Honey And Alan Mumford's Theory Of Learning: Principles Of Organisational Behaviour

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Typically when we think of learning we think of gaining some kind of knowledge through information that we have received, yet the word ‘learning’ can be difficult to define. According to the book “Principles of Organisational Behaviour: An Irish Text”, “learning is a process through which individuals acquire and assimilate new knowledge and skills that results in relatively permanent behaviour changes” (Morley at al. 2004, p.87). Learning can take many forms for example conscious learning is where an individual is aware that they are being taught. In contrast to this unconscious learning is when an individual does not realise that what they are doing will lead to improved skills and learning ability. Learning can also be formal for example …show more content…

Undeniably, Honey and Mumford’s approach has been useful in emphasizing that we all learn in different ways, and that uniform approaches will not suit every individual (Caple and Martin 1994). Honey and Mumford argue that people learn most usefully from experience, however experience alone does guarantee effectual learning. They believe that the learning experience should be reviewed, conclusions drawn from the review and action taken to build upon the conclusions drawn (Caple and Martin 1994).The Honey and Mumford learning style is typically represented as a cycle. The cycle identifies four distinct approaches to learning; activists, reflectors, theorists and pragmatists. Activists learn best when they are actively involved in concrete tasks and learning experiences. Reflectors prefer reviewing and thinking over what has happened and how they have acted. Theorists learn best learn best by relating new information to concepts or theories whereas pragmatists often learn by relating new information to real-life issues (Morley at al. 2004). The Honey and Mumford questionnaire identifies the preferred learning styles or style that people have. Learners who score on all four styles are best equipped to deal with all stages of the learning cycle, but the majority of people display distinct preferences (Pont 2003). When I took the Honey and Mumford questionnaire I found that I scored highly in the pragmatist category and scored rather low in the theorist category. This conclusion is reinforced by the fact that I find I learn best by seeing how I can put what I’ve learned into practice in the real world. It is obvious that weather a person is an activist, reflector, theorist or pragmatist their preferred approach to learning will influence their learning by a great

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