Learning agenda

A learning agenda is a set of questions, assembled by an organization or team, that identifies what needs to be learned before a project can be planned and implemented.

An organizational learning agenda is frequently a set of broad questions directly related to the work enable the organization to work more effectively and efficiently. It often uses evaluation and evidence and links these to decision-making. Increasingly, the term learning agenda has been used by federal government agencies, non-profit organizational and international organizations. Learning agendas often have three major parts: a set of learning questions, a series of activities to answer them and a plan to share and disseminate the information.

Learning agendas are used as an organizational learning tool to improve organizational effectiveness and efficiency within the government. For example, learning agendas have been referenced by the US Office of Management and Budget for use within the US federal government. The process often varies but often includes a set of common steps. These include convening relevant stakeholders and reviewing the literature for what is already known about the topic. Following this learning questions are frequently identified and prioritized. Following this, a plan is developed for answering those questions and implementing learning activities such as studies and analyses. Often key stakeholders are involved at different stages depending on the learning agenda. The evidence is disseminated usually through learning products such as reports or infographics in order to allow staff to use and apply the findings in their work.

The first documented use of learning agenda appears to be from the early 1960s. Its origins are in the educational and business fields. Often the term learning agenda was employed to describe an individual's path to learning, whether in a classroom or as a manager in a company. Following more recent work on organizational learning within government and the business sector, the concept of a learning agenda has become linked to idea of "learning organization", a term popularized by Peter Senge's work. However, the use of learning agenda within the business field to describe an individual's pathway of learning is still common. In its place, other terms are used, such as "CEO agenda", in which learning occurs around the implementation of strategic goals and performance metrics.

...
Wikipedia