Action Learning

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What is Action Learning?

Action learning is a way to solve day-to-day problems and puzzles that you may be encountering in your practice. The technique is used frequently in organisations, often during periods of change, where a lot of 'learning' is going on that is both experiential in nature (rather than able to be gained from reading) and unique to the context and the time.

Action Learning can be a useful model for teachers to use in their reflective practice. Teaching-in-practice involves the application of ideas and beliefs to actual situations and what we gain from these situations is experiential. Action Learning techniques can help in understanding the experience, consolidating it and integrating it into new practice, something that is essential in a pragmatic activity like teaching.

An Action Learning 'Set' (or Group) might be formed with colleagues who are working with the same students and courses. By sharing experiences they build up a richer picture of what is going on and a broader repertoire of how puzzles can be solved. Alternatively, members of an Action Learning Set may all be working with different groups or subjects, so that the value of the collaborative enterprise comes from the detachment of the others and their ability to bring their perspective to your experience.