Action Learning__Lucy Ana Marquez

Action Learning

Learning has been an important part of our human existence, what and how we learn has evolved since the early days of hunters and gathers. “…[W]e all share the need to survive and advance: learning, communication, collaboration, and the creation of tools are the fundamental mechanisms that enable human society to survive and progress” (Harasim, 2012, p.16). Action learning is somewhat and extension of primal learning. “Action learning, in brief, is learning from concrete experience and critical reflection on that experience— through group discussion, trial and error, discovery, and learning from and with each other” (Zuber-Skerritt, 2002, p.114). During action learning there is not one person who knows the answer to the problem, the group as a whole must come together to find the best solution.

According to Dick (1991) action learning has several objectives 

• team and vision building
• networking
• clarity about project focus
• definition of the problem and each action step
• commitment to personal and group reflection and learning
• input into each other's projects
• an appropriate process and the out comes (as cited in Zuber-Skerritt, 2002, p. 119). 

Through technology we have evolved into a global society and MIT Sloan has set up an action learning curricula for its business students that take them around the world.  Action learning when used in and educational setting is allowing the students the opportunity to problem solve. Hands on experience were the “action learners are more likely to act on their own solution and to implement the desired changes” (Zuber-Skerritt, 2002, p.115). Click on the links above to get a view of how MIT Sloan has put action learning into motion.

Family Tree

Action learning is rooted in constructivist learning theory. Constructivism is a collaborate learning environment where groups of learners work together to find a solution. The teacher’s role is to guide the learners through experience to find a solution to a problem. Reachers who believed in this form of learning were Jean Piaget and Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky. Piaget felt “knowledge is constructed in the mind of the learner” (Harasim, 2012. p. 64). “Vygotsky focused on the relationship between the cognitive process and the subject’s social activities” (Harasim, 2012, p.66).  Some recent researchers say Reg Raven was the father of Action learning. Raven believed that learning could not be accomplished by teachers teaching what they had already learned. The learner had to be involved in the process of problem solving to get a true understanding of what needs to be learned. Raven’s idea of action learning was L=P+Q (Learning = Programed knowledge + Questioning). Raven As mentioned earlier early civilizations used a form of action learning to learn and advance. Action learning being a collaborate way to learn mirrors what has worked for generations. 

References 

Harasim, Linda. (2012). Learning theory and online technologies. New York, NY. Routledge.

Zuber-Skerritt, Ortrun. (2002). The concept of action learning. The Learning   Organization, 9, 114-124.

Websites for more information on Action Learning

http://www.alarassociation.org/pages/al-and-ar/reg-revans-and-action-learning

http://www.itapintl.com/index.php/about-us/articles/action-learning-in-a-nutshell