Creating and Maintaining a Safe Space in Experiential Learning

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 713-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronika Kisfalvi ◽  
David Oliver

The increasing popularity of experiential learning in management education raises a number of new opportunities and challenges for instructors, particularly with regard to shifting instructor roles and attention to learning through one’s emotions. In this article, we draw on psychodynamics—in particular D. W. Winnicott’s notions of “transitional space” and “holding”—to delineate what a safe space might look like in a management education context. We propose that experiential learning can result in deeper learning when conducted in such a space, which consists of appropriate physical aspects, trust, respect, suspension of judgment and censorship, a willingness to share, and high-quality listening. We further propose that a safe space can be developed and maintained by creating a strong container early on, establishing ground rules, providing lessons in listening and witnessing, teaching by example, and developing a reflexive attitude.

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eyal Eckhaus ◽  
Galit Klein ◽  
Jeffrey Kantor

Management studies have been criticized for lagging behind the actual needs of organizations, ignoring experiential dimensions. We address this issue by applying experiential learning theory using an accountancy-oriented board game designed to help participants learn about cost management. The game was played in a pricing course with an enrolment of 104 accountancy students. We examined the impact levels of game entertainment and comprehensibility on the course material comprehension as well as the game’s impact on the final grade in the course. Results show that game participants had significantly higher grades than students that did not participate in the game, and that entertainment and comprehensibility of the game predict the understanding of course material. We also found that managerial employment capability can be predicted by level of challenge participants derive from the game. This study addresses the gap between traditional management education and practice. It provides empirical evidence of the value of hands-on gameplay experience for assimilation of course concepts and strategies. The results confirmed the importance of exposing players through an entertaining game simulation to challenges that arise in the business world. In addition, we lay the ground for future studies on the novel usage of the game as a tool to assess management skills.


Author(s):  
Aasha Jayant Sharma

Sustainability related areas like CSR, business ethics and corporate governance as subjects is seen in most business school curriculum, whether its inclusion leads to inculcating interest and values for responsible business practices is still a big question. Sustainability incorporates holistic view of issues; the curriculum therefore, has to make linkages to social issues and has to be contextual. The focus of business school curriculum has to be on sensitizing students towards responsible citizenship along with competency building in the area of sustainability. Here, experiential' or action learning would be helpful. The chapter posits the importance of experiential learning in the context of management education and highlights the fact that unless sensitized to the sustainability issues, business schools or at corporate level will see it only from compliance perspective. The chapter also discusses success story of existing modules on experiential learning crafted by 2 NGO's intended to sensitize the participants.


2020 ◽  
pp. 105256292096563
Author(s):  
Kathy Sanderson

As the prominence of experiential learning (EL) increases in management education, so do pressures on educators to adopt new, and less defined modes of classroom instruction. The incorporation of hands-on practice with standard pedagogy places expectations on educators to include assignments with emotional or ethical aspects. It is often assumed that as subject matter experts, educators are naturally equipped to manage EL. This article challenges the idea of such competence and readiness. It presents a stepped, self-awareness framework with guiding questions that educators can use to determine their own suitability and readiness for EL. To build competence, suggestions for educator development are included with each step. Examples from practice are presented to illustrate the use of the framework.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 919-936
Author(s):  
Yawei Chen ◽  
Tom A. Daamen ◽  
Erwin W. T. M. Heurkens ◽  
Wouter J. Verheul

Abstract To understand and deal with real urban development problems, urban planners, designers, and managers need to combine and synthesize a variety of academic and professional knowledge. As our urban challenges grow more complex, learning how to do this effectively becomes ever more important. For educators, this means teaching students how to work in interdisciplinary settings, i.e. how to jointly discover the different disciplinary dimensions of an urban problem, and how to reflectively design courses of action. In this paper, we explore and evaluate the components of such interdisciplinary experiential learning, develop a framework to design and analyse this type of courses, and use it to position and evaluate a specific urban development management course. Results show that, by performing and reflecting upon specific professional roles, the course stimulates students to both integrate different disciplines and reflect on an array of academic and practical insights. Based on our evaluation, we discuss several didactical aspects that may help lecturers to improve their interdisciplinary teaching in urban planning, design, and management courses—particularly when creating learning experiences in an increasingly diverse professional, societal and educational setting.


2011 ◽  
pp. 2958-2967
Author(s):  
Richard Ladyshewsky ◽  
John Ryan

The development of managerial expertise is a combination of acquiring further knowledge and integrating it with past experience and beliefs. To do so in isolation limits the potential for positive outcomes in one’s management development. Peer coaching is one experiential learning method that can be used to enhance the depth of learning in managerial education. In this chapter, the experiences of 43 students who participated in a peer-coaching program as part of their post-graduate management education are revealed. Powerful learning effects are reported as well as characteristics of successful peer-coaching relationships.


Author(s):  
Stephen Tang ◽  
Martin Hanneghan ◽  
Abdennour El Rhalibi

Games-based learning takes advantage of gaming technologies to create a fun, motivating, and interactive virtual learning environment that promotes situated experiential learning. Many researchers now believe that this approach can better motivate present day entertainment-driven learners to more thoroughly engage in learning through meaningful activities defined in the game context as opposed to those offered using more traditional didactic approaches. This chapter describes games-based learning, the related terms and scope, current approaches, embedded pedagogies and challenges for providing high-quality education in the 21st Century.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 579-597
Author(s):  
Rosane Dal Magro ◽  
Marlei Pozzebon ◽  
Soraia Schutel

In this article, we examine the value of combining transformative and service learning pedagogical practices in management education programmes to encourage management students to be more critical and reflexive regarding serious contemporary issues like social inequality and sustainability. We draw on a long-term management education experience conducted in the northeastern region of Brazil, where international students learn how to develop a real-time community-based project with local inhabitants. We argue that while service learning approaches promote pragmatic action-based principles, transformative learning acts at the epistemic level, contributing to change in values. In addition, Paulo Freire’s ideas are integrated to reinforce critical and reflexive dimensions of the learning experience. Our results offer a process-based model showing how a critical experiential learning pedagogy might lead to the development of community-based competences, which, in turn, might lead to changes in the deeply held values of the participants. Freire’s emancipatory ideas are applied not only regarding the relationship between teachers and students, but also to the distinction between Western and non-Western societies, going beyond questioning of the destructive consequences of financial capitalism to question the hegemony of one worldview over all other possible ones.


Author(s):  
Laurel Evelyn Dyson ◽  
Andrew Litchfield ◽  
Elaine Lawrence ◽  
Ryszard Raban ◽  
Peter Leijdekkers

<span>This article reports on an m-learning research agenda instituted at our university in order to explore how mobile technology can enhance active, experiential learning. Details of the implementation and results of four areas of m-learning are presented: mobile supported fieldwork, fostering interactivity in large lectures with mobile technology, using mobile devices to learn about mobile technology and, finally, podcasting. These directions are informed by a concern for achieving m-learning practices consistent with sound educational theory and the needs of the contemporary, technologically aware student body. All four implementations have been successfully embedded in mainstream subjects on a continuing basis. Therefore they represent a departure from the project based approach of much m-learning reported in the literature. This outcome was achieved through a focus on the economic sustainability and feasibility of each case. An evaluation focusing on how well each case assisted students' learning found that, with the exception of lecture podcasting, all supported high quality experiential learning.</span>


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