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From Thinking Soldiers to Reflecting Officers—Facts and Reflections on Officers’ Education

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NL ARMS Netherlands Annual Review of Military Studies 2019

Part of the book series: NL ARMS ((NLARMS))

Abstract

Reflectivity is an essential skill for every professional. According to Schön, reflectivity is the focal point for understanding and learning a craft. On top of this, for an operational serviceman/woman reflectivity is crucial to cope with the complex and ever-changing context he/she is working in. This prompts the question: what exactly is reflectivity? The importance from a military point of view is delineated at individual, team, and organizational level. Two concepts of reflective studying are introduced: the Experiential Learning Theory and Problem-Based Learning. With this frame, the actual situation on officers’ education is explored. This leads to the conclusion that reflectivity should be given more attention in the curriculum and in the classroom. Concurrently, other competences for teachers are required and education, military training, and Corps processes need to be aligned, while the cadets need to adopt a more critical stance.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Stiehm 2010.

  2. 2.

    Morrison and Meliza 1999.

  3. 3.

    Osinga 2007.

  4. 4.

    Schön 1987, p. 8.

  5. 5.

    Plack and Greenberg 2005.

  6. 6.

    Argyris 2000; Tosey et al. 2012.

  7. 7.

    Patterson 2015.

  8. 8.

    Argyris 2000.

  9. 9.

    Ibid., p. 279.

  10. 10.

    Schön 1987, p. 18.

  11. 11.

    Kolb and Kolb 2005.

  12. 12.

    E.g. Kolb 1984.

  13. 13.

    Dewey 1897, p. 79.

  14. 14.

    Bateson 1979.

  15. 15.

    E.g. Miettinen 2000.

  16. 16.

    Zhang et al. 2015.

  17. 17.

    Yew and Goh 2016.

  18. 18.

    Dochy et al. 2003.

  19. 19.

    Frambach et al. 2012.

  20. 20.

    Plack and Greenberg 2005, p. 1546.

  21. 21.

    Bourner 2003.

  22. 22.

    Korthagen and Vasalos 2005.

  23. 23.

    Brockbank and McGill 2007, p. 103.

  24. 24.

    Klein 1998.

  25. 25.

    Endsley 1995.

  26. 26.

    Schön 1987, p. 28.

  27. 27.

    Williams 2010.

  28. 28.

    Bijlsma 2009.

  29. 29.

    Joint Chiefs of Staff 2001, p. 318.

  30. 30.

    Naveh 1997.

  31. 31.

    Schön 1987, p. 8.

  32. 32.

    Klingaman 2004; Paparone 2014.

  33. 33.

    Paparone and Reed 2011.

  34. 34.

    Plack and Greenberg 2005, p. 1546.

  35. 35.

    Schön 1987.

  36. 36.

    Nieuman 2017.

  37. 37.

    Johns 2017.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, PO Box 90002, 4800 PA, Breda, The Netherlands

    Tom Bijlsma

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  1. Tom Bijlsma
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Correspondence to Tom Bijlsma .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, Breda, The Netherlands

    Wim Klinkert

  2. Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, Breda, The Netherlands

    Myriame Bollen

  3. Institute for Management Research, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Marenne Jansen

  4. Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, Breda, The Netherlands

    Henk de Jong

  5. Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, Breda, The Netherlands

    Eric-Hans Kramer

  6. Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, Breda, The Netherlands

    Lisette Vos

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Bijlsma, T. (2019). From Thinking Soldiers to Reflecting Officers—Facts and Reflections on Officers’ Education. In: Klinkert, W., Bollen, M., Jansen, M., de Jong, H., Kramer, EH., Vos, L. (eds) NL ARMS Netherlands Annual Review of Military Studies 2019. NL ARMS. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-315-3_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-315-3_8

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