ABSTRACT
How to conceptualise learning in development NGOs? In order to answer this question the chapter suggests a categorisation of learning in development. The categorisation draws, on the one hand, from Gregory Bateson’s logical categories of learning and, on the other, from a review of literature discussing learning in development. The chapter suggests an analytical distinction between four qualitatively different levels of learning, namely zero, I, II and III. It then identifies individuals, projects, partnerships, organisations and institutions as potential learners in development. On the basis of the categorisation presented, the chapter introduces the focus of learning in this book as change in organisational knowledge, practices and routines on the basis of an organisation’s experience and interaction with its institutional environment of international development.
