• PDF / 372,080 Bytes
• 29 Pages / 419.528 x 595.276 pts Page_size
• 41 Downloads / 215 Views

DOWNLOAD

REPORT

---

Introduction The dominant view of learning and development is partly influenced by a positivist philosophy (Bachkirova and Kaufman 2008) that views structured learning to be the most effective approach e.g. education systems. Most businesses also tend to believe in objectivity, thus measurability becomes of prime importance within most, if not all forms of organiational  activity. Therefore, there is a tendency to believe in universal laws/ ways to learn and develop (Garvey 2011). This mode of learning and development is also regarded as highly prominent by the institutes that market standardisations and certifications. Traditional ways of learning and development appear to make it easier ‘to judge success in teaching and learning’ (Garvey et  al. 2018, p.  110). There is a tendency to continue with current practices of learning and development rather than D. Rajasinghe (*) • C. Allen University of Northampton, Northampton, UK e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] © The Author(s) 2020 M. Loon et al. (eds.), The Future of HRD, Volume II, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52459-3_6

147

148 

D. Rajasinghe and C. Allen

exploring more effective, inclusive and innovative ways of learning and development. However, the use of those relatively ineffective practices has been challenged by scholars and practitioners citing their inability to deliver results. Consequently,  versatile interventions like coaching have started to cement its position as an effective approach within the learning and development industry over the years. For example, noty just in coaching for adult learning and development (Lawrence 2017), but also in leadership development (Korotov 2017) and organisational development (Drake and Pritchard 2017). Coaching is accepted as (1) providing a safe space for learners to critically reflect on their experiences, (2) being a non-judgemental approach, (3) encouraging self-directed learning, (4) accommodating subjectivity of learning and development and (5) enhancing self-understanding and confidence of learners (Bennett and Campone 2017; Jones et  al. 2016; Smither 2011). Coaching is also known to follow a learner-centred open approach to learning and development that  facilitate individuals’ development to be more creative, innovative and resilient. Therefore, coaching appears a vital tool for executives who are expected to develop their capacity for learning and draw energy, creativity and learning out of people that they work with (Ibarra and Scoular 2019). This chapter critically explores how these characteristics of coaching link with adult learning theories to establish a conceptual understanding of how coaching can be effectively used for workplace learning and development. It is a timely need as the heterogeneity of coaching practitioners have placed coaching as a highly positive, result-orientated intervention but most of those claims are largely uncritical and there is a relative lack of research evidence to support such claims (Western 2012). This chapter pos