Learning by doing and reflecting – the learning process of Swedish exercise organizers
Abstract as pdf
Corresponding Author:
Sofia Karlsson
Department of Surgical and Perioperative Sciences, Surgery, Umeå University Sweden
sofia.karlsson@umu.se
Author(s):
Britt-Inger Saveman1 , Magnus Hultin2 , Annika Eklund3 and Lina Gyllencreutz4
1Department Of Surgical And Perioperative Sciences, Surgery, Umeå University, Britt-Inger.Saveman@Umu.Se, SWE
2Department Of Surgical And Perioperative Sciences, Anesthesiology And Intensive Care Medicine, Umeå University, Magnus.Hultin@Umu.Se, SWE
3Department Of Health Sciences, Section For Advanced Nursing, University West, Annika.Eklund@Hv.Se, SWE
4Department Of Surgical And Perioperative Sciences, Surgery, Umeå University, Lina.Gyllencreutz@Umu.Se, SWE
Major fire incidents in underground mines are difficult to manage and the Swedish municipal rescue service personnel perceived they were not sufficiently prepared to perform a safe rescue operation underground and therefore had initiated a series of collaborative training exercises with the mining companies . Although the Swedish emergency medical service personnel have the main responsibility for the injured mine workers, they were previously not included in the initial collaboration exercises . To improve the rescue operation a collaborative participatory action project was initiated. The aim of this study was to explore the learning process of the organizers of collaboration meetings and full-scale exercises included in the project.
Method: Included in the participatory action project were 16 Swedish key persons; researchers from Umeå University, managers and operative personnel from the emergency medical service, rescue service, two mining companies and a company working with education. This group has planned and organized collaboration meetings and full-scale exercises. Documentation from 11 full-scale exercises and 16 collaboration meetings were analyzed by Engeström’s theory of expansive learning.
Result: The group of organizers questioned the structure of the rescue operation and together they analyzed the process and modelled new tools for collaboration in order to create a better rescue operation. The new collaboration tools were implemented during the full-scale exercises. They continued to reflect on the process and consolidated and generalized what they had learned during full-scale exercises and collaboration meetings. The group of organizers started to understand each other’s perspectives and understood the necessity to both consider their own organizational needs but also how their needs coincided with the other organizations.
Conclusion: The use of Engeström’s expansive learning theory show that the group organizing meetings and exercises in collaboration gradually improved their understanding of the complexity of the major underground mine fire scenario. Through this collaborative process, they could improve their organization’s rescue response, both at the management and operative level, in accordance with the response of the other organizations.
1. Marklund, J., & Haarala, D. (2014). Fördjupad olycksundersökning gruvbrand 2013-08-25. Skellefteå Kommun, Räddningstjänsten, Sweden
2. Karlsson, S., Gyllencreutz, L., Engström, G., Björnstig, U. and Saveman, B.-I. (2017), Preparedness for mining injury incidents – interviews with Swedish rescuers, Safety Science Monitor, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 1-10
3. Engeström, Y. (2001). Expansive learning at work: Toward an activity theoretical reconceptualization. Journal of education and work, 14(1), 133-156. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080020028747
Organizational learning and change during the "Blue Skies"