Chapter 8 The Relevance of Samhandling in Military Doctrines
Contributors: Torgersen, Glenn-Egil; Steiro, Trygve J.; Haugdal, Berit Kristin
Publisher: Cappelen Damm Akademisk/NOASP (Nordic Open Access Scholarly Publishing)
Published: 2018
Place of publication: Oslo
Number of pages: 26
Subjects: Warfare & defence; Society & social sciences; Civil defence
Description: "Military leaders are faced with high expectations when it comes to handling
unforeseen situations in joint military operations. This chapter aims to present
a nuanced professional and pedagogical discussion of how an increased awareness
of the concept of samhandling in the use of military doctrines may contribute to
the professionalization of military higher education. Different doctrines reflect different
theoretical decisions. They are given relevance in education as a way to illustrate
formal examples of what is preferred and what is rejected. As doctrines are
built on experiences from real-life scenarios, as well as on predictions and strategies
for possible change, they may serve as a way of balancing the branch-specific “hidden
curriculum”, i.e. an established culture with a set of current values, behavior and
thinking that have been developed over time in the organization. The findings in
the current case study indicate that military doctrines are regarded as important in
leadership training at the Norwegian Military Academy, especially when it comes
to understanding and guiding samhandling in unforeseen and risk-oriented situations.
However, at the same time, the terms used to describe samhandling in military
doctrines found relevant in education at the Norwegian Military Academy are numerous,
vague and somewhat overlapping. It seems crucial to raise awareness of the
underlying processes and the relational ambition level that forms the basis of the chosen
term. It is advantageous to reach a collective understanding of the kind of skills
that need to be developed and trained. Another benefit of such analysis is to provide a
basis for clarified learning goals and practical scenario development through exercises
and other teaching plans in leadership education, as well as the evaluation of this,
both in terms of learning outcomes and education as a whole."
Notes: Open Access Unrestricted online access

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