The Fractured Figure Eight: Exploring the Relationship between Social and Personal Knowledge

This paper reviews current critiques of Kolb’s experiential learning theory. Critiques converge on the belief that the theory places undo emphasis on the role of individual experience at the expense of social, political, and cultural elements of learning. This paper suggests that such critiques are based on a limited, selective, or simplistic reading of the initial theory. The theoretical relationship between social and personal knowledge is extended based on post-structuralist theory to conceptualize experience as structured like a language. Relationships between personal and social knowledge and the learning are proposed and the centrality of experience in the learning processes suggested. An experiential learning approach to management learning is contrasted to organizational learning, organizational knowledge creation, and critical theory perspectives. Externalization in the form of conversational learning, story-telling, and verbal description is suggested as a means to enhance management learning. Social and personal knowledge 2 THE FRACTURED FIGURE EIGHT: EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL AND PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE Kolb’s (1984) Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) continues to be one of the most influential theories of management learning. Kolb (2001) points to over 1000 studies, referred articles, dissertations, and papers conducted on the topic since 1984. The humanistic roots of ELT provides a basis for its application to a wide range of management issues (Sims, 1983; Carlesson, Keane, & Martin, 1976; Dixon, 1994; Lengnick-Hall & Sanders, 1997; Van der hygen, 1997; Hunt, 1994) and the application of ELT through the Learning Style Inventory (LSI) has introduced countless managers to the basic ingredients of the learning process. As ELT continues to be one of the most widely cited theories of management learning, it has come under increasing criticism for its humanist emphasis on the importance of experience and its subsequent failure to provide a detailed account of social, political and culture forces that influence learning (Holman, Pavlica, & Thorpe, 1997; Miettinen, 1998; 2000; Reynolds, 1999; 1997; Vince, 1998). This paper conducts a critique of these arguments to suggest that current criticisms of ELT selectively exclude a key element of Kolb’s initial formulation: the relationship between personal and social knowledge. Experience is defined within the context of poststructuralist psychoanalysis (Lacan, 1977) and the centrality of experience in shaping personal and social knowledge within the context of the learning cycle is explored. This paper concludes with propositions about the relationship between individual experience and social processes and the implications for management learning theory and practice. Even critics of ELT recognize its broad influence on management learning (Holman, Pavlica, & Thorpe, 1997; Miettinen, 1998; Reynolds, 1999; Vince, 1998). Since Kolb first began to develop the theory in the late 1960’s, ELT has influenced a diverse range of management topics including person job interaction (Sims, 1983), teams (Carlesson, Keane, & Martin, 1976), organizational systems (Dixon, 1994), strategy development (Van der Heijden, 1996), design of management education (Lengnick-Hall & Sanders, 1997), and job counseling (Hunt, 1994). Miettinen (1998) suggests a reason for its popularity: [ELT] combines spontaneity, feelings, and deep individual insights with the possibility of rational thought and reflection. It maintains the humanistic belief in every individual’s capacity to grow and learn, so important for the concept of lifelong learning. It includes a positive ideology that is evidently important for adult education (p. 170) Along with its humanistic appeal, some of the success of ELT may lie in its ambitious and comprehensive nature. ELT provides a theoretical basis for a diverse range of Social and personal knowledge 3 management learning topics, such as learning style, professional and adult development, knowledge transfer, and education, as well as a comprehensive integration of previous theories of adult learning (Kayes, 2001). Kolb’s conceptualization of learning as the “the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experiences” (Kolb, 1984: p. 41) is based on six principles. 1. Learning is a process, not an outcome. 2. Learning derives from experience. 3. Learning requires an individual to resolve dialectically opposed modes of adaptation. 4. Learning is a holistic integrative process. 5. Learning requires the interplay between a person and the environment. 6. Learning is the process of knowledge creation (p. 25-38). The Learning Process According to ELT, learning results from recognizing and responding to a diverse set of environmental and personal demands. Learning involves two interdependent dimensions of knowledge transformation: acquisition and transformation. Each dimension requires an individual to resolve a dialectic tension or a set of competing learning demands. The knowledge acquisition dimension requires an individual to resolve the tension between apprehension (concrete experience) versus comprehension (abstract conceptualization). Apprehension requires an individual to accept new knowledge through sensory perception and direct experience with the world (i.e. , feelings or emotions). A person engaged in knowledge apprehension might describe learning as a continuous series of uninterrupted new experiences. In contrast, comprehension occurs when an individual gathers knowledge through abstract concepts and symbolic representations. Comprehension occurs when a person breaks down experience into meaningful events and places them within a framework of symbolic meaning of culture and society. A person engaged in knowledge comprehension might describe learning as a process of integrating, organizing and ordering experiences. Knowledge acquired through apprehension or comprehension stands ready to be transformed by the second learning dimension, which is the process of knowledge transformation. The transformation dimension of learning is also characterized by a dialectical tension: knowledge intention (reflective observation) versus knowledge extension (active experimentation). Learning by intention describes the process whereby a learner moves inward to reflect upon previously acquired knowledge. In contrast, learning by extension requires a movement beyond the individual and requires him or her to interact with an external environment. Taken as a whole, learning is described as a continuous process of dealing with diverse personal and environmental demands. Learning, as a holistic process, entails using experience as the basis for reflection, thinking, and taking action, which in turn, creates new experiences. Social and personal knowledge 4