Grasping the Nettle: Possibilities and Pitfalls of a Critical Management Pedagogy

The focus of the paper is a review of the more problematical aspects of introducing a critical perspective into the practice and content of management education. As an introduction, the author summarizes the arguments for critical reflection in the education of managers, the characteristics which distinguish it from ‘reflection’– the more familiar concept in the literature – and ‘critical thinking’. The ways that a critical perspective can be reflected in educational method as well as in the content of the curriculum are also elaborated before describing the problems and complications of implementing such an approach from accounts in the literature of adult and management education. The paper outlines the reasons why critical reflection might be resisted, the mental or social disruption which can result from its application and the implications of both for the practice of management teachers.