This article fills a gap by identifying an under-studied area for learning participation (LP) in HRD theory building. A literature review is presented to identify gaps in adult education and HRD literature. An HRD LP framework is then proposed, from cross-sectional/time-series perspectives, to describe the pattern, factors, structure, and the…

A reflective practitioner is a problem solver who develops theories anchored in a practitioner's ways of knowing. Reflective practice is a significant means of contributing to the knowledge base of adult education and human resource development. (SK)

The human resource development (HRD) profession needs to continue to develop its core theories and to understand that theory building is a scholarly process. Theoretical constraints affecting HRD are that HRD is a relatively young academic field of study and that most academic fields are applied and draw upon multiple theories in articulating…

This is one of six innovative sessions organized by the AHRD Scholar-Practitioner Committee. It examines how research and theory can be applied to inform common practitioner questions on evaluation. By examining use of research and theory to inform evaluation practice, session attendees will consider how to improve their own evaluations and link…

Changing the name of human resource development (HRD) is not the wisest course of action given HRD's current state. A renamed HRD would still be the current, ambiguous, ill-defined field struggling to establish its identity and stalled in issues about what is central to the profession, how the profession adds value to the world, and what HRD…

The integration of adult education and human resource development faculties required the resolution of andragogical, philosophical, and theoretical differences and identification of places where the fields converge and diverge. The realignment links theory and practice and enables the disciplines to complement each other. (SK)

This symposium on theory building consists of three presentations. "A Multilevel Theory of Organizational Performance: Seeing the Forest and the Trees" (Susan Reynolds Fisher) presents the process used to develop this theory and analyzes emergent insights. It discusses how the theory succeeds in mapping relationships across aspects and…

Adult education must become popular education in both communal and personal terms to survive funding agencies' special power-interest hegemonies, traditional higher education models, and rampant economic materialism. This article discusses six modernist constructions of adult education, highlighting professionalization and specialization, and…

This document contains a symposium paper on human resource development (HRD). "Human Resource Development Research: Is Anyone Listening?" (Gary N. McLean), discusses the following: discrepancies between HRD "best practices" described in the HRD research and those found in business; the causes of the "disconnect" that exists between researchers and…

This document contains two papers devoted to human resource development (HRD), the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD), and certification. The first paper, "Certification of HRD Professionals, Products, and Academic Programs--The Role of AHRD" (Michael Leimbach), is intended to facilitate dialogue on the AHRD's role in…

Training and development professionals play a unique role in helping people improve their performance by using all aspects of the work environment to make those improvements occur. These professions are currently debating the existence of an integrated theoretical framework and how it might support practice in their field. Human performance…

This monograph proposes and describes a systems-based field of study for the training and development (T&D) profession: human performance technology. The first section describes what is meant by a field of study and professional practice and then provides a rationale for the proposal. Section 2 explores training and development in the context…

This symposium on research issues in human resource development (HRD) consists of three presentations. "The Influence of Theories of Action on Action Research Initiatives: One Dying Division's Case" (Linda Neavel Dickens) reports an interpretive case study to illuminate how individual, team, and organizational practices and theories of…

Andersen Consulting is a global training firm with more than 20,000 consultants serving clients from 151 officers in 46 countries. In 1995, Andersen Consulting introduced a career development model (CDM) as a new organizing structure for its consultants in North and South America. The CDM, which translates the findings of research on integrative…

This document contains three papers presented at a symposium on partnership research moderated by Richard Torraco at the 1996 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD). "Partnership Research in HRD: Pulling Rabbits from Hats" (Ronald L. Jacobs) demonstrates that human resource development (HRD) researchers should…