ERIC Number: EJ1095522
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1363-9080
EISSN: N/A
Taking a Risk to Develop Reflective Skills in Business Practitioners
Mackay, Margaret; Tymon, Alex
Journal of Education and Work, v29 n3 p332-351 2016
Critical reflection can support alternative decision-making in business practice. This paper examines the effectiveness of a risk-based pedagogy to engage practitioners in reflective thinking. Educators adopting a radical pedagogy in professionally accredited programmes face multiple challenges: learners often resist the process of self-reflection and stakeholders expect instrumental outcomes. A longitudinal study of human resource practitioners uses an interpretivist methodology to examine reflection through student-led learning and experiential activity. Findings show that a pedagogical method that overturns learner expectations stimulates dynamic discussion and reflection on experience. Implications are that effective risk-based teaching relies on establishing two conditions: (1) a scaffold structure which supports learner improvisation and (2) a lecturer willingness to continually orchestrate chance elements to maximise learning. This study contributes a practice-based understanding of the theoretical development of risk pedagogy, and adds new insights on the process of facilitating reflective skills to enable business practitioners to confront unpredictable work situations.
Descriptors: Reflection, Skill Development, Risk, Critical Thinking, Business Administration Education, Foreign Countries, Graduate Students, College Instruction, Longitudinal Studies, Personnel Management, Experiential Learning, Student Centered Learning, Scaffolding (Teaching Technique), College Faculty, Phenomenology, Instructional Effectiveness, Student Attitudes, Teacher Attitudes
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A