Action learning for community development in a Korean context

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this case study was to examine the success factors of a leadership development program using action learning for self-governance members in the city of Bucheon in Korea, as well as the distinctive features of action learning for community development in comparison with action learning for business. To that end, we conducted 22 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders (action learning participants, practitioners, and facilitators) and a survey with 39 participants from 2016 to 2018. Based on the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, we identified four themes: outcomes, advantages, success factors, and suggestions. We found that action learning for community development requires us to factor in the importance of understanding its unique contextual differences compared to action learning for business. We provide implications for research and practice as well as the study limitations.

KEYWORDS:

• Action learning for community development
• case study
• South Korea

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributor

Seung-Hee Park has been with the Korea Action Learning Association and a doctoral student at Seoul School of Integrated Sciences and Technologies, South Korea.

Dr. Yonjoo Cho is Associate Professor of HRD at the University of Texas at Tyler, USA.

Dr. Hyeon-Cheol Bong is Professor of Business Administration at Chonbuk National University, South Korea.