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Learning Shock

The Trauma of Return to Formal Learning

Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London, UK

Diana Winstanley

Kingston Business School, Kingston University, UK

Yiannis Gabriel

Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London, UK, y.Gabriel{at}imperial.ac.uk

This article develops a theory for a phenomenon we have termed ‘learning shock’. This refers to experiences of acute frustration, confusion and anxiety experienced by some students, who find themselves exposed to unfamiliar learning and teaching methods, bombarded by unexpected and disorienting cues, and subjected to ambiguous and conflicting expectations. The article examines the incidence of learning shock among a group of full-time students studying towards a Masters in Business Administration and aims to identify some of the causes of learning shock as well as some of its principal manifestations. It further examines some of the coping strategies used by these students and the relative effectiveness of such strategies. Our findings suggest that one of the foremost factors contributing to learning shock can be the experience of working and learning as part of a multi-cultural syndicate group, something that is a regular feature of MBA degrees. We examine some of the reasons why such syndicate groups can become dysfunctional to learning. The article concludes with some recommendations on the management of learning shock.

Key Words: coping • cross-cultural • culture shock • international students • syndicate learning

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