Here’s how to make learning easier
Let the participants know what the objective of the training is. If they know the aims, they can position themselves in the process and actively participate in it.
Limit the amount of information given at one time. We can only hold a certain amount of information in our short term memory.
Allow time for reflection and pace the sessions to suit the participants’ abilities.
Combine new information with the participants’ experiences. Ideally, new information should contain elements for problem solving.
Alternate the activities. For example, follow the presenting with a group exercise using different visual aids, etc.
Bear in mind the level of training the participants have already had and adapt your starting point to their abilities. If you demand something outside their ability range, your trainees will become disillusioned and de-motivated. The goal of the workshop needs to be met by the participants with their own resources.
Summarise and revise the content, paying attention to the needs of the participants.
Allow the participants time to discuss what and how they wish to learn, particularly with regard to the content learning material offered during the training. If you don’t allow this freedom, people will have a greater resistance to change and will not accept new information.
Think of the training as a multidirectional process. The participants learn from the trainers, but the trainers also learn from the participants’ experiences, and the participants learn from each other. A trainer must not adopt the attitude of knowing it all. Nobody knows everything, and every day we learn something new if we have an open mind.
Put what has been learned during the workshop into practice in such a way that the participants can relate to the concepts and as a result will show more interest.
Understand that a workshop is a moment in the learning process. The follow-through and support to apply the material learned complement a true teaching process.
(Adapted from Organising and running workshops — a practical guide for trainers by Carmen Candelo Reina, Gracia Ana Ortiz R. and Barbara Unger, published by WWF Colombia.)
For more reading on effective training, go to the resources in Tier 4.