The paper aims to assist emergency services organisations to learn how to learn so that managers better understand how to embed effective learning practices and systems into their organisation’s culture. Learning in emergency services organisations occurs in a range of contexts. These include after-action reviews, externally led inquiries, and practice-led research projects. The paper outlines key themes from the work-related learning literature and introduces a modified experiential learning framework to ground real-world experiences. Interviews were conducted with 18 emergency services practitioners. The findings provide examples of the broad challenges that agencies need to manage to enhance and sustain learning. These include shifting value from action post an event, to reflection, focusing on the bigger picture and allowing enough time to effectively embed new practices after an emergency. No organisation can forgo learning. All experiences provide opportunities for learning to occur. A key insight for agencies interested in facilitating improvements in learning is to locate potential weak links in the learning cycle and to develop a better understanding of how to learn.
Funding
Bushfire and Natural Hazard CRC
History
Publication title
Australian Journal of Public Administration
Volume
77
Issue
4
Pagination
715-728
ISSN
0313-6647
Department/School
School of Social Sciences
Publisher
Blackwell Publ Ltd
Place of publication
108 Cowley Rd, Oxford, England, Oxon, Ox4 1Jf
Rights statement
Copyright 2018 Institute of Public Administration Australia
Repository Status
Restricted
Socio-economic Objectives
Other law, politics and community services not elsewhere classified