Week 1: 1st - 7th May (Tutorial: Tuesday 4th May - 19:00 Hrs)
Practice-based learning will be an important theme of this module, as it is of all modules of the MSc in Human Resource Management. You will be encouraged throughout the module to apply theories and concepts which you have studied to practice, partly because the variety of HRD practice in different contexts (whether geographic or sectoral) makes it important for you to be able to take charge of your learning in the particular context in which you are operating and to understand how theory is best applied in that context. You will be asked to share your experiences of different contexts with your fellow students in tutor group forum (TGF) discussions and in online tutorials. This sharing of different perspectives will add to the richness of your learning on this module.
Our commitment to practice-based learning is characteristic of many programmes within the Open University Business School and in this it is in step with many other universities and business schools. There has long been pressure on universities to equip students to manage their own learning so that they are able to learn continuously and to master new bodies of knowledge and understanding. In the UK, universities have been pressed to create closer links between academic theory and practice and to ensure that university-level thinking and learning is applied to the workplace (HEA, 2008).
Schön (1983) posed an early challenge to the idea that professional development can be achieved through the study of a body of decontextualised knowledge which professionals were then expected to learn how to apply in the workplace. He argued that this left a gap between theory and practice because professionals needed in their practice to be able to cope with complex and ambiguous situations which could not be addressed in their study of theory. To be effective they needed to be able to build and draw on a wide store of tacit knowledge. Schön showed through a variety of case studies of professionals (in architecture, psychiatry, engineering and town planning) how this tacit knowledge could be developed through supported reflective practice in the workplace.
Practice-based learning is one way of bridging the theory–practice gap and provides opportunities to try out ideas and theories which have been studied in the workplace. Its close cousin, work-based learning, has been defined as ‘learning through, at and for work’ (Garnett, 2010) while practice-based learning, while sometimes used synonymously, can have a wider meaning and can include organisational learning (Corradi et al., 2010). These two terms do share considerable commonality of approach and assumptions. Both assume that, at least to some degree, real learning and understanding is to be found in practice, and that the real meaning of theory can only be understood when its application to practice has been considered or tried out – that practice is ‘the locus of learning and knowing’ (Corradi et al., 2010, p. 68). However, one important distinction may be that in practice-based learning there is a stronger emphasis on bridging the gap between a prescribed curriculum (often university led) and practice, while in work-based learning, as defined by Garnett (2010), the individual student has a greater freedom to identify and choose what is to be learned.
Since both work-based and practice-based learning are based on the premise that, to some degree at least, learning and knowledge are to be found in practice and are context dependent, it follows that both are underpinned by an assumption about the nature of knowledge itself. The knowledge to be achieved is constructed by the learner through experience or practice, whether individually or through working with others. This is a constructivist theory of knowledge and you will read more about this and other theories of knowledge in Unit 2. By its nature, constructivist knowledge is open-ended: it is not possible to know what will be learned through practice and what new understandings will be developed.
Practice-based approaches to learning can produce some obvious benefits in the workplace when new ideas, understandings and capabilities are needed (Tallantyre in HEA, 2008, p. 4). There are also challenges, however, for those responsible for helping others to learn. When, for example, are practice-based approaches to learning most useful and when are knowledge and understanding best transmitted from an expert to a learner, for example in a formal programme of study or training? And when learning from practice and experience seems the best option, what support can best be given to make this learning productive? These are important questions for the HRD practitioner.
Barnett gives a partial answer to the last question. He points to the proliferation of epistemologies (ideas about what we mean by knowledge) in a ‘supercomplex’ world, identifying the ‘action-based’ knowledge (Barnett, 2000, p. 418) which derives from practice as one of these new forms of knowledge. He suggests that a key role for universities is to encourage students to reflect critically on the skills they develop and on their practice of those skills: ‘After all, the world needs not just “competent doctors” but doctors who can interrogate their own actions within a range of critical perspectives and who are able to envisage entirely new forms of professionalism’ (Barnett, 2000, p. 420).
As you work through this module you will return to the question of the role of the educator and of the HRD professional in supporting individuals in managing their learning from practice as well as in deciding when this is best way for them to learn. As you study ideas about strategic approaches to learning and development, you will also have the opportunity to think about the role of the HRD professional in creating an environment in which learning from experience is valued and encouraged.
