Productive Reflection at Work: Learning for Changing Organizations

by David Boud (Editor), Peter Cressey (Editor), Peter Docherty (Editor)

Overview

This book is an accessible entry point into the theory and practice of work reflection for students and practitioners. Taking a cross-disciplinary approach, it covers management, education, organizational psychology and sociology, drawing on examples from Europe, the Middle East, North America and Australia.

It traces reflection at work from an emphasis on training, through a focus on how organizations learn, to a concern with the necessary learning groups to operate effectively. It emphasizes productivity combined with satisfying lived experience of work life and points the way to a new collective focus on learning at work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415355834
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/10/2005
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	228
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

David Boud is Professor of Adult Education in the Faculty of Education, University of Technology, Sydney. He is widely published in the areas of adult, higher and professional education.

Peter Cressey is a Reader in Sociology in the Department of Social and Policy science at the University of Bath. He has researched and published widely in the field of industrial relations, work organisation, workplace learning and European social dialogue.

Peter Docherty is Visiting Professor in Services Operations Management at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. His research is mainly in the fields of learning at the individual, group, organization and network levels and the organization and management of sustainable organizations.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Introduction 1. Overview of the Book 2. The Emergence of Productive Reflection Part 2: Underpining Themes and Ideas 3. Reflection – How to Take it Beyond the Individual 4. The Meaning and Role of Reflection in Informal Learning at Work 5. The Evolution of Collective Reflection: From Indirect to Direct Part 3: Product Reflection – Differing Contexts and Practices 6. Disciplined Reflection or Communities of Practice 7. Productive Reflection and Learning During the Redesign of a Secrecy-Based Organization 8. Collective Reflection Under Ambiguity 9. Reflection During a Crisis Turnaround: Management Use of Learning Mechanisms 10. Interactive Critical Reflection as Intercultural Competence Part 4: Challenges and Complexities 11. An Ethical ‘Community of Practice’ Perspective on Reflection 12. Reflecting on Workplace Change – A Trade Union Perspective 13. Informal Learning: Creating the Space for Reflection at Work 14. Discursive Practices at Work: Constituting the Reflective Learner 15. Feminist Challenges to Mainstream Leadership Through Collective Reflection and Narrative 16. Lessons and Issues for Practice and Development

Editorial Reviews

'Productive Reflection at Work is a magnificent book that opens up new analytical avenues regarding the collective dimension of reflection at work' - Elena Bou Business School (URL) Barcelona Management Learning

'Productive Reflection at Work is a magnificent book that opens up new analytical avenues regarding the collective dimension of reflection at work' - Elena Bou Business School (URL) Barcelona Management Learning

'Productive Reflection at Work is a major addition to the literature on reflection at work. The focus of the book is on the idea that reflection is what connects learning and work. The Editors emphasize the importance of reflecting together in the workplace, and they highlight the learning that can occur when productivity and interpersonal engagement are explicitly linked. The book provides the foundations for future thinking about the organization of reflection, and especially helps to transform the current over-emphasis on individuals' ability to reflect with clear and comprehensive arguments for collective reflection. This book is essential reading for all scholars and practitioners with an interest in learning and work. It moves across disciplines, drawing together a fascinating and important compilation of views on collective and organizational reflection. David Boud, Peter Cressey and Peter Docherty are leading the development of a new idea - productive reflection - and they have generated a collection of chapters to demonstrate its importance and value. This volume is a significant and welcome contribution to our understanding of how reflection can be embedded into work organizations.' - Russ Vince, Professor of Organizational Behaviour and HRM, the University of Hull, UK

From the Publisher