Abstract

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<jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title>
<jats:p>The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the dominance of the participation metaphor for learning in the literature on learning organizations and to propose a working model of the teaching organization with conceptual input from educational science and the sociology of professions.</jats:p>
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<jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title>
<jats:p>The paper combines theoretical critique and a selective review of literature that is relevant to the discussion of the concept “teaching organization”.</jats:p>
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<jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title>
<jats:p>Concepts referring to teaching as a systemic attribute of learning organizations are not made explicit in texts on organizational learning and knowing. Key concepts from educational science are almost completely absent from this literature.</jats:p>
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<jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title>
<jats:p>The paper describes elements from educational science and the sociology of professions and proposes to integrate them in a model of a teaching organization that could serve as a theoretical platform for further empirical studies.</jats:p>
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