Introduction to Classroom as Organization

Classroom as Organization (CAO) is for educators looking for a creative way to engage students while creating a deep and meaningful learning experience. CAO is a powerful teaching methodology, particularly well-suited for teaching business topics, that can enliven students’ learning experience while giving them the opportunity to practice and develop workplace-related skills. The purpose of this book is to serve as a comprehensive resource for educators interested in adopting CAO. The intention is to enable more people to experiment and adopt this immersive, empowering, and relational teaching methodology. Chapter 1 begins with an overview of the historical context in which CAO emerged, and describes the teaching philosophy of educational constructivism that provides the theoretical basis for core teaching strategies in CAO. Building on this foundation, Chapter 2 explores specific considerations for using CAO, including fit with one’s teaching philosophy and instructional context. Chapter 3 offers a complete CAO course design for an upper-level organizational behavior course, OB Inc., explained in the context of the considerations discussed in Chapter 2. A set of appendices are provided that enable educators to adopt and adapt the design. Chapter 4 provides an annotated bibliography of 40 seminal articles in the CAO literature. If you are not familiar with CAO, this book provides a comprehensive resource. If you are familiar with CAO, but have been afraid to try it, this book provides the support to take the next step in your practice of experiential teaching and learning.