What is it about an Action Learning set that has survived and thrived for a quarter of a century? Although now with only one of the original set members, nevertheless this self-managing set can claim to have 'lived' from 1997 to 2022, still going strong. And, as Socrates said, since the unexamined life is not worth living, this article inspects…

This article discusses the international events known as Proxima, organized by a group of colleagues, whose slogan is 'Drawing Closer to Go Further'. Two half-day sessions, held in April and May 2020, consisted of 20 simultaneous Codevelopment Group (CDG) online sessions. Held during the global lockdown, these online events generated creative,…

This Action Learning (AL)/Action Research study (AS) explores the practice of Action Learning (AL) to further higher education (H.E.) apprenticeships by collaboration between University Provider (UP) and employer. AL members aim to address complexity, bridging the gap between management education delivered by a work-based learning (WBL)…

This paper explores the literature around online and blended learning. The impetus came from a cohort of 60 students being led through their dissertation by an e-learning evangelist. Initially the pedagogy closely followed Salmon's Five Stage Model, Wenger's Community of Practice, and traditional Social Constructivism pedagogies. In hindsight, it…

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…

This account of practice details the experiences of two doctoral students, on a DBA programme in the UK, as participants in an action learning set. It outlines the background to setting up the action learning set and describes early assumptions made by the students in relation to action learning structures. It highlights the initial difficulties…

Different styles of Action Learning that have evolved from the original form by Reg Revans, the originator of Action Learning. In this paper, we offer a further development of Action Learning which we name DIAL (Drop-In Action Learning). DIAL is a facilitated or self-managed form of action learning that has the specific quality of being a…

The article presents an account of how action learning principles were implemented to alleviate complex problems in universities. It focuses on the registrars and administrators under the academic Registrar's department. The Marquardt model of action learning was used in combination with the constructivist theories of learning, namely community of…

This paper outlines an initiative, namely a leadership symposium, which developed from a chance meeting of like-minded academics, who were trying to achieve similar outcomes with their student groups; namely, to include the scholarly activity of disseminating graduates' action-oriented projects. One group of graduates comprised a mix of…

This paper reflects on how action learning sets (ALSs) were used to support organisational change initiatives. It sets the scene with contextualising the inclusion of change projects in a masters programme. Action learning is understood to be a dynamic process where a team meets regularly to help individual members address issues through a highly…

What is an action learning set (ALS)? An ALS is a regular, action focused peer discussion group, generally facilitated, to address work place issues. Methods of undertaking ALS: methods are flexible within a range of approaches according to the group's developing needs. Benefits of ALS: builds trust, professional development, enables action,…

This paper examines the learning gained from facilitating four action-learning sets whose members were drawn from management teams of local authority, health, education and police, working in partnership. Facilitation posed a series of difficult choices which impacted on personal and organizational dynamics within and between the partnership…

What contributes to longevity in an action learning (AL) set? What holds it together over a long period? The article relates the chronology and reasons why a self-managed set has flourished when so many sets of voluntary membership peter out. Major attributes of successful longevity are the adherence to strong ground rules and disciplined…

Knowledge and its applicability nourish each other in schools where teachers critically analyze data and, through team discussions, have the opportunity to solve the challenges that education presents every day. The premise of this model is that all participants have an active role in the function of creating praxial knowledge. This article…

This paper describes the delivery of action learning sets to students on the peer educator course provided by the Dementia Studies Department at University of Bradford. Our understanding of action learning sets is laid out together with our rationale for their use on this course. Feedback is presented that described a conflicted, even confused…