NZIM EXECUTIVE LEARNING : Experiential Learning

Beginning of article

Byline: Reg Birchfield

Aristotle reportedly once said that: a[euro]For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.a[euro] As executive summaries go, that probably encapsulates experiential learning as succinctly as any.

David A Kolb, the American educational theorist who made his name by articulating and describing the process, believed that experience is critical to learning. The term experiential learning differentiates the process from learning by rote or other cognitive learning processes. As Nike says: a[euro]Just do ita[euro], and then learn through reflecting on what has been done, what worked and what didna[euro]t. In other words, experience it.

Henry Mintzberg, John Cleghorn professor of management studies at McGill University in Montreal, and one of the worlda[euro]s most provocative and stimulating management thinkers, advocates what he calls a[euro]management by reflectiona[euro] in his latest book Managing. He makes a profoundly strong case for his new take on …