An analysis of the University of Stellenbosch Business School personal leadership development journey and camparing it with recent literature on adult learning theory

• Main Author: Dehnicke, Dorothee Christine
• Other Authors: Nel, C.
• Format: Others
• Language: en_ZA
• Published: Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University 2014
• Subjects: Personal leadership > Study and teaching (Graduate work); University of Stellenbosch Business School; Adult education; Dissertations > Business management; Theses > Business management; UCTD
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/95668

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. === ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This work provides a comprehensive overview of the theories on adult learning. For each approach, the applicability for a leadership development programme is discussed. If available, examples for the use of a certain theory in a leadership course as part of a Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme are provided. An overview of the Personal Leadership Development Journey (PLDJ) of the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) is provided. The structure of the programme demonstrates the application of certain adult learning theories. Interviews with the alumni of the programme show how successfully the adult learning theories are practised and to what extent students have found them useful. Gaps in these interviews are pointed out with reference to the theories on adult learning. As an example, there is a certain body of literature on transformative learning as a subcategory of adult learning. In this case, two different theoretical approaches are explained, of which one is a more general discussion on adult learning and the other is focused on leadership development. Then an example of the application of this theory at the Institut Européen des d’Administration d’Affaires (INSEAD) shows how other business schools employ the theory in practice. In this case, the practical example is a leadership course as such, not a general MBA programme. The reason for this is that examples which match the situation at the USB exactly can not always be found. In the interviews, alumni of the USB were asked how the PLDJ impacted their professional and their private life. So indirectly, students were asked if a transformative learning process had taken place and how they would describe it. The analysis of the results is used to point out the strength of the programme as well as gaps, which could be addressed for future improvement.