Action learning in the time of corona

I am writing this in April at a time when we should have been holding our seventh biannual international action learning conference (all being well the conference will take place in April 2021). We now find ourselves in isolation due to the spread of COVID-19. One consequence of this is that many of us, especially those working in universities, have been stepping up our involvement with all the paraphernalia of video conferencing and online learning platforms. We are thus presented with a better opportunity to reflect on what digital approaches might mean for learning and development.

Online platforms offer great potential for the sharing of knowledge and learning. In the action learning community, virtual action learning (VAL) has of course been a key practice for some years and this journal has published a number of articles which have illuminated good practice and shed light on some of the challenges (see, for example, Pedler, Hauser, and Caulat 2014). However, many of us are also aware that there is a digital divide. With the shift in educational and learning approaches that COVID-19 has arguably accelerated it is becoming apparent that online approaches expose and may even widen equality gaps. What if learners simply do not have the necessary technology, the right digital skills or, faced with being in lock down, the right kind of environment in which to work? Less affluent and digitally competent communities may find themselves left behind. This unlooked for aspect of the online revolution needs to be considered even as we think about life after COVID-19.

This pandemic reminds us of some of the skills that learners need in order to manage themselves and others in a complex and unpredictable environment. Revans of course was all too aware that we must learn to pose ‘increasingly insightful questions from an origin of ignorance, risk and confusion’ (2011, 10–11). As a context sensitive approach, action learning is well placed to meet the challenge of encouraging insightful questions and sharing critical learning in these challenging times.

The papers in this edition offer some fascinating insights from very different contexts as to what critical learning emerges and how it is brought about. Murphy, Canel and Banandiaran offer perspectives on the relationship between learning and listening by policy makers in provincial government in the Basque Country. Damons and Wood explore how participative action learning and action research offers an evidence-based example of how school leaders in challenging contexts in South Africa can better facilitate effective community involvement and engagement. Finally, Brook and Abbott consider the insights generated by experienced facilitators working with managers themselves learning to be action learning facilitators in China.

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to pay my own tribute to Kath Aspinwall whose sudden death last year robbed us of a much valued and much loved colleague and friend. An appreciation of Kath by former editors Kiran Trehan and Clare Rigg and our Accounts of Practice team is included in this edition of the journal.