Developing dialogic learning in children's health and social care teams through the use of person centered thinking

Abstract

This action research study reports on the development of a process for dialogic learning underpinned by Person Centred Thinking and the use of Person Centred Planning Tools (PCPTs). This learning occurred in three separate but associated teams delivering family support services to children and their families. The aim of this study was to explore and attain an understanding of how the use of these tools and processes would affect the process of organisational learning in the three settings. It is believed to be the first time PCPTs have been used in this context.

Facilitated action learning supported the use of Person Centred Thinking to attend to and decipher the challenges of the daily working practices and collaborative relationships of the three teams. This appreciative and inclusive methodology supported the development of a ‘common language’, which, where successful, helped to embed a system of whole service dialogic learning. This model of change management distinguishes the process used in this study from other interventions.

Where successful, leadership was central to successful implementation of dialogic learning in the teams and their ambition to become learning organisations. The importance of the individual actions taken by the leaders and their use of power was influential to the outcome of the study.

The synergy created by the synthesis of Person Centred Thinking and dialogue in the teams with good leadership, suggests that the dialogic learning emanating from it has perceptible and noteworthy connections for, and to, organisational learning.

The original contribution to knowledge from this study is the development of a theoretical understanding of how person centred practices when embedded into teams can transform and positively augment ways of working. Specifically it posits how dialogic learning practices provide the culture and context to facilitate individual and team growth and understanding through organisational learning.