Learning Styles

We are often asked, "how do you include adult learning styles into your training development." The theory that many of our learners have is that there are a set of prescribed styles that learners naturally fall into and that by knowing the styles and knowing the styles that most of our learners conform to, we can make our training more effective. For example, many people enjoy hands-on training more than computer-based training and there is a perception that our users are more apt to learn via hands-on training so it is, therefore, more effective. 

In reality, there is more to it than that. 

Hands-on training usually has far fewer students than larger training, so the instructor can devote more time to the instruction and to each student. 

Hands-on training stimulates more long term memory development because it usually engages more memory-making neurons in the brain. Sensorimotor neurons, place cells, boundary cells, are all being used. 

It's not just that some people learn better with hands-on training, its that hands-on training is more effective so people tend to remember it more. Most of our clients have seen learning styles mapped out as shown in the image above, the Felder Silverman Model of learning styles. It's easy to remember and digest and seems to conform to what they know about learning.

In 1979 Gregorc stated that "Learning style consists of distinctive behaviors which serve as indicators of how a person learns from and adapts to his environment." These four domains include the cognitive domain, the affective domain, the psychomotor domain, and the physiological domain. The cognitive domain is the acquisition of knowledge and the ability to recall the knowledge for application. The affective domain addresses how learners receive respond to and internalize stimulus emotionally. The psychomotor domain explains how physical activity provides a way to gain knowledge and skills. Finally, the physiological domain addresses how a learner's environment and the many elements thereof impacts learning. 

Gregorc continues in his discussion of learning styles by breaking the learners' preferences and dislikes when it comes to learning. A Concrete Sequential (CS) learner can be summed up as a realist. They view reality through the concrete world of the physical senses and prefer sequential steps to arrive at solutions to problems. Their thinking processes are very methodical and result in solutions that have been validated by personal proof or subject experts. Slightly resistive to change, the CS learner performs best in a learning environment that is ordered and stable.

The Abstract Sequential (AS) learner thinks in a logical and rational manner much like the CS learner does. However, the AS learner better associates abstract information that corresponds to concrete reality than the CS learner does. The AS learner is a logical thinker who requires a stimulating learning environment that is free of authoritative features that would restrict their freedom to learn.

The Abstract Random (AR) learner views the world primarily through their sense of feelings and emotions. These feelings and emotions drive their approach to change and often determine their level of interest in a topic or learning situation. AR learners live for today and often possess a colorful personality. They also place a great amount of emphasis on relationships

The Concrete Random (CR) learner lives in a world that is influenced by the physical world and their sense of intuition. The physical world often serves as a starting point for their learning. Once started, CR learners will then rely on their intuition to guide their learning. CR persons are intuitive and independent learners. They learn best in a learning environment that has a high amount of stimulus and is free from learning restrictions. 

The more I work in this field and learn about adult learning, the more I realize that the Felder Silverman Model is too simple and does not tell the entire story. The Kolb learning styles theory takes the Felder Silverman model to a deeper level. Kolb describes learning as a four-step process that includes concrete experience (CE), reflective observations (RO), abstract conceptualization (AC), and active experimentation (AE). This shows that learning is a process that takes all four steps for the learner to engage the content and use it effectively. The idea of "hands-on" training in this model is seen as a part of the process of learning rather than a single means to an end. 

Kolb and DiSC

Wading into the Kolb Learning Styles Inventory,  I was excited to find out where I landed. When reading about Transformative Learning experiences in our textbook the other day I thought about moments in my life that might have met that threshold of the books cited definition from Mezirow, "Transformative learning is essentially a learning process of making meaning of one's experience," or "an enhanced level of awareness of the context of one's beliefs and feeling, a critique of their assumptions and particularly premises, an assessment of alternative perspectives . . ."

With this in mind, one moment stood out. Years ago, during a contentious merger of two large, rival companies, our executive leadership staff was tasked with performing a DiSC personality review as a group.  There was no greater transformative learning moment for me in my business life then when I found out I was an S in the DiSC personality assessment and that my nemesis Bob, was a D. There it was in black in white that we were opposites in what we were looking for from life, how we wanted to work, how we wanted to interact, and what techniques worked best to communicate with one another. We continue to use DiSC personality assessments in our Leadership Training in my new company as well as Myers-Briggs. I understand and have read numerous articles like Ron Soak's A warning against using DiSC/Myers-Briggs profiling in the workplace from Medium magazine where he states "And it’s this absence of any scientific credibility that should really be the biggest red flag that gets you to seriously question the likes of DiSC, Myers-Briggs." Perhaps I'm the type of learner who needs to be pigeonholed or and categorized first before I can build more. Despite the warnings about it's ability to profile, Bob and I did communicate more effectively following that exercise.

For a while, I worked with a major upstream oil field development organization on the West Coast that had bought into the idea of these personality assessments that all field and office employees had to take them, then wear a badge that told others what their assessments were. The intent was that just by approaching and reading the badge the employees could better able to communicate with one another. My subjective interviews of whether or not the system provided for better communication found that the employees did not think it helped much.

Was it merely knowing my personality and Bob's that helped during our merger misunderstandings? Was that the transformative experience. No. It was the experience of working through the characteristics of the different personalities with the group and hearing from Bob what exactly makes him tick that made the experience memorable and transformative. It wasn't just the knowledge that made the learning meaningful but the experience that led to the use of the knowledge. Regretfully, mine and Bob's working relationship wouldn't be healed by the understanding of our DiSC personalities alone, but it certainly made things more bearable while we did work together. I now enjoy seeing and creating those same moments of learning and experiences whenever we use these personality tests in our leadership training and always provide the same caveats to the trainees about the ultimately imprecise nature of the exercise.

Because of this experience, I found myself eager to determine just what type of learning style fit me.   Turns out I am a Diverging learning style and have a personality that balances along two or more learning styles. Secondly, as I read the characteristics of this style, much like reading my horoscope, I found my self agreeing with the characteristics that define me. Although I know this is not definitive nor might it help me in a conclusive or decisive way, in nonetheless reminded me of Bob and my DiSC experience and how much easier my life became once I was able to put him and myself into the correct category.  Fun, certainly. Intriguing and possibly helpful, hardly. Definitive, not at all.

Facilitation Training as a Transformative Learning Experience

Although I have been training for many years, my formal introduction to leading a training team in the corporate world was as a part of a billing improvement project we called Accurate and Timely Billing (ATB). As a Senior Division Business Analyst with PSC, I delivered a unique training to a wide range of employees at approximately 20 locations nationwide to a total population of about 250 employees, approximately 10% of the total employee base at the time. The intent of the training was to ease the challenges and difficulties the organization was experiencing in billing customers for services. At the time we started the training our days sales outstanding (DSO) or the amount of time it took to bill a customer and receive payment was over 70 days. This is the amount of time on average it took our company to receive payment for work we had performed and already paid our employees for. 

Our team started by documenting the entire quote-to-bill process and designed a training that would incorporate every employee who touched the process either directly or indirectly. To deliver the training we brought together employees from the Sales Department, Account Managers, Time-Keepers, Location's and Operation's Managers, and Billers and Billing Managers from each branch and within each region. Commonly each functional group only trained within their groups, this was the first time the organization had supported cross-functional training of this type. 

The training would not have been successful without a class that I attended on how to facilitate. Up to that point, most of the training I had provided both with PSC or with other companies had included primarily hands-on training, drilling, experiential learning, and reviews of standard operating procedures via PowerPoint in a lecturer to audience format. This is indicative of Pratt's transmission perspective in many ways (Pratt, 2016). The audience listened passively while I taught each module and pointed out aspects of the training and asked them to follow along. Prior to the launch of ATB my team and I were encouraged to take a class on facilitation by a training organization. It was this class that provided a transformative learning experience. 

The Transformative Learning Theory, introduced by Jack Mesirow is the process of changing and self-reflection and how the changer reacts to and thinks about his beliefs, experiences, and actions. "Transformative learning is essentially a learning process of making meaning of one's experience" (Merriam & Bierema, 2017, p. 84) or as Apte writes "transformative learning involves change in the frames of reference that we use to make sense in our lives" (2009, p. 170).  The first in the ten phases that provide the framework for a transformative learning experience is a disorienting dilemma. In the case of my ATB facilitation project, the disorienting dilemma that led to a transformative experience was the realization of the change in my position from primary trainer to training group leader. This was the first project I had led of this scale with a team of instructors, and I was seen as the team leader, not because of my familiarity with the subject matter, nor with my expertise in any of the four different phases of the process. Instead, I became the project leader as I was the one person in the team who was being held accountable for the overall success and because all of the other trainers on the team had specific expertise within only one of the four phases we were training. 

The disorienting dilemma came about in that I had always relied on the transmission perceptive as the primary belief in training delivery if only because no other perceptive seemed scalable, as easy to convey large amounts of information to large classes, and could breakdown the material quickly and easily into several parts. Secondarily, I had not been introduced nor was I aware of other forms of training styles, beliefs, or perceptions, so chose this style as it was what had been taught to me in previous roles. Prior to ATB, I had been a software and application trainer. "Click here, now click here and enter the amount of your potential sale, now click save." this lecture and drill style of training with a PowerPoint is the essence of a transmission perspective. (Pratt, 1998, pp. 234-235). As referenced by Pratt and Collins in The Teaching Perspective Inventory (TPI), most of what I trained included a "relatively well-defined and stable body of knowledge" (2000, p. 3). In all of these previous training projects, I had worked alone and provided the information to a class in a succinct, no-nonsense manner. I was the master of that information and they were the students there to learn exactly what to do. Additionally, there were no other instructors, nor were there other departments to consider. 

With ATB, I was a part of a team, I was the leader of a team of instructors, the trainees were from several different departments, and I did not know the information as well as I had in previous training events. Secondly, the information we were providing did not only focus on process and procedure but went beyond that dimension to include how an individual's actions would affect others in the process, an awareness that the process was built of many individuals all acting together. As a team of instructors, we were forced to provide some of our information using the developmental perspective, where we asked the trainees to understand how the information pertained to them and how the content mattered in their world. This led directly to a disorienting dilemma. 

As Mezirow states, "A third way we learn is to transform our point of view. We can have an experience in another culture that results in our critically reflecting on our misconceptions of this particular group. The result may be a change in point of view toward the group involved. As a result, we may become more tolerant or more accepting of members of that group" (Mezirow, 1997, p 7). By working with SME's from sales, operations, billing, finance, and accounting, and by having to become the leader of our training team I was forcing myself to change my point of view about these departments and their importance in the process as well as change my perception and beliefs on training and teaching.

Looking at the other nine of the 10 phases of Mezirow's transformational Learning, I see where each of the phases became present either immediately or overtime in our ATB training, among the more distinct would be the "critical assessment of epistemic, sociocultural, or psychic assumptions" (Harbecke, 2012) and the final step of "reintegrating the new perspective into one's life" (Merriam p. 85). In terms of the assessment phase, this became evident as our facilitation trainers showed the ATB trainers tips and tricks to use that would lead our classes to understand the learning objectives themselves without our having to blatantly tell them the answers. "To promote discovery learning, the educator often reframes learner questions in terms of the learner’s current level of understanding. Learning contracts, group projects, role play, case studies, and simulations are classroom methods associated with a transformative education. The key idea is to help the learners actively engage the concepts presented in the context of their own lives and collectively critically assess the justification of new knowledge" (Mezirow, 1997, p10). Not only were we trained to use tools to help develop the class's thoughts and perceptions, but we role-played so that we as instructors experienced the same epiphanies regarding the billing process we were hoping to foster in our classes. As trainers, we used these tools and techniques when delivering the training across all of our branches throughout the following months. 

The last phase, using the new perspective in my life, is the clearest to see in that not only did we use the tools and techniques of training we learned in the facilitation training in our own facilitation of the ATB course, but I have continued to use these tools and techniques throughout my training ever since. Our team learned from this experience that breaking down internal roles and providing training across different departments not only sped up the delivery of training but would help the trainees understand challenges that others in the process. 

The results of this six-month project in blended training was a distinct and immediate drop in the DSO of almost six days. For a company that made one million dollars a day, this meant a savings of almost six million dollars attributed to our work in bringing groups together in a comprehensive training. For the learners, the experience left them with a better understanding and appreciation of the challenges faced by other members of the team who might work up or downstream of their processes. The training would not have been as effective without this blended approach combined with facilitation. The training would also not have been as potent without the facilitation training that I and the other trainers had to take. It led no just to a transformative experience for us in the short-term, but in the long-term, I have taken the tools and techniques I learned in the training along with me into other areas of my training and teaching career. Helping to develop new perspectives, understanding and acknowledging the learners current and changing positions, utilizing the learner's diverse perspectives to help develop their perceptions and helping learners understand and adopt the change are all a part of Apte's framework for facilitating transformative learning (Apte, 2009) and are among the tools and techniques I have taken from our ATB experience.

Apte, J. (2009). Facilitating Transformative Learning: A Framework for Practice. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 49(1). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ864437.pdf

Harbecke, D. (2012). Following Mezirow: A Roadmap Through Transformative Learning. RU Training @ Roosevelt University in Chicago. https://rutraining.org/2012/10/08/following-mezirow-a-roadmap-through-transformative-learning/

Learning Theories. (2020). Transformative Learning Theory (Mezirow). https://www.learning-theories.com/transformative-learning-theory-mezirow.html

Merriam, S. B., & Bierema, L. L. (2014). Adult Learning: Linking Theory and Practice. Jossey-Bass.

Mezirow, J (1997). Transformative Learning: Theory to Practice. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, no. 74, Jossey-Bass.

Pratt, D. D. (1998). Five Perspectives on Teaching in Adult and Higher Education. Krieger.

Pratt, Daniel D. & Collins, John B. (2000). The Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI). Adult Education Research Conference. https://newprairiepress.org/aerc/2000/papers/68

Adult Learning Techniques in HASC’s Safety Essentials Course

I wrote this little draft of a white paper (still have work to do on it) but once I'm done I doubt I'll feel comfy publishing it here, so I'll just post the draft. 

The Health and Safety Council (HASC) recognizes the challenges industry faces to develop a safe and well-trained workforce. With over 30 years of excellence in building safe workplaces, HASC is proud to bring Safety Essentials to industry. HASC developed Safety Essentials using the R4 Learner Retention Model which focuses on Relevance, Rigor, Reinforcement, and Reflection. 

Safety Essentials utilizes several advanced adult learning theories to ensure the learner is challenged and engaged but also leaves with the knowledge needed to safely perform work. Additionally, Safety Essentials was tailored to reach every learner at every level. To do this Safety Essentials utilizes explainer videos, analogies, interactions, continuous testing, and engaging content so that the information can be easily remembered and put to use by the learner at the jobsite.

Using Analogies for Scaffolding

Using Analogies to help learners process new information and understand complex procedures is a well-established concept. Constructivist learning theory, which is linked to many adult learning theorists including developmental psychologist Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, is the idea that “learning is the process of constructing new knowledge on the foundations of existing knowledge.”  Building on this foundational andragogic theory, analogical scaffolding is the idea of using analogies to help learners understand new concepts by using information they already know. 

Taking a simple and familiar concept and expanding on it to help learners understand far more complex processes has proven to make training more successful for the learners’ long-term memory development, engagement, and their conceptual understanding.  Studies of active learning strategies such as those by Gray and Holyoak writing for the Official Journal of the International Mind, Brain, and Education Society, have shown that “using a familiar real-world experience as a source analog may increase student motivation, as the analogy provides an example of the application and relevance” of the subject matter.   

Other benefits to the learner that come from using analogies include greater relaxation and acceptance of the material by the learner. Studies that have shown that “students visibly relaxed . . . as if they were listening to a story . . . (this) analogy served to scaffold complex content by bridging from the known to the unknown.  This ability to help learners understand the complex by using their own established history of understanding has proven to:

- Provide clearer understanding for the learner,

- Teaches concepts from multiple, more intimate, perspectives

- Uses learner’s real-world experience to heighten understanding,

- Attracts and keeps the learners’ interest,

- Enhances learner motivation, and 

- Improves creative thinking 

Explainer Videos and Animations

A second innovative technique that is included in HASC’s Safety Essentials course that helps learners remain engaged with the information being presented and form resilient, long-term memories is the use of digital storytelling through animations and explainer videos. There is a long, established, and proven history of the effectiveness of digital storytelling for learner understanding. 

Digital storytelling includes the use of long-form videos, movies, and documentaries to convey information, however, there is the opportunity to overwhelm the learner through cognitive overload, or the feeling that learners get of “drinking from a fire hose.” Explainer videos, and short animations by their nature, help to overcome this challenge. Explainer videos engage multiple senses for the learner, utilize animations, illustrations, graphics, photos, and scenes to convey course information, and are usually short, ie. only one to three minutes in length.  The Journal for Education and Learning performed a study on interactivity and presentation styles on learner knowledge transfer and cognitive activity that found that “the presentation factor is more important for learning success than the interaction factor and explainer videos perform significantly better than the PowerPoint presentation.”  

Studies such as those by the Computers and Education Journal have shown that “segmentation of animations, . . . presenting them in pieces rather than as a continuous stream of information, has been shown to have a beneficial (impact) on cognitive load and learning for novices.”  Long-form video content can have an adverse effect on learner retention and attention. Time needs to be provided to the learner after videos and animations to allow learners to reflect, process, and understand the new information that has just been presented. Safety Essentials has taken this into account through tailoring the animations and explainer videos to the learners’ advantage.

Finally, as the International Journal for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning found, “visual analogies have been effective at reducing anxiety and at helping students focus on learning. They also make “learning more fun, relevant, and meaningful.”  Both the use of analogies and the visual nature of the digital storytelling content in HASC’s Safety Essentials course help learners understand in a more relaxed, and confident manner. A qualitative study of students’ feelings and beliefs following courses that included these features found that “students believed interactive digital storytelling facilitated engagement, scaffolded their learning, and supported learning gains. Students believed interactive video helped hold their attention while presenting manageable chunks of content.” 

Overcoming Test Anxiety

Another challenge that many adult learners face is the anxiety and fear that come with testing. Test anxiety is a common difficulty with adult learners that can lead to negative results for the learners, failing courses and wasted time.   

Safety Essentials overcomes this challenge by providing cumulative testing throughout the course rather than one long exam at the end of the course. This type of testing allows test questions to act as knowledge checks and reinforcement exercises, as well as evaluation of understanding. Additionally, studies have shown that “when frequency of testing increases then there is an increase involving students, responding to questions, and discussing reading materials.”  The improvements in success for adult learners have not been insignificant and there is “evidence that frequent testing and repetition of tested items can improve course performance up to about 10%.” 

The benefits of providing testing throughout rather than a final exam can also be shown in the learners’ motivation and engagement. A study by the International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning found that “quizzing was associated with increases in both the number of student questions and comments made at the beginning of class and the number of students who reported that they came to class having read the assigned material. It was suggested that the immediate feedback provided by quizzes is particularly efficient in identifying areas of misunderstanding and in challenging students.” 

Conclusion

HASC has engineered Safety Essentials to be more effective, engaging, and meaningful for learners. The adult learning techniques that are integrated into Safety Essentials can ensure that learners are as safe as possible on the jobsite. 

Bells and Whistles Online

I had a great teacher the other day, Dr. Z. He was one of the better instructors I've had in an online class. I think that his practice and abilities at becoming a great online facilitator have been honed over those 15 years to a point he's a master at the forum. Of all my classes he has been the first to use Canvas and all of its tools to its maximum potential. 

As Cox states in our reading on Learning Style Students Attitudes Toward the Use of Technology in Higher Education and Adult Education Classes, "the new axiom in the world of technology-enhanced learning is that teachers must allow content to drive technology and should be cautious not to let technology drive the content" (2008, p. 6).  But this also goes back to the discussion we had the other day about great teachers being able to overcome poor curricula, or great curricula being able to elevate mediocre teachers. I think the same can be said with technology and online classrooms.

The ultimate solution isn't bells and whistles alone, but I think about the changes in telephone technology just in the past twenty years and look forward to the same changes to online classrooms in the future. The phone has not changed much in terms of how we use it in the past 20 years. Whether it’s a flip phone an iPhone or an old-style payphone you put the receiver to your ear and you talk. But the iPhone provides many more tangential benefits to the user than the old-style payphone ever did. That’s the change I look forward to seeing in the online classroom environment.

Right now, as I mentioned before, we are working on a VR style exercise where we were putting the VR user into real-world scenarios that resulted in a fatality. We are asking that learner to navigate his way through the scenario and afterward we intend to re-train him through analysis of the real-world event afterward. I like to imagine a virtual online classroom for the entire class could put on virtual reality goggles and get to watch the learner through the exercises and discuss en masse from multiple training destinations. They set up new variables around another real-world situation and ask the next learner to try his hand at the new task. 

Technology alone is not the only answer to effective online teaching, but the tangential benefits can potentially make it easier for the learner to engage and make memories, make it far more accessible to the learner and to a more diverse audience, and help less-skilled instructors up their game. 

Cox, T. D. (2008). Learning styles and students’ attitudes toward the use of technology in higher and adult education classes. Institute for Learning Styles Journal. 1(Fall). pp. 1-13.

Brown's Second Basic Principle

On first blush, when some read Brown's second principle, "Individuals differ in general ability, specifi aptitudes, and interests. Although tacitly assumed, experimental work in mental and educational measurements, aptitude tests, and interest analyses have demonstrated extremes in individual differences only partially recognized before. Such differences tend to increase rather than decrease with advancing years, thereby demanding a widely diversified program of education for adults" someone might think that what Brown is writing is that adults are less apt to learn as they age.

Having re-read the second point: "Individuals differ in general ability, specific aptitudes, and interests." On re-reading this statement and the paragraph following it, especially the line that states "such difference" such as educational measurements, aptitude tests, etc, "tend to increase rather than decrease" with time and age. Unlike most, I read this and agreed with it as a statement that withstood the test of time, but didn't read it as some might, that as people age their ability to learn decreases.



What I read was that the differences in learning styles, an aptitude with different skills and interests increase. That a trainee who tends to learn better with a CBT as a younger adult will continue to learn better and gravitate to that style of learning more and more as he grows older. Or a worker who finds hands-on training more effective will tend to find more training that includes hands-on training the most effective way to learn.



At our organization what we like to do is recognize that a training mix that includes techniques and tools that play to all the different learning styles can help create the most effective transfer of knowledge, no matter what the trainee is used to. We have many trainees with decades of experience who never embraced technology and continue to eschew any training that includes technology. Conversely, we have some who have seen the benefits of more technological delivery methods have become more comfortable with them, and now see those as the best way to train. I read that statement as to age highlights and intensifies tendencies, not as a direct indictment of age and ability to learn.



What a terrific way to start the discussions. I really enjoy seeing how others read the same articles and can generate a discussion.



Brown, F. J. (1932). Basic Principles Underlying Adult Education. Journal of Educational Sociology, 5(8),  463-47. https://doi.org/10.2307/2961482

Self-Directed Learning

Recently read a list of strengths and weaknesses of adult learning in terms of self-directed learning. I recently wrote a blog post discussing Blanchard's Situational Leadership model and Grow's Stages of Self-Directed Learning (SSDL) model (see here). Grow's Four Stages of a Self-Directed Learning Model (SSDL) espouses a theory of adult development from Dependent, to Interested, then Involved, and finally Self-Directed (2020). Several things about your post in comparison to Grow's SSDL caught my eye.

First, I really liked that almost all of the strengths were balanced with weaknesses. It's an acknowledgment that there are no absolutes and that these statements are not as clear cut as they might seem. However, the strengths that caught my eye were a quote that stated, "Adults are more inclined to seek and acquire knowledge," which was immediately counterbalanced by the weakness "not all adults are ready to learn" among others.

The other strength I read was, "Adults are generally self-directed, life-long learners who have a unique concept of self." This one is where I would argue that Grow's SSDL comes into play. Not all adults are or will make it to that stage of Self-Directed learning. It's incumbent on us as teachers, trainers, and facilitators to model our styles to meet their specific needs at the stage they happen to be in.

It's important as trainers that we model our training to the needs of the student. Just as we as writers need to change our writing based on the type and needs of the reader, and we need to model our leadership based on our employee's needs. If we don't do these things, then we risk not being as effective as necessary.

Teach Thought Staff. (2020). Four Stages of a Self-Directed Learning Model. Teach Thought. https://www.teachthought.com/learning/the-four-stages-of-the-self-directed-learning-model/

Finding Digital Solutions for Future Covid Type Events

For this week's paper, we were supposed to imagine we have an opportunity to lead post-COVID digital transformation in our area of expertise/responsibility in our organization. What changes would we want to lead and why? What technology or technologies would we see having the greatest potential to help actualize the changes? What do we see as the major barriers? 

As a leader at our organizations, I am tasked with this type of innovation and digital leadership and there are several things we are doing post-Covid. Some are bold, some are small, but for the most part, they are all things that we had to live through with Covid and think we can deploy much quicker if there is another severe pandemic or another cultural and business disruptor. 

We realize now that not only are we at risk of another (serious) global pandemic, but we need to be ready as an organization to better support learning for our essential workers in the energy industry. Just like in early 2020, energy industry workers were not able to take two weeks or more off as a response to a lockdown or serious pandemic. The energy sector needs constant support and whether in lockdown or not people need to have electricity and power to support modern life. Our organization makes it possible for the workers who support the energy industry to stay safe and be able to access their job sites. The pandemic has shown us that we need to be able to provide this support even if things are locked down. 

Additionally, our customers have come to expect that they can access learning at any time. There are expectations that have come about due to competing demands from other organizations in our industry, then there are expectations that our learners bring with them from having seen them in other areas of their lives. Whatever the case, our learners expect now to be able to be trained regardless of lockdown or if there is a Covid uptick. As stated in Wade (2020) "the requirement to work and socialize via technology pulls technology skeptics and Luddites into the information age" (p. 10). We have been expecting the onrushing of new digital demands through more and more "digital natives" entering our workforce and learning community, the Covid pandemic seems to have accelerated the need for more digital options.  

Some of the different tools we’ve developed include a live online proctoring capability that provides the same process and delivery system that our clients have come to expect when they come to our brick and mortar store, which can be found in our live online proctoring tool as well. They can access training at home, in their car, where, or whenever and they will be proctored and guided through the training. As mentioned in the Hybrid and Online Learning portion of the Educause Horizon Report by Pelletier et al. (2022), learners have "discovered the benefits of being able to do things from anywhere, and (their) appetite for online and remote options as consumers is likely to persist" (p. 7). 

Much of what Wade (2020) discusses regarding the skeptics we have anticipated as an organization and we are explaining away any intrusiveness by the need to ensure compliance, and working to make our systems overly intuitive and easy to access to that the skeptics who do not want the information gathered on them and who don't trust organizations looking over their shoulders understand the limitations within which we work. We also are trying to get our virtual classroom network to be more robust. We’ve completed several courses this way, but we are not seen as market leaders in this space the way we should be. The barrier for entry for these styles of courses are relatively easy now and we see our clients creating their own systems rather than coming to us. My goal in this regard is to take the virtual classroom to a higher level than they can achieve by:

• Utilizing technology and digital tools aggressively and effectively, 
• Maintaining and securing a curriculum for instruction that leverages the tools and can track success and react to dips in that success, and 
• By providing the service during times and with trainers that our clients would have a hard time matching. 

Our organization remained open to help train essential workers in the energy industry through the Covid experience and became a model for how to sanitize, protect, and service clients and learners safely throughout the pandemic. Our goal in this next phase of the pandemic, one that as Wade (2020) writes could include 4 different scenarios, is to be ready to deliver no matter what the future might bring. Staying open safely has been achieved, staying open safely while delivering quality training that meets our client's needs and demands is our next goal. Although we are hoping for as Wade (2020) states a "Global Marketplace" scenario, where the "world quickly moves on from the COVID-19 pandemic" we are planning for all of the scenarios so we can adapt as necessary.

References

Pelletier, K., Mccormack, M., Reeves, J., Robert, J., Arbino, N., Al-Freih, M., Dickson-Deane, C., Guevara, C., Koster, L., Sánchez-Mendiola, M., Lee, S., & Bessette, J. (2022.). 2022 Educause horizon report; Teaching and Learning Edition. Educause.Edu. Retrieved May 17, 2022, from https://library.educause.edu/-/media/files/library/2022/4/2022hrteachinglearning.pdf?la=en&hash=6F6B51DFF485A06DF6BDA8F88A0894EF9938D50B (Links to an external site.)

Wade, M. (2020). Scenario Planning for a Post-COVID-19 World: Make sure you are prepared for the new normal. IMD.

More on My Learning Style

 I've written about learning styles before (see here). As a learner the Concrete Sequential (CS) learner is the one that resonates with me most. I have been called, and I think I can be called a realist. 

I like to think that I view the world through a perspective where my physical senses play a large part in in my solutions to problems.  The fact that I cut my teeth on writing procedures and creating processes with sequential steps plays into this as well. I'm results oriented and enjoy proof which also conforms with CS learners. 

In my field we deal with shade tree mechanics, people who enjoy tearing things apart just to see how they work and to see if they can put them back together again, and sometimes to see if they can do it better, faster, or more effectively than the next guy or the guy before. Most of the training I produce plays to this type of learner so it's not strange to see that I gravitate towards this.

Organizations as Brains and Lisa Moments

Chapter for in Images of Organizations by Morgan focuses on oranizations as brains, learning organizations. There were several things in this chapter that I really enjoyed. For the sake of brevity I'll just focus on two.

First of which was the idea expressed on page 108 of requisite variety meaning "the internal diversity of any self-regulating system must match the variety and complexity of its environment." This seems to suggest that extremely complex environments and organizations will have more internal diversity and variety. 

An idea which is counter to the reliance of bureaucracy and red-tape for mechanistic organizations, where the workers had firm rules and guidelines to follow to help maintain order and interchangeability. 

Secondly there was the idea of error elimination on page 82. I like the idea that we don't pick things up, rather we fail to not pick them up and by failing to not pick it up actually pick the object up. This was not something I had considered as fully as I had once I read it. Both of these tend to, it seems to me, provide opportunities for organizations that behave like brains to find ways to self-organize or to learn how to learn. 

By having ever-growing diversity of opinion and variety of working and leadership styles, an organization led by self-organization and learning can help to find the best possible route to success. By failing, new procedures and policies can be created that help others not to fail, and by not failing succeed. I regularly cite to my teams how although Steve Jobs has been well known for his successes with Apple, in many ways his success came by way of his failures. "Lisa stands forgotten in the shadow of the Macintosh, but its abject failure (the first model only sold 10,000 units) taught great lessons–especially to Lisa’s original project lead, Steve Jobs, who was kicked off and put on another project: the Macintosh," (Lumb, 2015). It's through failures that we, even as organizations, can figure out what best not to do again.

I think back on my life and the major "Lisa" moment for me was when I wanted to create an app called "PopQuiz Password" (see here). I know, horrible name, but it was a working title. Basically, it was designed for parents to ensure that their kiddos got some learning in while they gamed. It was a project I developed when getting my MBA back in 2004. Before a kiddo could play a computer game they had to complete a grade appropriate quiz. They were rewarded time to play based on how they scored. 100%? 30 minutes of play time. 50%? Then just 5 or 10 minutes of game time. Also we created modules like Texas History, or Boy Scouts and Bible History, to try and make it appealing to parents and more relevant for kids. Additionally we came up with the idea of creating teacher interactions, whereby teachers could upload their own class specific questions and have them load onto the kiddos quizzes.

We started a proof of concept, but then the project died off. There were a multitude of reasons for it dying off, but I've always wondered if that was my Lisa moment. What if I had created PopQuiz Password and it had been a rousing failure like Lisa? What would I have learned? How might I have developed other microlearning opportunities before microlearning took off? 

I am far to safety oriented to have a Lisa moment. Any whiff of failure and I'll look for another option instead of face the failure. Maybe Lisa moments are what entrepreneurs need to be successful ultimately?

References

Lumb, D. (2015, January 22). Remember Apple’s Lisa, the computer that cost Steve Jobs A gig? Kevin Costner does! Fastcompany.Com; Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/3041272/remember-apples-lisa-the-computer-that-cost-steve-jobs-a-gig-kevin-costner-d (Links to an external site.)

Morgan, G. (2006). Images of Organization (Updated Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Which Perspective is Right?

A colleague asked whether or not any instructors prefers different learning styles that what they have to teach.

Due to the demands and safety strictures of the petrochemical and oil refining industry, we are forced to provide our new employee process safety training via a transmission centered perspective. We have about one hundred new employees to the industry each day go through this course and not only is using the transmission perspective the easiest way to provide the training, but it's a mandate by the governing authority. 

We also provide eLearning training, . . . CBT or computer-based training, for hundred of employees a day. Again, we have to use the transmission perspective due to the nature of the training, the delivery mechanism, but also the expectations of the learner and the training provider. 

Your question was "do any of us have to train using one perspective but feel more comfortable with another." This is very much the case with me. As I said, we are forced to use transmission for the lion's share of our training delivery. I however enjoy apprenticeship, developmental, and nurturing perspective more. I find myself gravitating to our senior leadership classes to help with the facilitation of those pieces of training, or working with my eLearning development team to work with that team and help them with training development. I also enjoy helping the younger trainers learn more about the craft of training through apprenticeship and instruction. 

I'm at a point in my career and life where perspectives other than transmission are far more relevant and appealing to me, but our primary training delivery is the transmission. I very much find myself looking for ways in which I can eschew transmission for opportunities that allow for other perspectives. 

Pratt TPI

Having just been introduced to the Five Teaching Perspectives, and having read about them now for the first time, having just completed the TPI and seen my results, I find that I not only agree with the results, but conversely I'm a bit surprised by them.

The results of my TPI were that my dominant type is the Apprenticeship model (37) followed by Transmission (32) then Nurturing (31). Social Reform and Developmental came last each with (27). Overall these results don't surprise me. I've grown up in a very black and white field and environment, and my foundational training, as an enlisted man in the Army, was a very black and white, drill heavy, training environment. I naturally used the principles of instructions I learned in the Army and used them in my industrial services and construction career, and these have created and influenced my perspectives, or my "philosophical orientations to knowledge, learning, and the role and responsibility of being a teacher" as Pratt defines his perspectives (2002, p. 9).

Safety and craft skills training is very cut and dry, "do it this way or you could get hurt," type of training. It's perfect for both the Transmission and Apprenticeship models.  I'm not surprised that Apprenticeship is higher than Transmission. I would bet that I had taken this TPI five or ten years ago that Transmission would have ranked higher. Moving further up the corporate ladder has led my training and teaching styles into new directions, more focus on emotional intelligence and fostering for and mentoring the supervisors beneath me, ergo my perspective has changed as well. In classrooms I've become the facilitator rather than the trainer, and I help to develop understanding of the whole and usually focus on individual relationships. These last few characteristics tie into the third highest score for Nurturing.

I was surprised by the low score for Developmental. I find that I'm constantly trying to Develop and promote those who I teach and work with. Once I researched that a touch more I found the following and it tended to make more sense. "From a Developmental Perspective, effective teaching begins with the learners’ prior knowledge of the content and skills to be learned. Instructors holding a developmental dominant perspective are committed to restructuring how people think about the content" (Pratt & Collins, 2000, p. 4). This is anathema to how we train for safety and craft training. The content is the content and the learner learns it. In many cases we have governing authorities who mandate the class be taught in a certain style, following timetables. Although I might understand the subjective nature of the material, obviously the strictures we work under have affected my beliefs has made the Developmental Perspective a recessive one for me.

In terms of Social Reform, in our community of learning, safety is the social aspect that needs reform. Another article I read summed up the Social Reform Perspective as "the most difficult perspective to describe because it has no single, uniform characteristics or set of strategies. In our research, we found social reform teachers in community development, Native education, AIDS awareness, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the civil rights movement, environmental education, women’s health, labor union education, religious education, and even within such established occupations and professions as automotive repair and medical education" (Pratt, 2002, p. 8). The field I work in, industrial services especially in chemical, oil and gas, could easily be a part of that list of professions in the sentence cited above, but to be more specific, behavior based safety and safety systems in general would be a more apt social reform platform within the industry community and there is a compelling push towards this in many of the larger contracting companies and oil refinery owners. Might we have fewer safety incidents if I encourage all of the trainers on my team to be more deeply committed to that social issue? If each training was created with the idea that it was an instrument for change in this arena and to keep the trainee, their colleagues, and any one on the site safe?

I understand that this TPI must act as a gauge or a bellwether, not a hard and fast dictum. Also, I understand that confirmation bias plays a part in any of these inventories, but it does show me the areas where I might need to tweak my understandings of teaching and learning. How much more successful might I become as a trainer if I focus more on how the learner understands the world and how he will see the information, rather than just serving the information up to him as is? Will that generate more immediate and long-term buy in? Pratt writes, "if teachers are to improve, they must reflect on what they do, why they do it, and on what grounds those actions and intentions are justified" (2002, p. 9). Being able to identify where we can improve and make tweaks to change our perspective as needed, based on the class or learner, would make teachers with that capability far more powerful and effective as knowledge transfer and growth.

Having read about all 5 of Pratt's perspectives I understand and agree with his assessment. As with most things there are shades of grey to be found between the black and white and we evolve and change as we mature and grow as teachers. It's rewarding to have that confirmation and a target of what more can be focused on.  Pratts ability to break down the perspectives and show each perspective as it relates to the learner, the content and the teacher is unique and simple enough to make it hard to argue with. I would like to see how different blends of perspectives would look when those models (the learner, content, and teacher) are applied.

Pratt, D. and Collins, J. (2000). "The Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI)," Adult Education Research Conference. https://newprairiepress.org/aerc/2000/papers/68 (Links to an external site.)

Pratt, D. (2002).Good teaching: one size fits all? In An Up-date on Teaching Theory, Jovita Ross-Gordon (Ed.), San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Publishers.

Leadership Styles

 As a part of my classes I get to work not just on Adult Learning but also Leadership. I commonly have to work on material dealing with Leadership. Here's the most reason info sheet that I worked on for our Leadership classes.

HAS YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE EVOLVED OR STAYED THE SAME?

In the class I teach on Foundational Leadership we spend a lot of time focusing on Leadership Styles. We ask the class to segment themselves out into the type of leadership style. I wonder if anyone reading this has changed their style of leadership since taking our class.

DIRECTING type managers usually establish clear goals and objectives for work and staff, although staff members usually have some flexibility on how to meet the goals. Directing style managers usually provide:

• Clear timelines and priorities
• Tells what the job should look like

COACHING involves a great deal of "hands-on" involvement in employee's work process. As a rule, a coaching approach works best when the employee shows weaknesses that need improvement. For coaching to be effective, the employee must acknowledge those weaknesses and indicate a desire to improve. Managers who use Coaching usually provide: 

• Perspective and feedback
• Assurance that mistakes are okay

SUPPORTING leaders play more of a motivational role. The main function is to attempt to instill confidence in employees so they eventually become more self-sufficient and productive. This style typically involves the assigning of tasks by the manager while providing support as needed. Supporting leaders provide:

• An approachable mentor
• A sounding board for problems

DELEGATING leaders place responsibility on the shoulders of their employees. They provide guidance, but only when needed or requested by the employees, and serves in more of a consultant capacity. This style is most effective with an experienced staff. Delegating leaders usually provide: 

• Variety and challenge
• Trust

EVOLVING LEADERSHIP

In general leaders should track their employees along the path shown in the figure below. Employees should move from needing high directive (Directing Style) up to high supporting needs (Coaching Style) to needing low direction (Supporting Style) to being highly competent (Delegating Style). The pathway to success for your teams and your employees is along that route.