COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY AND THE LEARNING CONGREGATION

Religious Education, Fall 2004 by Price, Elizabeth Box

Abstract

Do congregations that become learning congregations require a certain level of cognition? Members and leaders of learning congregations know themselves to be co-creators of the congregation s culture and shapers of its decisions and life, engaging in and reflecting on the shared practice of ministry. These congregations find that education occurs when problems are identified and solved, assumptions are examined, and mental maps are clarified. Cognitive theory would assume that a complex level of cognition is required of persons who make up such a congregation, This article challenges this assumption, suggesting that cognitive complexity is not necessary for the membership as a whole and suggesting ways congregations may carry out fourth order structuring for conventional thinkers while inviting and nurturing movement toward this complex level of cognition.

INTRODUCTION

Drawing on the literature and theory from psychology, organizational theory, and religious education, the purpose of this article is to examine the relationship of individual cognitive complexity to the cognitive complexity and functioning of what are known as learning congregations. The article does not aspire to describe how congregations are to become learning congregations. The question explored is what kind of cognitive complexity is needed by the membership of congregations that function as learning congregations.

Based on organizational learning theory, Hawkins (1997) describes learning congregations as having the capacity to continually learn to do new things and to constantly challenge the assumptions behind why and how they do what they do. These congregations have the ability to take charge of their own learning and to discern more clearly the common ministry to which they are called. They use tools and strategies that allow continuous learning by reflecting on everyday ministry experiences. This influences a changing image of education from that which the church performs, does, or programs to an education that happens when members engage together in and reflect on the shared practice of ministry.

Tom Hawkins describes the learning congregation as

. . . long-term communities that are the context for fundamental change. They are the places people expect continuous learning, growing, changing, transformation. . . . Leaders of such communities foster continuous learning and support ongoing growth [in person's knotting]. Their members continually learn to do new tilings and constantly challenge the assumptions behind why and how they do what they do. They are equipped to think more complexly, to clarify the mental maps that guide their thinking and acting, and to discern ever more clearly the common ministry to which God calls them through Jesus Christ. These congregations have an open Row of communication that encourages the free movement of ideas and information. They are characterized by theologically informed members and by leaders who understand themselves as shaping meaning in a community of shared practice. (1997,141)

Hawkins is convinced that it is the learning congregation that will be able to make adaptive changes that will be necessary for congregations thriving in a fast-paced culture.

LEARNING ORGANIZATIONS

Hawkins was influenced by the work of Peter Senge who, through research on mental models, systems thinking, team learning, and personal mastery, described learning organizations as ". . . where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to leam together" (1990, 3). Senge is convinced that these kinds of organizations are possible because it is the nature of human beings to leam and to love to leam. Senge points out that persons describe the meaningfulness of such an experience as being a part of a great team in which there is a sense of connection and creativity to something larger than themselves. He uses the term Metanoia as the most accurate word to describe the deeper meaning of learning embodied in a learning organization. The commonly held understanding of learning as "taking in information" often dominates the contemporary perception causing the loss of its deeper and more central meaning. He defines the meaning of metanoia as a "shift of mind" and points out, critical to this concept, that the Greeks used this word to mean not only shift or change but, in a more literal sense, transcendence (above and beyond mind), which includes intuition (1990,13). For Senge, the learning organization moves beyond survival learning (adaptive learning) by joining it with generative learning, which enhances the capacity to create. Generative learning is supported by core values of freedom and responsibility, of commitment, and the capacity to innovate. Generative learning engages collective learning, in which persons complement each others strengths and compensate for each others weaknesses. Senge states,