Integrated Experiential Learning: Africa and the United States

Abstract

This chapter adopts Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning cycle (ELC) model to illustrate how students from the developed world might learn international business (IB) in a way that incorporates the developing world. Typical IB curriculum says little if anything about certain developing regions of the world. Yet, the developing world has the bulk of the global population, the largest reservoir of the world’s untapped resources and the most growth potential and opportunities (Mahajan, 2006; Prahalad & Hart, 2002; World Bank, 2005). Exposing and teaching IB that is contextualized in the developing world is necessary for the nurture of global competency that can enable productive collaborative engagement between the developed and the developing worlds. Particularly suited for such an approach is the ELC model that suggests that learning occurs through concrete experience (CE), reflective observation (RO), abstract conceptualization (AC), and active experimentation (AE). Consequently, this chapter adapts the model to provide IB lessons through a content–context integration of the theory and student experiences and involvement with the subject matter. It also provides a basis for such learning that is illustrated in a pilot case of a study-abroad programme for American students in Africa. Experiential learning here refers to the understanding students gain through instruction that is embedded in their experiences and context. Business schools often use internship and job shadowing for such learning while service learning has become popular proxy in other fields, particularly among millennial (Bilimoria, 1998; Smith, 2010).