In previous
papers and blogs, I have banged on a bit about the difference between the
acquisition of competences (knowledge and skills) and what, for the want of a
better term just yet, real learning. Competencies are essential for being able
to function but may or may not be applied, synthesised into our repertoire of
cognitive and emotional functioning. Real learning involves this synthesis and
results in change. Learning involves understanding the world in different ways,
in being able to apply competencies in novel circumstances rather than just the
familiar, and there are behavioural consequences. Learning is a dynamic process
and more than the sum of its parts.
On the face
of it this may seem inconsequential, perhaps, but in my world it is a serious
distinction. Most of my work with organisations and individuals (as a coach or
therapist) involves the need for change. As you would know changing behaviour,
ingrained habits, is no easy task for a whole host of reasons, which I can go
into another time. At the heart of change is real learning, it is beyond knowledge
and skills.
Didactic,
teacher-centric approaches, just don’t cut the mustard when it comes to change
and real learning. Again, I won’t go into the details because the evidence is
overwhelming that didactic teaching does not lead to learning except in rare
circumstances-certainly if it is the main modus operandi. I need to reassure you that this approach is
alive and well in training rooms and in educational institutions around this
vast globe of ours.
Enter stage
left, self-determined learning or heutagogy. Competencies, knowledge and skills
are important, it is the content that provides a basis for action. But the
learning for action involves a more complex process.
Based as it
is on the idea of human agency, the approach to change has to be learner
focused, problem focused, intent on the questions that the learner has and
subsequently develops. Coupled with a search conference approach my change
designs collect information about the needs of the learner first. Then the
workshop is shaped around a conversation, a dialogue. The sand continually
shifts as the learner learns, is baffled, fails and finds themselves. This is a
flexible adaptable curriculum.
But the
baby doesn’t go out with the bathwater. Resources are provided either directly
or through links to the Internet. Content and skills come up, and I have a
clear list in my mind of what is essential and I build it in as we go. As one
participant said to me in a workshop, ‘You said you don’t have an agenda, but
you do because we covered all the competencies by the end even though we
meandered everywhere today’.
And there
is a list for the learner too, so they understand what competencies are
required. But like all learning experiences there are always content and skill
gaps that the learner fills for themselves in the face of need. The key is to
ensure the inquiring mind is able to find what it needs. Most learning occurs later,
outside the formal training/education experience.
This is no
approach for the faint hearted. You need to know your stuff and need to be able
to facilitate. There is no Powerpoint to use as a cheat sheet and no program times
except for morning tea and lunch. You need to be able to work in an ambiguous environment
that the ‘classroom’ becomes. Control shifts to the learner and to change rather
than revolving around the myth that if I tell somebody something then they will
do it or be able to do it.
These are dynamic
experiences and great fun. You can go to http://bibblio.org/u/The%20Heutagogy%20Collection/collections
to see what heutagogy or self-determined learning is all about or to http://heutagogycop.wordpress.com
and look at the blogs about heutagogy. Or just check it out by searching on
heutagogy in your browser.
Or we can
run a workshop for you on how to design exciting and real learning experiences
for change at stewarthase.com.au
