This paper provides a thematic analysis of research papers published in Action Learning: Research and Practice over the past 20 years. The analysis concentrates on the different contexts in which action learning has taken place and on the variations of action learning that have been presented in different papers. Contexts discussed in this paper are different international settings for action learning, and the use of action learning in healthcare, for social action, for small and medium-sized enterprises, and in higher education. Variations and developments of action learning are critical action learning, virtual action learning, and action learning research.