This paper explores the professional practice of the Action Learning (AL) facilitator through a process of critical inquiry, self-reflection and evaluation of action learning practice within a Higher Education Leadership Programme, commissioned by an English NHS Mental Health Trust. Action research was adopted as the overarching research approach…

This paper seeks to advance the understanding of the complementarity between action learning and lean. Today, this is an underexplored research area, despite the high degree of similarities and syngeneic possibilities between these two research streams. The paper describes an action learning intervention at VELUX, a Danish rooftop manufacturer…

Action learning is one of the most effective leadership development interventions [Day, Fleenor, Atwater, Sturm, and McKee. 2014. "Advances in Leader and Leadership Development: A Review of 25 Years of Research and Theory." The Leadership Quarterly 25 (1): 63-82; Pauleen. 2003. "Leadership in a Global Virtual Team: An Action…

This account of practice gives an overview and insight into the learning from a co-designed leadership development programme for Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) across two NHS Integrated Care Systems. The AHP community that completed the courses consisted of acute and community trust, mental health, local authority, and SCAS (paramedics)…

This case study measures the impact on elements of schools' professional environment after school leaders participated in eight action learning (AL) sessions over one summer. The guiding research question asks, What, if any, impact on a building level administrator's leadership practices result after their participation in an Action Learning…

This account of practice focusses on insights from the 'early days' of an action learning set within a leadership development programme in the English NHS. The account describes experiences of forming as a set as an important foundation for trust. Developing trust between set members enabled members to take more risks, sharing current and complex…

This paper presents a case study based on the evaluation of the two VAL (virtual action learning) sets. We report participants learning both leadership and the VAL process based on the basis of telephone interviews. We conclude that what is learned about leadership is connected with how learning takes place and suggest that the content and process…

This paper examines an adapted action learning approach to develop four social learning leaders. The Alberta Women in Sport Leadership Impact Program is a social learning intervention with the goals of supporting women in developing their leadership capabilities and increasing gender equity across sport. To support the facilitation of this…

Human resource development professionals in Higher Education are continually striving to develop efficient interventions to increase the capabilities of their leaders. As a result of evaluating feedback from an action learning (AL) programme designed and delivered in North West Higher Education Institutions in the UK for women in senior academic…

The purpose of this case study was to examine the success factors of a leadership development program using action learning for self-governance members in the city of Bucheon in Korea, as well as the distinctive features of action learning for community development in comparison with action learning for business. To that end, we conducted 22…

This paper explores the thinking and practice of 'action inquiry' an embedded learning practice that can help navigate complexity when practising change together. The paper uses examples from social contexts where there are concerns about community wellbeing and health care. These are drawn from collaborative or collective leadership development…

Facilitating reflection for personal growth in a business context requires careful thought and planning. As a learning process, Business-Driven Action Learning (BDAL) has two points of focus. It aims to firstly identify and make recommendations regarding a business challenge, whist secondly facilitating potentially significant individual personal…

Peer researchers (PRs) are research team members who share traits (e.g. gender, age, sexual orientation, diagnosis, income, housing situation, etc.) with study participants. Participatory methods and some fields (e.g. HIV/AIDS) expect PRs to be equitably involved in a project. Moreover, in Canada, there is a current impetus to include 'the…

LankellyChase Foundation works to bring about change that will transform the quality of life of people who face severe and multiple disadvantage. It set up the 'Promoting Change Network' (PCN) to foster learning, and to support 40 or so organisations which receive funding from the Foundation. This was in recognition of the challenges they face in…

This paper considers the logic of practice of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu in relation to critical action learning: in particular "habitus" which is co-created with field and the interplay amongst the two in the form of misrecognition and risk. We draw on interviews with participants who have experienced action learning as part…