Most experienced trainers use some form of participative learning as part of their training events. They realise that learners need to be involved from the word ‘go’ and that the greater the involvement in the process, the deeper the learning.
Using experiential methods requires confidence, flexibility and experience on the part of the trainer
“Tell me, and I will forget.
Show me, and I may remember.
Involve me, and I will understand. “ - Confucius, 450 B.C.
This quotation was possibly an early forerunner of experiential learning!
Experiential learning can be viewed as a cycle through whose stages a learner has to pass for learning to be effective. Here is the 5-stage version made popular by Pfeiffer and Jones in 1975:
All the above stages are an essential part of the learning process. Think of the training courses you have been on. Which have been the most useful to you? Probably those in which you had to actively think about how you were going to apply your learning in the workplace after the course had ended.
It is fine to have an active, engaging learning experience, but it is fundamental to find a way of transferring that learning back to work; keep in mind how you will debrief the exercise and how participants will answer the question “How can you apply this in the workplace?”
Whatever exercise you choose must be in line with your overall training objectives. Do not just choose something because it is the ‘latest’ thing or because you think it will fill in an hour of your training event!
Be clear about your objectives for the exercise. What shifts in understanding/perception do you want trainees to make by the end of the exercise and how will you measure what has taken place?
Carefully plan the timing and execution of the exercise, including the debriefing session.
Trainers put a great deal of energy into choosing the right exercise but often forget to allow sufficient time for debriefing. In fact the debrief is the most important part of the exercise because it is here that the trainees can analyse and process the experience and consider how they may apply their learning to their working environment.
Effective debriefing should include an opportunity:
Make sure you allow enough time to sufficiently debrief each exercise. Debriefing is not something to be done only ‘if you have time left over at the end’!
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