Conferences as Sites of Learning and Development

This book applies and expands upon the concept of the 'learning conference' as a site of learning and development, using the paradigm and methodologies of participatory action learning and action research (PALAR).
Making a significant contribution to the field, this is the first book to outline the characteristics and development of a learning conference culture in theory and practice. It demonstrates how application of the learning conference concept can maximise learning opportunities and successful research outcomes to bring about sustainable professional, organizational and community development.
An international team of contributors offer their diverse perspectives on conferences and the practical and theoretical work conducted at these events. They contextualize these reflections in the light of global developments in this increasingly troubled twenty-first century marked by greater complexity through technology, globalization, neo-liberalism, climate change and other sources of practical and ideological change, all of which enhance the conceptual and practical utility of the learning conference.

Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt is Director of OZI (Ortrun Zuber International P/L) specializing in action learning and action research, leadership development programs, and postgraduate research training and supervision, including qualitative research methods. She is also Adjunct Professor at Griffith University (Brisbane, Australia); Extraordinary Professor at North-West University (Potchefstroom, South Africa); and Regional President Australasia, Global University for Lifelong Learning (GULL).

Foreword; Robert Balfour - Introduction; Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt Part I: The Action Learning and Action Research Association (ALARA) - History and Culture of ALARA: The Action Learning and Action Research Association; Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt and Ron Passfield - Reflections and Future Perspectives on Action Research for Sustainable Development in a Turbulent World; Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt, Lesley Wood and Bob Dick Part II: The Learning Conference - The Learning Conference in Theory and Practice: From Presentation to Publication; Ina Louw and Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt - The Learning Conference and Worldview Transformations; Richard Bawden and Melanie Williams - Knowledge Development and Translation through Action Learning and Action Research: A 'Learning Conference' Experience; Robyn Lynn and Michelle Redman-MacLaren - Facilitating Cross-Cultural Understanding via ALARA Conferences; Pip Bruce Ferguson Part III: Applications and Case Studies - Action Learning with Student Volunteers at an ALARA Conference; Shankar Sankaran and Colin Bradley - Learning in Action: Extending Our Understanding of Appreciative Inquiry; Cathy Sharp and Belinda Dewar - Inclusive Pathways for Lifelong Action Learning; Judith Kearney, Richard Teare and Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt Part IV: Reflections on ALARA and its Learning Conferences - Reflections on the World Congress in Cartagena in 1997; Ron Passfield and Associates - Personal and Professional Learning: Experiential Accounts of First-Time Participants at a Learning Conference; Gina Blackberry - Are We Practising What We Preach? Critical Reflections on the Value of the ALARA World Congress 2015 for Sustainable Learning and Development; Lesley Wood - Looking Toward the Future of Action Learning and Action Research through Global Network Collaboration; Joseph M. Shosh - Conclusions and Critical Reflections; Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt