Using an action learning approach to support women social learning leaders’ development in sport

ABSTRACT

This paper examines an adapted action learning approach to develop four social learning leaders. The Alberta Women in Sport Leadership Impact Program is a social learning intervention with the goals of supporting women in developing their leadership capabilities and increasing gender equity across sport. To support the facilitation of this initiative, four social learning leaders engaged in action learning to develop their leadership capabilities and facilitation skills. Considering facilitators’ development experiences have not been extensively explored in the context of action learning and social learning working in combination, examining the implications of an action learning approach for women social learning leaders’ development was warranted. We used an interpretive qualitative methodology to interview and observe the four social learning leaders to gain insight into their experiences building their facilitator capabilities and the implications of coupling an action learning and social learning approach for development. The participants discussed the importance of developing self-awareness, engaging with and embracing uncertainty, and building trusting relationships. The findings from this action learning focused initiative highlight the importance of social learning opportunities for women to create networks and spaces where they can safely feel vulnerable and subsequently develop their leadership capabilities.

KEYWORDS:

• Action learning
• social learning
• community of practice
• leadership development
• social learning leaders

Disclosure statement

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

Notes on contributors

Erin Kraft is a doctoral candidate in the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa. As a former swim coach with over 10 years of experience, Erin primarily coached children with developmental disabilities. She holds a master’s in education where she examined coaches’ experiences teaching children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in aquatic programs. More recently, Erin’s research interests have shifted and focus on developing social learning spaces, as an approach to facilitate learning opportunities in sport. Her doctoral research uses these social learning spaces to increase gender equity and leadership diversity across sport and to expand the learning capabilities of Canadian Parasport coaches.

Diane M. Culver is an associate professor at the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa in sport pedagogy and psychology. She was a senior coaching consultant for the Coaching Association of Canada before entering academia in July 2007. Her research interests are coaching and coach development, social learning theory, and women in sport leadership. Her previous working experience includes coaching for the Canadian National and New Zealand Olympic Ski Teams. She consults with athletes and coaches and is currently using social learning theory to build learning capability in various sport networks and communities of practice.

Notes

1 Initially, four mentors were asked to be a part of the CoP. One year into the program a fifth mentor joined and two stepped back for work related commitments. During data collection, there were three mentors involved in the CoP.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Ontario Graduate Scholarship and Women and Gender Equality Canada.