Guide on training methodology for EBMOs - Part1

References

https://teaching.berkeley.edu/resources/learn/what-learning

Tokuhama-Espinosa, Tracey (2011). Mind, Brain, and Education Science: A Comprehensive Guide to the New Brain-Based Teaching. New York: W. W. Norton.

University of California Irvine’s Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School the University of Michigan’s Biopsychology Program

Learning is a process that:

1. is active—it engages and manipulates concepts, experiences, and conversations in order to build mental models of the world. Learners build knowledge as they explore their world, engage with others, and connect new ideas with old understanding.
2. builds on prior knowledge—and enriches, builds on, and changes existing understanding.
3. occurs in a complex social environment—learning is a social activity involving people, their practices and experiences, their social context, and the actions they take (and that knowledge is built by members in the activity).
4. is situated in an authentic context—learning takes place when learners have the opportunity to engage with specific ideas and concepts on a need-to-know or how-to basis.
5. requires learners’ motivation and cognitive engagement to be sustained when learning complex ideas, because considerable mental effort and persistence are necessary.

When we think of learning we focus only on what happens in classrooms, but learning is pervasive. It takes place in our life every day. We engage in the social and active process of learning and that results in a change—whether in knowledge, attitude, or behavior—that affects our way of seeing, understanding, and relating to the world. And this influences how we learn in educational settings.

We are indeed naturally good at learning. In the past two decades, neuroscience research has shown that learning is not just something our brain is capable of doing and doing well, but that learning is actually, and precisely, what the brain does. 

For many years, scientists believed the brain was a rigidly wired machine meant to process, store, and retrieve information. They believed the brain would not change after childhood and that it would slowly decay with aging. 

We could not have been more mistaken. Our brain physically changes its own structure and function through life-long learning and new experiences. This ability is called neuroplasticity.

Learning is a physically dynamic process in which new knowledge is represented by new brain cell connections and the reinforcement of neuronal paths and networks. Learning occurs because neuronal pathways get created, reinforced, or discarded according to our experiences. The architecture of a brain not only differs from one person to another, but also changes throughout the course of an individual’s life: the brain literally reorganizes how it is wired in response to learning. 

Because we know more about the brain and about learning than ever before, it is vital that training and development professionals harness and apply the new insights and knowledge for successful learning experiences. To do so, they must plan, create, and implement learning methods based on how the brain naturally learns.

• The most effective learning takes place when multiple regions of the brain—particularly those associated with memory, senses, emotions, and executive functioning—are recruited for the learning tasks.
• A genuine and social space must be provided for learners so they may repeatedly practice an activity or access a memory. The neural networks will shape themselves accordingly.
• Providers must ensure that learning engages all the senses and taps the emotional side of the brain. Emphasis on rational and logical cognition alone does not produce powerful memories.
• Humans are naturally curious and our brains are programmed to pay special attention to any experience that is novel or unusual.
• Past memories can be an impediment to future learning if they contradict previous understandings.

Reference

Malcolm Knowles in 1968, Adult Learning Theory

In the 1970s, Malcolm Knowles developed the Andragogy theory to describe the characteristic differences of adult learners from child learners. Today, to differentiate adult learning from pedagogy (how children learn) seems somehow artificial. It is more relevant to think of learning as a continuum in which the principles of andragogy can be applied equally throughout life, but with different emphases and strategies at different times.

Nevertheless, what are these principles and how can they guide our work to provide meaningful learning experiences to adult learners?

1.Adult Learners and Sense of Self 

2.The role of past experiences in Adult Learning

3.Readiness to Learn

4.Orientation of Learning

5.Motivation to Learn

References

Giannoukos G, Besas G, Galiropoulos Ch, Hioctour V. (2015). The Role of the Educator in Adult Education. Journal of Education and Learning. Vol. 9(3) pp. 237- 240. The Role of the Educator in Adult Education

Knowles, Holton and Swanson 

Jack Mezirow

In the past decade, we have gained insight into what learning is, and when and how it occurs, but to apply those insights into trainings will first require that educators and learners change their perceptions of their roles.

The learner's role is not only to receive knowledge, but also to search, challenge, and construct knowledge. The goal of teachers and trainers in adult education is not only to present knowledge, but also to facilitate, to interpret, and to design learning experiences.

To provide meaningful and successful learning experiences we must stop looking exclusively at the quality of knowledge presented and start including the quality of the learning process designed. We must concern ourselves not only with our expertise in a specific subject, but also with our competency in planning, designing, and delivering learning processes.

Trainers must consider their own values as well as those of their students and of other stakeholders. Only then can they assess how to best support learners in the learning process. Trainers must be able to make informed decisions about best practices so as to achieve the outcomes that were set with and for learners.

By designing and coordinating the learning environment and process, the trainer creates proper learning conditions, he/she/they recognizes the individual’s abilities and leverages on the adult learners’ experiences, reinforcing a self-directed learning approach.

The role of the trainer is to create a space where learners can engage and interact with updated, contextualized and relevant information, with their peers, and with educational materials. Through this guided active engagement, the learners construct knowledge and meaning.

Trainers must set appropriate learning outcomes for each learning experience. They are in charge of monitoring the impact of their practices over time, evaluating the results, and responding flexibly when necessary.

Reference

12 Strategies for High-Impact Corporate Training by Dan Rust, Published May 20, 2013, http://www.frontlinelearning.com/2013/05/20/12-strategies-for-high-impact-corporate-training/

For training providers, it is key to continually refine and improve content and methods, looking for opportunities to improve learner fulfilment and, consequentially, the courses’ impact. 

We need to brand the quality learning we offer. We need to highlight to organizations and trainees the importance of investing in learning as the most effective way to enhance performance and to contribute to organizational success. And finally, we must achieve what we promised.

We must make sure that the learning takes place in the most supportive environment, that new competences and knowledge are acquired, and that learners are actually able to apply them in their daily work.

We already know that adult learners are more inclined to learn when they perceive new concepts, skills, and competences as relevant and applicable in real-world situations. We also know adults are the most interested and engaged when tasks require problem-solving.

For training providers, this implies the need for strategic reflection over the content presented and the learning process designed. To have meaningful and impactful learning, we need to incorporate a participatory approach, provide exercises and practical simulations of skills and concepts, as well as detailed examples of specific application in the learner’s work environment.

If we wish to create significant change in skills, attitudes, and competences, then we need to: assess the learning needs of our trainees; adapt and tailor the content; provide relevant sources and materials; and allow the learners to explore firsthand.  

Furthermore, new skills and knowledge will erode if not applied. It is crucial to design a learning process that fosters the maintenance of the newly acquired competences after training completion. Blended learning and follow-up tasks ensure that what has been learned is transferred into the learners’ lives.

Quality learning and happy trainees are the product of dedicated trainers that keep up with the rapidly changing and developing learning sector. We know more today than we did yesterday, and we will know even more tomorrow. This knowledge is a door to incredible opportunities to refine and to create better learning experiences capable of greater impact.

As discussed in the previous chapter, learning is an active process that occurs in a complex, social environment and is situated in an authentic context, builds on our prior knowledge and requires our motivation and engagement. It is linked to and influenced by many factors and processes, some of which are discussed further on along with their implications for trainings and trainers. 

1. Attention
2. Memory
3. Our senses 
4. Exploration
5. The process of constructing knowledge
6. Variation in learning 
7. The social aspect of learning
8. The emotional component of learning

References

PRIA International Academy, Initiative in Education and Life-long Learning, https://pria-academy.org/

A Manual for Participatory Training Methodology in Development, Published by the Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), New Delhi, August 1998

Corporate and professional environments, and indeed, the entire world around us, are dynamic, engaging, and full of information. People do not need to come to trainings in order to receive information. They can find it online, through their peers, or through research, information is everywhere. The trainer as a source of information is an obsolete perception. People come to trainings to understand what to do with the information and how to apply it, and to increase effectiveness, performance, and motivation. And this is also why labor organizations pay for their employee’s training. To a certain extent, trainings then are not about knowing more, but about applying knowledge, developing skills, and behaving differently (we will elaborate more on this idea in the section on learning objectives and training design).

In this context, the participatory approach in training refers to a view of training processes as active and engaging learning processes, in which participants are partners of the trainer in the journey to build a meaningful learning experience. It was born as an alternative approach to the conventional perspective on training which is the “classic” frontal approach in which the trainer is a source of information and the learner is a passive receptor of that information. 

The table below compares the main differences between the conventional and alternative approaches to training (detailed in the “Key elements of the participatory approach” section”):

Reference

Lammerink & Bolt, 2002, via A Manual for Participatory Training Methodology in Development, Published by the Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), New Delhi, August 1998 https://pria-academy.org/pdf/ptm/PTM_Unit-1_Course%20Content.pdf

Firstly, the participatory approach in training works because it has a scientific background. Neuro-psychological studies and the contemporary learning theories sustain the idea that people pay more attention to and retain more of the information that is introduced in engaging ways, that learning is a process that happens when individuals are involved in constructing meaning and when they are individually and socially engaged in the learning process.

Secondly, the participatory approach in training works because the trainings in question are part of life-long learning processes that involve adults, where learning processes are allowed and valued. As you can see in the section on “Adult Learning”, adults continue to learn outside of the formal education system and learning in the workplace is a crucial element in their professional path. They need to constantly learn in order to keep up with the professional requirements and changes in the workplace. Thus, they will actually learn only what is relevant to them and when it is relevant to them, in an autonomous and self-directed manner, and based on their previous knowledge and experience.

Thirdly, it works because it is focused on aspects that are relevant in the private sector: initiative, responsibility and autonomy of the employee, enhancement of performance by changing behavior, and skill building. Companies need to make sure that their employees come out of the training ready to face “real world” situations, to apply knowledge and skills, and to have the right attitude to implement the changes needed. The participatory approach to training creates the premises for participants to reach these learning outcomes. 

Last but not least, the participatory approach to training works because it is not just a set of participative methods and techniques that trainers use, it is a way of looking at, planning implementing, and evaluating training programs. It works when training stakeholders fully embrace its main principles and look at the trainings they design and implement as a learner-centered process facilitated by the trainer. 

Reference

Active and Participatory Teaching Methods, Nicoleta Ramona Ciobanu, European Journal of Education, ISSN 2601-8624 (online), May-August 2018 Volume 1, Issue 2

By active-participatory methods, we understand all the situations in which learners and their experiences are active subjects placed at the center of the learning process. Modern participatory training methods are a system of procedures, actions and operations, structured in a flow of correlated activities, which allow us to achieve the set learning objectives through an efficient and meaningful learning process. 

These methods concern not only the trainer but also the learner, who becomes the main beneficiary of his/her/their own discovery activity, acquired knowledge and skills, and ability to make transfers between different categories of knowledge or from theory to practice and vice versa. 

Participatory methods are indeed more challenging for the trainer than a classical frontal lesson. They require preparation, design effort, tailored material, different alternatives to approach the content, flexibility in response to the learners’ needs and the facilitation of individual and group dynamics.

When speaking about participatory methods and experiential learning, we often hear a skeptical comment which sounds more or less like this: “these methods can be used only with specific content, or soft skills. They cannot be used for more technical content such as…”. 

Suddenly, we all feel the temptation to make the ellipsis be followed by our specific expertise or subject. It is indeed hard for us to rethink how to train people in a different way from how we were trained. It is very challenging to reimagine how a knowledge or competence could be learned and developed apart from how we learned and acquired it. And oftentimes, we did not have the opportunity to do so in a participatory or experiential way.

Nevertheless, it is time to bust this myth. A participatory approach and participatory methods can be used with any content, in different ways. It is possible and we should focus on how to do so.

Translating content into participatory methods and interactive approaches is something we need to practice. Integrating such methods can be a gradual path, taken one step at a time. Starting from the integration of questions and discussions, through case studies and group work, simulation and roleplay, we will look in detail on possible ways and methods to do so.