2 Responses

1. L&D of the future

   Hi John, a nice question for a bit of afternoon reflection. I am not at all sure any current changes in the higher or any other level of education will have much affect on the future practice and management of L&D?

   Unless education puts a lot more focus on teaching students of all ages to learn rather than just soak up facts I cannot see how the changes not any great impact.

    

   Basic learning styles for example are still not taught to students. This must be a minimum that all adults should know before leaving the education system? 

    

   I used to work as a school business mentor for a group of 14/15 year old students in Norfolk. I introduced them to learning styles and the following week had to go and speak with the head teacher who had received a complaint from one of his teachers about me. Apparently one of the students who had been looking at learning styles in my group had requested that his geography teacher used a wider variety of teaching methods so that some students might be more motivated…………

    

   The practice of young people themselves to utilise the myriad of electronic devices to glean information as they need it is fast becoming a much more significant factor in how I support my colleagues in the business. 

    

   Knowing that they are skilled at tracking down the information they need as they need it I am concentrating on how to support them in the application, follow up and evaluation of what they have learned and how they have used their learning.

    

   I also ensure they verify and triangulate some of the information they get hold of depending on the source.

   Cheers, Nick

    

2. education vs training

   Hi John,

   picking up on Nicks perspective I would agree with him about the need to provide students with an understanding of why and how they learn best.  I have been working for a company recently (as an external trainer) that provides a course on business skills to your people on a two week work experience process.  When I introduce the concept of learning skills and get them to self assess the way they learn best many of them are amazed that they have not been shown this before at school or college.  They can also identify how the different methodologies they are used too in school fit into the various broad definitions and can then see the dominence of certain learning styles within the education arena. 

   I suspect that teachers whilst aware of the need for varied delivery methods to suit young people are pushed by the very nature of an exam/result focussed education system into allowing certain styles to dominate.  The current moves back towards a final exam measure process linked to the ever growing schools performance measurements also exacerbate this.  So I am afraid I do not see much change either unless educators are allowed to do just that and begin faciliatating young people to learn how to learn rather than just become swallowers of alleged facts.  (Remember it was once a fact that the world was flat).

   Alan Bartholomew