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Challenges for integrating work and learning, selected papers from the INternational Conference on Researching Work and Learning, Sydney, Australia. Paul Hager and Tony Brown, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
Introduction
A new form of leadership has been attracting attention in Sweden lately. All branches of employment have been found to present many forms of close co-operation between managers, including what is termed joint leadership ([4] Döös et al. , 2005). Managers practising joint leadership claim that it gives them strength and stamina in their everyday work ([6] Döös et al. , 2003; [5] Döös and Wilhelmson, 2003). They also maintain that joint leadership impacts on their own personal development, through processes heavily related to the interaction within the leader pairs. The present paper sets out to show what the leaders themselves consider to be the working ingredients in their mutual work situation that help to facilitate personal development. The term joint leadership will be used to define situations where two persons in both formal and practical terms share work tasks, responsibility and authority, as well as sharing the same managerial position. The theory of transformative learning was chosen as a theoretical lens because of its explanatory value for processes leading to in-depth personal development.
Previous research
Empirically based studies of personal development and learning among managers/leaders in their day-to-day working lives have to some extent been reported in the literature, e.g. in connection with development programmes of various kinds. [2] Dixon (1993), for example, suggests that management development programmes should be designed to support situated learning in real work and in community rather than individually. [17] Olusegun (2004) argues that role-playing as a pedagogy technique can enable leaders to see the differing roles and responsibilities of leaders. They can then develop critical skills and attitudes, learning to focus on themselves as leaders in relation to other people and to elaborate self-reflection.
[26] Viittala (2005, p. 448) notes that: "managers' consciousness and interpretation of their development needs should be supported in organisations" because managers tend to view their own competence needs too narrowly and content-specifically, mainly regarding competencies limited to technical and business issues. In order to perceive their own learning and development needs, therefore, managers need to be made aware, for example of social and...