‘Reflecting-in’ and ‘reflecting-on’ action learning beyond Western ideals

This chapter presents my reflections on using Action Learning (AL) in Pakistani business schools, highlighting some of the challenges arising from the uncritical integration of Western approaches in non-Western contexts. I argue that critical discourses emerging from the West often neglect the historical and cultural legacies of the non-Western world, leading to unintended outcomes. During my reflection, I show several complexities in the use of AL's peer questioning (or Q insights), such as the negotiation of authority, group dynamics and gender power relations. My main argument raises questions for critical practices as articulated by the West and their integration within the Global South, as they paradoxically work to reinforce power relations through epistemic forms of colonisation. Towards the end of the chapter, I outline some implications for critical management education (CME) scholars and urge them to recognise local cultural practices in their own right, thus advocating the decolonisation of CME.