The Learning Journal Bridge: From Classroom Concepts to Leadership Practices

Abstract

The value of reflective writing assignments as learning tools for business students has been well-established. While the management education literature includes numerous examples of such assignments that are based on Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning model, many of them engage only the first two phases of the model. When students do not move through the complete model, they are less likely to take what they learn from the classroom to the workplace. This article describes a graduate learning journal assignment that incorporates all phases of Kolb’s model. The assignment’s success in creating a bridge between simply learning about leadership and actually putting leadership knowledge into practice is grounded in three learning theories.