13 research outputs found
Arts-based methods for facilitating meta-level learning in management education: Making and expressing refined perceptual distinctions
Arts-based methods are increasingly used to facilitate meta-level learning in management education. Such increased use suggests that these methods are relevant and offer a unique contribution meeting a need in todayâs management education. Yet, the literature is not clear on what this unique contribution may be even though it abounds with suggestions of varying quality. To explore this matter, I conduct a systematic literature review focused on arts-based methods, management education, and meta-level learning. I find that the unique contribution of arts-based methods is to foreground the process of making and expressing more refined perceptual distinctions, not to get accurate data, but as integral to our thinking/learning. This finding is important, because it imply that certain (commonly applied) ways of using arts-based methods may limit their potential. Finally, I suggest that future research regarding arts-based methods should focus on exploring the impact the process of learning to make and express more refined perceptual distinctions may have on managerial practice to further understand the relevance of these methods to managers
Arts-based methods for facilitating meta-level learning in management education : making and expressing refined perceptual distinctions
Arts-based methods are increasingly used to facilitate meta-level learning in management education. Such increased use suggests that these methods are relevant and offer a unique contribution meeting a need in todayâs management education. Yet, the literature is not clear on what this unique contribution may be even though it abounds with suggestions of varying quality. To explore this matter, I conduct a systematic literature review focused on arts-based methods, management education, and meta-level learning. I find that the unique contribution of arts-based methods is to foreground the process of making and expressing more refined perceptual distinctions, not to get accurate data, but as integral to our thinking/learning. This finding is important, because it imply that certain (commonly applied) ways of using arts-based methods may limit their potential. Finally, I suggest that future research regarding arts-based methods should focus on exploring the impact the process of learning to make and express more refined perceptual distinctions may have on managerial practice to further understand the relevance of these methods to managers.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo
Art-based Methods in Management Education
The purpose of this dissertation is to develop explanatory theory for the learning processes facilitated by art-Ââbased methods in management education (ABMs). Such theory is important because managerial educators increasingly use ABMs, and without a well-Ââdeveloped theory it may be difficult to realise these methodsâ full potential.
Current research on ABMs uses theories from other fields but generally sees ABMs as methods for making important information available for reflection, e.g. information about unconscious assumptions, aesthetic experience, or non-Ââpropositional or tacit knowledge. This shows that the field is grounded in a representationalist view of cognition.
This view of cognition makes it difficult to explain certain themes in the research field, such as, the importance of staying with the senses without reflecting, aesthetic agency, and the process of making. I therefore asked: What insights can be gained from exploring ABMs, using theories grounded in the embodied view of cognition, in particular Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) (Lakoff & Johnson, 1999) and simulation theories (Barsalou, 2008).
For the empirical work, I used an experimental design with 60 managers from Danish companies. All participants selected problems from their work they perceived as important, yet unsolvable. They were randomly divided into three groups: Two groups using different ABMs to address problems and a comparison group where no ABM was used.
The experiment indicated that 1) creating new metaphors for a problem based on different sensory metaphors enabled the participants to import behaviour from contexts unrelated to the problematic situation, and 2) focusing on sensory experience enabled participants to remove judgments about self or others. Furthermore, the experiment indicated that learning outcomes reflected participantsâ experience of the concrete learning intervention.
These findings contribute to CMT by suggesting that it is possible to formulate relationships between changes in metaphors and specific learning outcomes. They contribute to ABM by suggesting that experiences that participants have during ABMs are later used as tools for structuring other experiences â not merely as data for reflection.ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council
Realising the potential of art-based methods in managerial learning: embodied cognition as an explanatory view of knowledge
Although art-based methods are increasingly being used in management learning
interventions (Taylor & Ladkin, 2009) there is little understanding about the means by which
these methods foster particular learning outcomes. This conceptually-based paper addresses
this concern through revisiting the philosophy of art and education (Arnheim, 1969; Dewey,
1934; Eisner, 2002; Langer, 1951) in light of recent theoretical developments in
neuroscience known as embodied cognition (Niedenthal, Barsalou, Winkielman, Krauth-
Gruber, & Ric, 2005; Rohrer, 2007; Wilson, 2002). We propose that embodied cognitionâs
recognition of the central role played by âsimulationâ (Barsalou 1999, 2008) in learning
processes offers unique insights into the mechanisms through which arts-based methods work
and how they differ from (other) experiential learning interventions. This exploration leads to
two propositions, a) stimulating new activation patterns in the way the brain engages with a
phenomenon enables new possibilities for dealing with that phenomenon; and b) making art
is a means by which those new activation patterns can be created. The paper concludes by
demonstrating the power of this understanding by re-interpreting three scholarly accounts of
the use of art-based methods within manager development, and suggesting implications for
how such interventions can more fully realise their developmental potential
Realising the potential of art-based interventions in managerial learning: Embodied cognition as an explanatory theory
Teachers and consultants increasingly use art-based interventions (ABIs) to facilitate manager learning. However, there is little understanding of the mechanisms through which ABIs produce learning outcomes of value to organizations. This theoretical paper addresses this concern by revisiting the philosophy of art and education in light of developments in neuroscience known as embodied cognition. Specifically, we examine the role played by simulations in behavioral change and the way in which ABIs can foster the creation of simulations. This leads to two propositions, a) representing a phenomenon through new simulations can create new possibilities for interacting with this phenomenon; and b) making art is a means by which managers can construct new simulations. The significance of these propositions is illustrated by re-interpreting three accounts of art-based interventions found in the literature. These propositions have important implications for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of ABIs in management education. In particular, they emphasize the need to match art medium with desired outcomes, provide support for the view that ABIs are well suited to learning about complex managerial challenges, and question the effectiveness of verbal reflection as part of ABIs