Theorizing learning circles – a Nordic tradition revitalized in times of social innovation imperatives

ABSTRACT

Learning circles has a long tradition in the Nordic countries as a model for adult non-formal education, but has gained little scholarly attention and is thus sparsely theorised. The purpose of this article is to discuss the revitalisation of learning circles as highly relevant in times of what we term ‘social innovation imperatives’. To illustrate this, we report from two Nordic learning circles in which we were involved as evaluators. We provide an overview of the Nordic tradition of learning in ‘circles’ and draw on social innovation literatures to sketch a framework for theorising learning circles, comprising three aspects of the ‘social’ in social innovation: social ends, social means and capacity building. Despite the increasing popularity, there is still limited knowledge about social innovation in practice. The Nordic tradition of learning circles provides a practice-based reply to how social innovation can be facilitated, and vice versa; social innovation theory provides input for theorising learning circles. As such, this paper’s originality lies in allowing learning circles (as a practice) and social innovation (as the theory) to cross-pollinate.

KEYWORDS:

• Adult learning
• social innovation
• learning circles
• non-formal education
• co-creation

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the participants at the OLKC-conference 2022 for fruitful discussions and comments to earlier versions of the text.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Nordic Network for Adult Learning (NVL) is a network under the Nordic Board of Ministers https://nvl.org/om-nvl/in-english and the evaluation report from the two NVL-circles: https://nvl.org/Portals/0/DigArticle/15329/NVL_report_learning_circles_300118.pdf

2. The notion of the three e’s stems from conversations with Ulrik Brandi, PhD, associate professor, Aarhus University, Denmark.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marie Aakjaer

Marie Aakjaer is an associate professor at the Centre for Management and Organizing at University College Absalon, Denmark. Her research areas cover social innovation, learning and co-creation with a particular interest in the intersection of civil society and public-sector organizations. She has published in international journals including the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management and Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management.

Charlotte Wegener

Charlotte Wegener is an associate professor at the Department of Communication and Psychology, Aalborg University, Denmark. She researches social innovation in elderly care practices and education with a particular interest in learning across organizational and professional boundaries. One of her recent publications on social innovation is Wegener, Storm & Willumsen (2023). The nursing home as a hub: boundary work as a key to community health promotion. Health Promotion International, 38(2).