In adult education, the curriculum of the programs should be built around the student's needs and interests. This is the reason why we take care to customize the workshop exercises and examples to illustrate situations specific to their environment.
We encourage our instructors to play the role of facilitators. Their primary role being to guide and to assist adult learners in achieving their individual learning objectives. We believe that a successful training program must combine traditional teaching with facilitating elements.
Our Flexible Learning Model
Our flexible learning model expands choice on what, when, where and how people learn. It supports different styles of learning, including e-learning. Selection of an appropriate mix of educational approaches is a function of the types of participants (e.g., senior executives vs. mid-level managers); budget (some cost more than others); the environment of the organization and the depth of learning desired. Four major learning approaches are described in the following sections. While the four approaches are distinct from each other, any given program might employ several in combination.
Curriculum
The traditional form of education program is a curriculum model. With a curriculum approach, participants receive a ‘teach’ on a set of topics over a set period of time. Our approach is centered on dialogue between the instructor and participants. Participants have much to contribute to the learning process and such education is not a one-way transfer of knowledge from instructor to participant. Rather it is a collaborative dialogue amongst a group of students and an instructor. Elements of experiential learning are incorporated where the learner constructs knowledge, skill and value from direct experience. This includes role-playing, simulations and other ways to practice for actual work settings.
The benefits of the curriculum model are its efficiency, focus and consistency. Relatively large numbers of participants can develop a consistent conceptual understanding of critical content in a relatively short period of time.
Tool-based
The tool-based model focuses on a supported application of new concepts in the workplace through the use of ‘tools’. The tools serve two purposes:
1) Diagnosis of some aspect of the work environment and
2) Prescription of some appropriate responsive action. The diagnosis identifies gaps between the current situation and some desired state. The prescription and action process is aimed at closing the gap. The education is focused on specific rather than generalized individual or group needs. Needs that are identified are addressed in the context of work. Tools-Based training is often combined with curriculum training.
Business Challenge
We have many years experience in designing and delivering management programs based on an ‘action learning’ format. Action learning blurs the distinction between work and education. For example, an internal team works collaboratively on a solution. It reflects on what has occurred and learns from the process through our facilitation. Our business challenge approach differs from typical action learning in two ways. Participants receive relevant education and coaching along the way to their solution. They receive organizing frameworks and processes just in time to apply to their tasks.
Learning Linked to Process
With this model, learning again takes place in the context of work. This approach is based on the fact that organizations have existing sequential business processes which they execute on a regular basis. For example, an annual marketing planning process (situation analysis, then goal setting and then strategy formulation, etc.) where one step in the process must be completed before the individual or team can move on to the next step. Relevant education is delivered to participants just-in-time for real-world use at each step in the process. The organization gets an enhanced execution of its business process. Participants gain knowledge and skills to better equip them for future applications. These are highly customized programs.
