How do small business owner-managers learn leadership through networked learning?

Abstract

This chapter shows how learning within networked learning can be understood through the lens of situated learning theory through the concept of legitimate pe-ripheral participation (Lave and Wenger, 1991) and the situated curriculum (Gherardi et al., 1998). The focus of the study is a ten month leadership pro-gramme for owner-managers of small businesses. The chapter reports key find-ings from an ethnographic study including a virtual ethnography of one cohort of 25 delegates. Specifically, it asks ‘how do small business owners learn to become leaders through networked learning?’ It is argued that delegates learn how to be-come members in this networked learning community. Leadership learning is part of this process and is associated with a shift in identity as the learner gains fuller participation. This chapter argues that the facilitators within this networked learn-ing experience are enablers of the social construction of the delegates’ identity. Given the importance of the enablers’ roles, the chapter finishes by arguing that critical reflexivity is essential within networked learning.