Experiential learning theory (ELT) has been widely used in management learning research and practice for over thirty-five years. Building on the foundational works of Kurt Lewin, John Dewey and others, experiential learning theory offers a dynamic theory based on a learning cycle driven by the resolution of the dual dialectics of action/reflection and experience/abstraction. These two dimensions define a holistic learning space wherein learning transactions take place between individuals and the environment. The learning space is multi-level and can describe learning and development in commensurate ways at the level of the individual, the group, and the organization. This approach is illustrated by reviewing current research on individual learning styles and managerial problem solving/decision making, the process of team learning and organizational learning. We describe how ELT can serve as a useful framework to design and implement management education programs in higher education and management training and development.

Experiential learning theory: A dynamic, holistic approach to management learning, education and development

In this article, I consider John Dewey's dual reformist-preservationist agenda for education in the context of current debates about the role of experience in management learning. I argue for preserving experience-based approaches to management learning by revising the concept of experience to more clearly account for the relationship between personal and social (i.e., tacit/explicit) knowledge. By reviewing, comparing, and extending critiques of Kolb's experiential learning theory (ELT) and reconceptualizing the learning process based on poststructural analysis of psychoanalyst Jacque Lacan, I define experience within the context of language and social action. This perspective is contrasted to action, cognition, critical reflection and other experience-based approaches to management learning. Implications for management theory, pedagogy, and practice suggest greater emphasis on language and conversation in the learning process. Future directions for research are explored.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/40214146.pdf

Experiential Learning and Its Critics: Preserving the Role of Experience in Management Learning and Education

The Role of Management Games and Simulations in Education and Research

Univ Limburg, Dept Appl Econ, B-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium.Vanhoof, K, Univ Limburg, Dept Appl Econ, Univ Campus, B-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium.

A knowledge-based SWOT-analysis system as an instrument for strategic planning in small and medium sized enterprises

This article outlines a taxonomy of skills necessary for cross-cultural learning based on Kolb's experiential learning theory. Review of the empirical literature on expatriate adaptation identifies...

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An Experiential Approach to Cross-Cultural Learning: A Review and Integration of Competencies for Successful Expatriate Adaptation

This paper presents Kolb's experiential learning theory as a framework for measuring the person and the job in the same language. In addition, it suggests other valuable uses of Kolb's theory, such as increasing understanding of person-Job match or mismatch, identifying pivotal versus peripheral skills in jobs, and determining whether mismatched (over- or underqualified) person-job relationships result in different levels of performance or satisfaction.

Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory: A Framework for Assessing Person-Job Interaction

Both environment and learning process must be planned to maximise their special contributions to managerial competence. Kolb's Experiential Learning Model provides a framework for matching each managerial competence with the training most likely to instil it. Optimally, student and teacher will join in collaborative ventures, seeking and creating a wide variety of competency‐based learning experiences.

Ronald R. Sims

Papers

Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory: A Framework for Assessing Person-Job Interaction

Guiding Principles for the Development of Competency‐Based Business Curricula

Reflection through debriefing in teaching business ethics : completing the learning process in experiential learning exercises