David Kolb (1984) developed a model of experiential learning, which unpacked how learning occurs, and what stages a typical individual goes through in order to learn. It shows that we learn through a process of doing and thinking. Following on from the earlier definition of learning as ‘the process of acquiring knowledge through experience which leads to a change in behaviour’, Kolb saw this as a cycle through which the individual has a concrete experience. The individual actually does something, reflects upon his or her specific experience, makes some sense of the experience by drawing some general conclusions, and plans to do things different in the future. Kolb would argue that true learning could not take place without someone going through all stages of the cycle.
In addition, research by Kolb suggested that different individuals have different sets of preferences or styles in the way they learn. Some of us are quite activist in our approach to learning. We want to experience what it is that we need to learn. We want to dive into the swimming pool and see what happens (immerse ourselves in the task). Some of us would like to think about it first! We like to reflect, perhaps on others’ experience before we take action. The theorists might like to see how the act of swimming relates to other forms of sporting activity, or investigate how other mammals take the plunge. The pragmatists amongst us have a desire to relate what is happening to their own circumstances. They are interested in how the act of swimming will help them to achieve their goals.
Not only do we all have a learning preference but also the theory suggests that we can get stuck within our preference.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
If you were writing a article on change and wanted to maximize the learning for all of your readers perhaps you would need to:
- encourage experimentation (activist);
- ensure there were ample ways of engendering reflection through questioning (reflector);
- ensure the various models were well researched (theorist);
- illustrate your ideas with case studies and show the relevance of what you are saying by giving useful tools, techniques and applications (pragmatist).
So activists may go from one experience to the next one, not thinking to review how the last one went or planning what they would do differently. The reflector may spend inordinate amounts of time conducting project and performance reviews, but not necessarily embedding any learning into the next project. The theorist can spend a lot of time making connections and seeing the bigger picture by putting the current situation into a wider context, but they may not actually get around to doing anything. Pragmatists may be so intent on ensuring that it is relevant to their job that they can easily dismiss something that does not at first appear that useful.
STOP AND THINK!
A new piece of software arrives in the office or in your home. How do you go about learning about it?
- Do you install it and start trying it out? (Activist)
- Do you watch as others show you how to use it? (Reflector)
- Do you learn about the background to it and the similarities with other programmes? (Theorist)
- Do you not bother experimenting until you find a clear purpose for it? (Pragmatist)