Action learning and critical thinking: a synthesis of two models |
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| Authors: | Stephen M Soffe Michael J Marquardt Enoch Hale |
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| Institution: | 1. S.M. Soffe &2. Associates , LLC, 20870 Yellowbloom Court, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA;3. George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development, The George Washington University , 44983 Knoll Square, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA;4. The Foundation for Critical Thinking , 27005 Highway 1, Tomales, CA, 94971, USA |
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| Abstract: | Recent scholarship and the news media have identified a lack of critical thinking and ethical behavior in the business world. These deficiencies have led to faulty decision-making, ineffective planning, and frequent organizational dysfunction. This situation has focused attention on both practitioners in the field of business and on the university programs that educate them. A number of upper-tier universities have begun to address these important issues by exploring ways of revising their Master of Business Administration programs to place greater emphasis on their graduates' ability to think critically and consider ethical implications before and after taking action. The authors propose a potential means of addressing these issues in both the business and academic environments through a synthesis of two well-established models based on the constructs of critical thinking and action learning. This synthesis has the potential to produce symbiotic and synergistic effects that may provide educators and practitioners with a new tool for encouraging critical thinking and ethical behavior. The implications for future research and practice are also discussed. |
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| Keywords: | critical thinking action learning ethics and MBA programs |
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