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Kolb’s experiential learning as a critical frame for reflective practice - Elizabeth Turesky, Diane R. Wood - Academic Leadership, July 2010, Volume 8, Issue 3
Introduction: David Kolb’s conception of experiential learning has informed wide-ranging studies and practices in education, business, organizational development, and leadership studies for over two decades now. His work has guided the work of trainers, teachers, and scholars, affording significant insights into both individual and organizational learning. Because deep and sustained change in human settings requires that people learn, Kolb’s penetrating analysis of the complexities involved in human learning has provided clues about the notorious difficulties surrounding change in both individuals and organizations. In an era where the newest ideas tend to have special cache, Kolb’s work has had remarkable staying power. Perhaps this is because his ideas have repeatedly served as a foundation for theorists and practitioners to understand and influence institutions and the people in them (Sandmire, Vroman & Sanders, 2000; Loo, 2002; Pauleen, Marshall & Ergort, 2004). In a rapidly-changing world, contemporary institutions and organizations must foster human learning. Indeed, they must be led by effective learners if they are to be relevant and enduring.
Not surprisingly, then, Kolb’s theory of experiential learning not only provides opportunities for students in leadership programs to explore effective behaviors in handling the myriad tasks they will face, but it also has generative power as a reflective tool for those who teach in those programs. Others (Armstrong & McDaniel, 1986; Jackson, 2002; Holman, Pavlica & Thorp, 1997; Katz,1990; Kayes, 2002) have argued that learning how to access all four modes and learning styles can help potential leaders become flexible and discerning in responding to organizational problems. We agree. For several years, the first author of this article has used Kolb’s dimensions of experiential learning as a structuring framework for a key assignment in her Foundations of Leadership course (see appendix A). Only recently, however, have we come to see how Kolb’s conceptual framework can aid reflection on teaching. A few months before the spring semester of 2009, the two of us sat down to talk about this assignment and what it was accomplishing for students. We asked the following questions:
1. How might we use Kolb’s theory of experiential learning as an interpretive framework for analyzing students’ work in terms of their leadership development?
2. How might we use our analyses of student work to inform and improve our teaching?
3. What strategies might we create to promote students’ growth as leaders by encouraging them to build on dominant learning modes while also strengthening less developed ones?
Thus began our collaborative study into using Kolb’s theory of experiential learning as a frame for responsive teaching and reflective practice. This article offers a close description of two student papers that focus on their own leadership experiences, how we analyzed those papers, what our analyses taught us about our teaching, and how we might develop strategies to promote student learning in the future. Full text: PDF |
