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The division of information into ‘must know’, ‘should know’, ‘could know’ elements will go some way to establishing a balanced lesson plan, but understanding how adults learn will allow us to structure the material into a logical sequence which builds upon a person’s learning pattern. Although learning behaviour is a very complex issue, there are a number of guiding principles which have been established:
1. Learning is a voluntary process.
‘A person convinced against their will, is of the same opinion still.’ Merely because someone attends a training course doesn’t, unfortunately, guarantee that they will learn anything. For learning to take place, the trainee must be convinced that there is some direct benefit gained by acquiring that knowledge. Whatever the student learns they must learn personally. It is not possible yet for the reluctant trainee to engage someone to learn on their behalf. No one can learn for them if they don’t want to. This means that while it is attitude that will decide how much is learnt, it is the trainer’s job to create an environment where people want to learn. The onus is on the trainer to make the subject matter interesting and relevant so that everyone attending receives something of benefit.
2. Responsibility increases learning.
The good news is that recognizing that the individual controls whether they learn and at what speed, will in itself increase the learning process. Where the trainer has passed over the responsibility for learning to the individual concerned there has been a measurable increase in both the amount learnt and the extent of knowledge retained.
