Human Resource Development Practices and Orthodoxies

• Author: John Dewar Wilson
• Published date: 01 December 2014
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21204
• Date: 01 December 2014

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY, vol. 25, no. 4, Winter 2014 © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) • DOI: 10.1002/hrdq.21204 493

MEDIA REVIEW

Human Resource Development Practices and Orthodoxies, edited by John

Walton and Claire Valentin. London, England: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. 330

pages, £29.99 (paperback), ISBN 978-0230-29227-7.

Human Resource Development Practices and Orthodoxies has an introduc-

tion, “Framing Contemporary HRD Practice and Theory” (16 pp.) and

13 chapters organized into four parts: 1. Formative Concepts; 2. Training

and Development Interventions: Individual Skills Development; 3. Career

Development Approaches; and 4. Team Development. The contents include

lists of fi gures and tables, bio-data, acknowledgments, abbreviations, and a

three-page double-column index. References and “Further Reading” com-

prise 41 of 330 pages. Of seven endorsements the most glowing refers to “a

treasure-trove of exquisite ideas … capable of unleashing the full potential of

professionals to open their minds further to the mysteries of human learn-

ing, development and performance within global contexts.” In fact, context is

almost exclusively Western, specifi cally United Kingdom/United States.

The editors aimed to “create a comprehensive, critical but accessible

examination of examples of HRD practice and theoretical insights which

should appeal to students, faculty and curious practitioners” (p. 2), and “serve

as a framework for [audiences] … looking to gain a deep insight into concepts

that in many instances have become taken for granted” (p. 2). They warn

that contributions “will not fi t easily within traditional practitioner discourse”

(p. 2): challenging conventional wisdom is necessary to develop expertise to

“work through ambiguous situations” (p. 2). Authors were invited to choose

a topic of research interest that had received “little sustained critique” (p. 2),

was “ready for an examination of both the arguments presented in their favor

and the judgments against them” (p. 2), and address eight questions: how the

term/concept has been defi ned/explained, its origin and history, how it had

been popularized or applied, what claims are made for it, legitimacy of criti-

cisms, and alternative ways of thinking about issues. As neither contributor

nor topic selection is justifi ed, this approach to identifying “four key areas of

HRD thinking and practice” (p. 2) is somewhat serendipitous, with inevitable

overlap between chapters. Editors give little information on interactions with

authors, though noting with surprise their varying interpretations of “criti-

cal review,” but they see two “broad and linked intellectual issues and infl u-

ences” (p. 3) infl uencing contributions: “defi nitions” and “constructivism.”

Some contributors provide defi nitions of HRD and the term/concept; others

“adopt a perspective in which they try to integrate ideas into a theoretical

framework” (p. 6). With regard to “constructivism,” which has “as many vari-

eties as … researchers” (p. 6) ... “often contradictory” (p. 6), editors note that