Abstract
Donald Schön was a deeply original thinker working on change, education, design, and learning. He is perhaps best known for his work on the reflective practitioner, in which he formulated a new epistemology of practice founded on knowing-in-action and reflection-in-action, a theory which has had considerable impact. He also made huge contributions to the field of organizational learning, working with Chris Argyris on theories in action and on single/double loop learning. Underlying all these contributions was a theory of change grounded in Dewey’s theory of inquiry and deeply concerned with how institutions and professionals deal with a world beyond the stable state. An educator as well as a theorist and practitioner, Schön was highly interested in how professionals can be taught in ways that reflect the reality in which they work rather than the traditional forms of technical rationality. This chapter examines Schön’s key contributions, the influence of philosophy and music upon his work, and the many ways his work has been used.
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References
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Argyris, C., & Schön, D. A. (1978). Organizational learning: A theory of action perspective. Reading: Addison-Wesley.
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Further Reading
Schön’s writing was extremely clear and worth reading in its own right. Much of his key work was contained in books rather than articles, and is of a nature that the whole book needs to be read to gain full comprehension. The following works are of particular significance:
Schön, D. (1970). Change and industrial society. British Broadcasting Corporation Reith Lectures. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/the-reith-lectures/transcripts/1970/
Schön, D. (1971). Beyond the stable state: Public and private learning in a changing society. London: Temple Smith.
Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. New York: Basic Books.
Argyris, C., & Schön, D. A. (1996). Organizational learning II: Theory, method, and practice. Reading: Addison-Wesley.
Works about Schön by others:
Bamberger, J. (2000). Unanswered questions. Cybernetics & Human Knowing, 7, 9–16.
Smith, M. K. (2001/2011). Donald Schön: Learning, reflection and change. In The encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved from www.infed.org/thinkers/et-schon.htm
Newman, S., & van der Waarde, K. (2015). Donald A. Schön: Bibliography. Retrieved from http://www.graphicdesign-research.com/Schon/bibliography.html
Note that Schön’s name is sometimes written as ‘Schon’ in library catalogues and bibliographies, which is incorrect but an easy mistake to make. It is sufficiently common that when searching for him online, it is best to look for both ‘Schön’ and ‘Schon’.
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Ramage, M. (2017). Learning and Change in the Work of Donald Schön: Reflection on Theory and Theory on Reflection. In: Szabla, D., Pasmore, W., Barnes, M., Gipson, A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Organizational Change Thinkers. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49820-1_57-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49820-1_57-1
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Schön, Donald: Learning and Change in His Work – Reflection on Theory and Theory on Reflection- Published:
- 16 December 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49820-1_57-2
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Learning and Change in the Work of Donald Schön: Reflection on Theory and Theory on Reflection- Published:
- 04 April 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49820-1_57-1