Blending Q and P: incorporating action learning in a Master's programme

Abstract

This paper is based on the experience of incorporating action learning within a Master's degree programme over a period of 14 years. The MA in Leading Innovation and Change was launched in 1995. It was first developed, and subsequently delivered, by a small group of staff working collaboratively across organisational boundaries. It is currently provided by York St John University. The programme attracts, and has always attracted, mature managers and professionals who undertake their studies part time, gaining the qualification over a period of two years. Action learning has been a part of the programme from the outset, with action learning sets a part of every meeting, alongside more traditional ‘P’ elements, such as lectures, seminars and tutorials and other exercises and activities. Records of participant evaluations of the programme over its lifespan indicate that action learning has been a valued part of the process. The paper explores potential difficulties in incorporating action learning into a programme of this nature and suggests four factors that supported its successful incorporation: the culture of the programme, the stability of the participant and tutor group over time, the size and variety of the participant group and the availability of skilled and experienced action learning facilitators.