INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ACTION LEARNING
is proud to present the seventh event in our series
'International Varieties of Action Learning: Origins and Practices'
with Yury Boshyk & Michellana Jester
Action Learning in north America, growth & evolution
US business schools have used the term “action learning” to describe their experiential, hands-on, or project-based learning programs. These “action learning” courses provide the opportunity for student teams to take on real-world business challenges. For years, these types of courses have been the most sought after business school offerings. However, following the COVID lockdowns, many business schools paused or suspended their “action learning” offerings. In the vacuum of this disruption, some school faculty and administrators began rethinking their action learning offerings, looking to better understand Revans and “classical action learning” to consider how to incorporate more Revans-informed action learning principles into their programs. Using data from more than 30 top US business schools, as well as in-depth interviews with faculty and alumni, this presentation will show key US business schools’ action learning course modifications since the COVID lockdown, the changes that are “sticking”, and implications for future business school courses and students.
MICHELLANA JESTER: is a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) and Senior Partner with Global Executive Learning (Ontario, Canada). With more than two decades of management consulting, and organizational and leadership development experience, as well as more than a dozen years at MIT working with graduate students, Michellana designs innovative and impactful learning experiences to assist learners advance their personal and professional goals. As a strategic management consultant, Michellana assists organizations and business leaders facing complex challenges move to action. She has worked with private corporations, non-profit organizations, and public agency clients, specializing in leadership development, team building, and organizational change. Her consulting work also includes executive coaching, assisting leaders transition out of and into new roles.
Michellana has written and presented her research on leadership, adult learning, human resource and organizational development in a variety of forums including Academy of Management, Institute for Experiential Learning, Financial Times, Fast Company, BizEd Magazine, and Psychology Today. She’s also a Distinguished Principal Researcher for The Conference Board. Michellana holds a Doctorate degree from Columbia University and a Master’s degree from Harvard University.
YURY BOSHYK: CEO and founder of Global Executive Learning (GEL), consultant, author, educator, and executive coach. Boshyk defined and implements, a new and holistic approach to Action Learning --referred to as Business Driven Action Learning (BDAL). GEL, as a worldwide network of leading practitioners and subject matter experts, works and collaborates with leading companies in almost every region of the world and in a multitude of industries since 1990. Yury also chairs the annual Global Forum on Strategic Transformations, Leadership and Learning, a by-invitation-only and not-for-profit community of practice now in its 27th year.
Formerly Professor of Strategy and International Environment of Business at IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland, Professor of Strategy and Director of Executive Education at the Theseus International Institute in France and enjoyed teaching at Harvard University, and the University of Toronto. His advisory activities include the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, and the Editorial Advisory Board of the journal, Action Learning: Research and Practice. He is a member of the IFAL Executive Committee.
He has published and speaks extensively on past, present, and future global issues, and has edited four books on Action Learning. Yury completed his doctorate at the University of Oxford, his M.Sc. degree at the London School of Economics, and his B.A. at the University of Toronto.
