Tips for designing a learning programme
A.k.a Should we all start learning like children?
I have been reading ‘How Children Learn’ by John Holt. It was first published in 1967, so nothing particularly new there. But I was struck while reading, by the parallels between children’s natural learning style and adult learning in emerging environments.
Some of us may be working on emergent projects, or in evolving fields or professions. All of us are working in an ever changing world where technical advances, market volatility or geo-political changes mean that we regularly need to learn and adapt to thrive.
The following points might be useful to anyone designing learning experiences for others. And to anyone wanting to more consciously shape their own learning.
Psst! If you are interested in hearing more about learning experience design — join the next LXD meet up.
1. Trust the learners
Too often in learning situations (particularly in large organisations and schools) there is an overly paternal or hierarchical approach. Learners are seen as amateurs who cannot be trusted, and teachers are the gatekeepers determining access to certain bits of knowledge or skills. But most of the time, people respond to be trusted, by being trustworthy.
Holt notes that “children who were used to being tightly controlled in class would not know what to do with free time if they had it and would abuse it.” The solution is to slowly increase the amount of free time, as the children gradually find more interesting ways to use it. The parallel I think is finding ways to design a learning structure that offers direction and accountability, but allows for more self-directed learning time, or a more equal dialogue between learners and teachers (see point 8).
The ideal being if “we can break out of the lockstep and make the classroom [workplace] a place where more and more independent study, thinking and talking can go on.”
2. Make the experiences vivid and pleasurable
Ok — maybe all learning isn’t a walk in the park. And there is often an inherent challenge in acquiring new knowledge and skills. But as Holt points out “vivid, vital, pleasurable experiences are the easiest to remember. And memory works best when unforced.” So if you are designing a learning experience, maybe a field trip, a hands-on workshop, a learning supper or another (potentially surprising and enjoyable) practical activity might prove to be most effective.
3. Don’t pack all the learning into a single instance
A couple of good reasons to spread learning experiences out over time — firstly to give people the best chance at being in the right mood and headspace, secondly to give space for natural fluctuations of speed and process in the learning journey.
“How much people learn at any moment depends on how they feel at that moment, about the task and their ability to do the task.”
When learning, people can make great leaps forward into new territory, then need to retreat back into what is more known and more secure. “We can’t predict these rhythms of advance and retreat, exploration and consolidation.”
Spacing out multiple learning experiences over time is also particularly relevant for adults, if you are expecting them to ‘unlearn’ any current mental models or ways of doing things, before learning new ones. Or if they are situated in a wider system that is resistant to change.
4. Hear the faint signal through the noise
Children play and explore, so “along with all the useful data, they collect an enormous quantity of random data”. Most adult learning experiences tend to remove what might seem like irrelevant data, in order to focus and be efficient. In contrast, children try all sorts of things, and get answers out of the noise. If you are working and learning in an entirely emergent way then the following description of a child’s process sounds like a plausible framework: Produce the maximum data possible > begin to notice regularities and patterns > then ask questions and make deliberate experiments to test your hunches.
5. Give people the space to correct themselves
The process children use is called ‘successive approximations’ where learners do something, compare it to the goal, spot any differences and then try and reduce those differences. In order for this to work a learner needs more experienced peers, or examples of good practice to model. Being immediately corrected, particularly in a group context, can create anxiety and reduce confidence. [Having said that, I do think there is a place for immediate feedback in adult learning, but in a constructive, respectful and empathetic manner. And probably not on everything!]
6. Create opportunities for peer learning
‘Competency models’ are the more experienced people or good practice projects learners aspire to learn from, mentioned in the point above about self correcting. If the model is *too* competent or expert, the gap can be too large, and the learner can find the process of catching up humiliating or stressful. In contrast, closer peers make good competency models, “because they are more within reach.” [This relates also to the idea of the ‘adjacent possible’ — situations, ideas or experiences that open up the next possible future.]
7. Cultivate curiosity
“Start with something worth doing, and then motivated by a strong desire to do it, get whatever skills are needed.” We all know what it’s like trying to get through a chore we don’t want to do. In contrast, in the context of a larger ambition or goal, otherwise difficult tasks can be tolerated more easily as part of the wider process. If people are drawn forward by their own curiosity and motivation, they will be more likely to want to learn all of the things that will get them where they want to go.
“One of the most important things teachers can do for any learner is to make the learner less and less dependent on them.”
8. Treat learners and teachers with equal respect
Everyone has something to learn, and everyone has something to teach. One person may have more knowledge or experience than the other in a certain situation or subject, but teacher and learner “are equals first, because they work together as colleagues”.
I would caveat the tips above with a few points:
Children are largely building new knowledge as they go. Adults have an ingrained set of existing behaviours and relationships. So there might be just as much ‘unlearning’ necessary in the adult learning context.
Children are not yet entirely responsible for others. In a lot of situations with adult learning there are more serious real world consequences to any mistakes. So there is a place for self-directed learning, and there is a place for formal training and assessment. One doesn’t not replace the other, but it creates an alternative for a suitable situation.
Children are learning how to manage themselves. Adults are largely able to self-manage to a greater degree, but we are all still human and subject to the impact of mood, context, social cues, health and other daily occurances.
If you are interested in hearing more about learning experience design — join the next LXD meet up.
