THE TEACHING—LEARNING PROCESS

“Can you enable people to learn as you train?” was the question I posed in Framers #16. “What do they already know?” was the question in #13. That’s because, as a trainer, you are in the teaching role and your objective is to enable people to learn. But here’s the problem: people are less likely to learn if you are telling, lecturing, or worse, preaching.

It is paradoxical. The less you give direct instruction, the more effectively you will be able to teach and participants will be able to learn. The more you give indirect instructions so that it doesn’t sound like “teaching,” the more effective you’ll be. Think about the great teachers you’ve had. I bet they did less “teaching” and much more questioning, piquing your curiosity, getting you fascinated with something, demonstrating a competency, etc. I bet that some of the worst teachers or trainers you’ve had have been those who did the most lecturing and telling.