Practice development and action learning

Abstract

This article seeks to explore the potentially fruitful connections between practice development and the approach to personal and organizational development known as action learning. Action learning is defined as: a method for individual and organization development based upon small groups of colleagues meeting over time to tackle real problems or issues in order to get things done; reflecting and learning from their experience and from each other as they attempt to change things (Edmonstone, 2003). The article begins by examining the nature of professional practice and the relationship between theory and practice. It then considers the nature of learning, including an examination of competence and capacity. It reviews action learning and its underlying roots in adult learning, focusing particularly on the concentration of action learning on ‘problems’ rather than ‘puzzles’. It examines the nature of practice development and then explores the relationship between practice development and action learning through material derived from an evaluation study conducted on the Royal College of Nursing Clinical Leadership Programme in Scotland where action learning forms a major element of the programme.