Summary:
The era of learning with colleagues
A book about learning with colleagues is entirely in keeping with
the spirit of our times. Both the content and role of ‘work’ have
changed radically in the West in recent decades. Where we work
can no longer be predicted on the basis of family background and
education. How we work changes almost from month to month, if only
due to new developments in the field of information and communications
technology. What we expect from work is no longer clear either:
for most of us, it is not just about earning a living. Work now
serves other purposes, for example satisfying our more personal
needs such as recognition, influence, self-expression and self-fulfilment.
As a result, we now expect more and more from work and, by the
same token, work has come to ‘expect’ more of us. Our
working lives are gradually becoming more exciting and more interesting.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to take refuge behind unique
expertise or customised approaches – instead, we now have
to find a tailored solution for every job or client, to show more
of our personal side in our work and to make that personal side ‘effective’. ‘Work’ is
becoming more like ‘school’, in two respects:
- In the contemporary sense of school: a place of training, centre
of education, learning environment, independent study centre. A place
we go to seeking self-development and self-fulfilment.
- In the original, Greek sense of scholè: leisure, rest, pleasure
and, paradoxically enough, idleness and ease. A place we go to find
ourselves, to reflect and to spend time doing things that really
matter to us.
Not surprisingly, many people find that the boundaries between the
work and private spheres are becoming blurred, and increasing numbers
of us feel we are more our ‘true selves’ at work than
we are at home.
In line with the spirit of the times, we want to learn at work and
are keen to embark upon training courses and personal development
activities directly connected with our work. We feel a greater need
to talk to colleagues about our personal development, and even to
work with them towards that development.
That is the basis of learning with colleagues, which does not mean
training periods, skills training or on-the-job training. Learning
with colleagues goes much further than that and involves:
entering into a deeper relationship with your colleagues in order
to learn from them;
being vulnerable and openly discussing your strengths and weaknesses;
finding the limits of your expertise and exploring the territory
beyond those limits together with your colleagues; and
seeing this process of searching and exploration as an integral part
of your work.
If you don’t do this, how are you to stay ‘professional’ and
what are you going to learn from as a professional? Textbooks, which
are outdated almost as soon as they reach the shelves? Clients and
customers, who themselves aren’t sure what questions they want
to ask you?
In my view, peer consultation is an activity that fits in with both
meanings of school; the learning environment and the place of leisure.
Of the numerous ways in which you can develop yourself as an individual,
peer consultation has the advantage that you organise consultation
sessions with and for colleagues, they can be held close to your
own place of work and, in many ways, they offer the much-needed peace
and concentration. This book therefore starts with an introduction
to peer consultation as a way of learning with colleagues. Later
on, Part IV introduces other forms of learning which establish a
closer link with your own work and place greater responsibility for
learning on your own shoulders.
table of contents
Preface XI
PART I
PEER CONSULTATION 1
Introduction: professionalisation through joint reflection
Peer supervision and action learning: similarities and differences
Peer supervision: the profession at the centre
Action learning: the professional at the centre
Peer supervision and action learning: the main difference
Summary
Who or what is at stake?
Summary
The art of asking questions
Closed and specific questions
Open questions
Questions to be handled with care
Structuring and summarising
Summary
Consultation methods
Brief introduction to each method
The supervision method
The feeding-back method
The problem-solving method and the Balint method
The learn-and-explore method
The dominant-ideas method
The U method
Learning from success
The ten-step method
The five-step method
The gossip method
The clinic method
The storytelling method
The hologram method
Organisation constellations
Summary
5 Choosing the right method
Summary
6 Preconditions: fostering peer supervision and action learning
Freedom
Openness
Safety
Trust
Expectations
Relevance of issues
Summary
PART II
FACILITATION
Introduction: facilitation of consultation groups
7 The role of the facilitator
Who assumes this role?
Facilitation of peer supervision
Facilitation of action learning
Summary
8 Methodical structuring of the facilitator’s role
a. Getting started and choosing a method
b. Contributing issues
c. Asking questions
d. Exchanging ideas, views, problem descriptions, etc.
e. Consultation
f. Evaluation
Summary
Creating conditions for mutual learning
Deferring judgment
Striving for an open approach
Exploring the relationship between issue holder and issue
Reversing roles
Summary
Giving feedback
Summary
Keeping an eye on the mirror
a: Through the eyes of the issue holder: what are we looking at?
b. The topic becomes the focus of recognition
c. Reflections of there and then
d. Lack of focus: diffuse scatter
Conclusion
Summary
12 Encouraging development
Encouraging consultation work
Encouraging group development
Summary
13 Handling difficult moments
Summary
PART III
LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE
Introduction: authorities on learning
14 Some concepts and definitions
Summary
15 Four learning styles
Diverging
Assimilating
Converging
Accommodating
Single-loop learning
Double-loop learning
The full cycle of experiential learning
Summary
16 Learning to learn better
a. Meta-learning
b. Self-managed learning
c. Facilitating learning
Summary
17 Upward spirals: life-long learning
Summary
18 Downward spirals: fantasies and limitations
The unpleasant and unpalatable aspects of learning
Attempts to break out of the spirals
Summary
PART IV
FROM CONSULTATION GROUPS TO LEARNING NETWORKS
Introduction: the boundaries of peer consultation
19 Peer consultation as a complement to training and practice
How does peer consultation fit in with Kolb’s learning
cycle?
What are the advantages of peer consultation?
What are the drawbacks of learning in peer consultation groups?
Conclusion
Summary
20 Extension I: short-cycle learning
This book Learning with colleagues as an example of the EPCS
model (Experience, Problems, Concepts, Skills)
Application to peer supervision and action learning
Summary
21 Extension II: project-based action learning
What do we mean by project-based action learning?
The main principles of project-based action learning
Salient differences between project-based action learning
and peer consultation
Summary
22 Extension III: self-managed learning and learning networks
What do we mean by self-managed learning?
What do we need to establish self-managed learning with colleagues?
Learning networks as an example of self-managed learning
The main principles of learning networks
Salient differences between self-managed learning and peer
consultation and project-based action learning
Summary
Appendix A Observation forms
A.1 Binary observation form
A.2 Multiple choice observation form
Appendix B Log books
B.1 Participants’ log book
B.2 Process facilitator’s log book
Appendix C A mnemonic device for giving feedback: the four
Gs
C.1 Critical feedback
C.2 Constructive feedback
Appendix D Learning style inventory
Appendix E Survey of peer consultation:
How do participants learn?
Definition of the problem addressed by our survey
Results
Conclusion
Literature
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