Leadership and Emotional Intelligence

Learning and Adult Learning. Adult learning is a surging research topic, due to
significantly longer life expectancies (Halpern, 2004). For purposes of this study, the
Illeris (2007) definition of learning will be used: Learning is “any process that in living
organisms leads to permanent capacity change and which is not solely due to biological
maturation of ageing” (p. 3). Merriam et al. (2007) described that the learner, context,
and learning process are configured differently for adults than for children: for example,
an adult’s work experience provides a robust foundation for learning that is simply not
available to younger people.
Experiential Learning. “Experience is the adult learner’s living textbook”
(Lindeman, 1926, p. 7). Experiential learning is acquired knowledge of being through
active participation (Heron, 2009) between the participant’s inner self and the
environment (Beard & Wilson, 2006), and which results in changed behaviors (Halpern,
2004). Its premise is on the foundation “for an approach to education and learning as a
lifelong process that is soundly based in intellectual traditions of social psychology,
philosophy, and cognitive psychology” (Kolb, 1984, p. 3). In short, learning is
transformed by experience (Kolb, 1984).
Situated Learning. This theory situates learning in the context of participant
experiences in society (Wenger, 2009). It is through socialization that the learning of
knowledgeable skills transpires (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Situations increase learner
cognizance of surroundings, social roles and expectations which, in turn, modify learning
behaviors and attitudes (Conger, 2004; Merriam et al., 2007; Yeo & Gold, 2012). “A
learning curriculum is essentially situated. It is not something that can be considered in