Transformative Learning through Process Consultation

Transformative learning occurs when individuals add to their existing meaning schemes or add new meaning schemes to their storehouse of knowledge that is highly significant and a source of achievement and success for them. Explorations of how transformative learning may occur in organizational work-based learning settings occurring outside of formal educational programmes are largely undeveloped. This article provides such an exploration by introducing process consultation as a mechanism for facilitating transformative learning. Process consultation is a term developed by Edgar Schein in the 1960s as his contribution to organization development theory and practice. The central insight of the theory of process consultation is being helpful to managers to think out and work through issues and problems with which they are faced and for which they need help. The learning and change that takes place as a result of process consultation can be described as transformative. What has hitherto been lacking is an exploration of how the theory and practice of process consultation may lead to transformative learning. This article seeks to address this gap and so to contribute to the field of transformational learning by exploring how process consultation enables transformative learning in managers.

Format: Paper Presentation

Presenters:

David Coghlan, Fellow Emeritus, Trinity Business School
Anne Graham Cagney, South East Technology University (WIT)
Session Date & Time: Fri, 08 Apr 2022 | 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM EDT