Learning through Paradox: A Pedagogical Strategy for Exploring Contradictions and Complexity

• Published in: Journal of management education Vol. 24; no. 6; pp. 708 - 725
• Main Authors: Lewis, Marianne W., Dehler, Gordon E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks, CA Sage Publications 01.12.2000; Sage; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Administrator Education; Anxiety; Business Administration Education; Cognition & reasoning; Curriculum subjects: programmes and methods; Education; Educational Facilities Improvement; Educational sciences; Educational Strategies; Higher Education; Language Styles; Learning; Learning Processes; Management Development; Management training; Pedagogy; Problem solving; Students; Teachers; Teaching; Teaching methods; Workplace diversity; Written Language; USA; New York; San Francisco California; Thousand Oaks California; United States > US; Ethics; Paradox; Teaching method; Higher Education; Management
• ISSN: 1052-5629; 1552-6658
• DOI: 10.1177/105256290002400604

Over the past decade, the notion of paradox has become increasingly of interest in organization studies. This article seeks to extend the topic to the arena of management education. Specifically, we present paradox as one means of raising the complexity of students’ understandings of what it means to manage in an increasingly turbulent world. Invoking a “pedagogy of paradox” intentionally introduces contradictions that exist simultaneously to discussion, thereby initially prompting a degree of confusion and feelings of anxiety to stimulate creative thinking that moves beyond either—or toward both—and understandings. We begin by discussing the key components of paradox, then introduce three pedagogical strategies—conceptual polarities, personal contradictions, and paradoxical predicaments—and elaborate accompanying classroom exercises for each.