to serve Expertise or perspective(s)

“I know how the [dental profession operates and have a pretty good feel for how other dentists in town think and operate…”

“I think critically. I think sometimes – probably because this is what I do for a living – I hope I can ferret out what the real issues are and help with the critical thinking process.”

Learning to be

Mission-focused interactions◦ Clarity about mission itself◦ Periodic mission reviews◦ Frequent “What about the mission” references in

deliberations

“We were clear from the beginning: we were going to be a primary care clinic, we were not going to do OB kinds of stuff, we would not do emergency stuff…We targeted low-income, uninsured.”

Learning to be

Connecting personal, agency missions◦ Moral/spiritual◦ Civic◦ Social/political

“You find some way to make some contribution. I think it’s an incomplete life if you don’t do something for somebody somehow.”

“I believe in giving back to the community. I believe in the concept of noblesse oblige.”

“The thing that brought them together was being sort of pissed off about our country, that we can’t figure out a way to cover everybody, and believing that if we were going to do something, we had to do a local solution.”

Learning to be

Mission stories◦ Unsolicited member recollections of decision to add

dental services Strong emotions on both sides Questions about mission fit/creep Major concerns about financial impacts Described as significant mission clarity moment

◦ CEO’s stories about Daily clinic life Clients served New building pleasures & challenges Donor feedback

Learning to be

Peer-driven learning◦ Sharing expertise◦ Expanding group issues understanding

“I think we ought to seriously consider a more proactive stance on our fund-raising and certainly at least our stewardship program.” (retired development officer, who later facilitated board learning session on fund-raising)

“I try to put myself in the board’s shoes. What is it that’s really important in an oversight role?” (financial adviser/treasurer)

Learning about

Posing, responding to questions◦ Expanding capacity to think broadly, critically◦ Playing devil’s advocate◦ Understanding process impacts on staff

experience

“Whatever was going on there, it didn’t feel right to me…I didn’t see how it would serve the Rocky Mountain Clinic, the patients.” (member who posed “How does this fit our mission” question)

“It seems like this year, when we’re hearing from you, that the clinic operations seem much better organized…you seemed more stressed last year about it. Has it been the triage that’s improved?”

Learning about

Governance inherently meaning-focused◦Learning to be, learning about equally critical

Learning always taking place in boardroom, especially:◦Shared expertise◦Shared exploration via questions

Mission focus value extends to learning◦Clarity, regular connections to work essential

Summary