Who Learns More from Training; Trainer or Trainee?

Over the years I have delivered many training sessions. Some were large groups, some small and some one-on-one. Upon completion, I always reflect on the sessions, both in solitude and in a group with the attendees and sometimes co-presenters. With few exceptions, the feedback is usually generally positive and the participants say one or all of the following; they learned something, they felt the material was relevant and they enjoyed the training.

However, in looking back over all my training work, I recall that there was many times a thought that nagged me after analyzing the sessions. I seemed that I, as the trainer, was often the person that learned and gained the most from the sessions! This was inherent because I spent the extended time on the research, reflected on the topics deeply and memorized and internalized the information. No one else benefitted as much as I did because no one became as engaged in the information as I did. This seemed like an unfortunate but unavoidable consequence of the teacher-student, classroom dynamic.

Author, Peter Bloch, has opened my eyes to a different perspective! In chapter 18 of his book, Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used, he tells a story of a teacher that decided to use the principles of consulting taught in the book to transform how he was teaching his high school students. He decided to ditch the model of teacher as knower-student as learner, to a partnership in learning, which is the nature of consulting as Bloch details in the book. This simple but profound switch has the teacher approaching the students as a fellow learner-in humility. Conversely, students are asked to help steer the agenda and the learning. The result (oversimplified here for brevity) is more of a peer-to-peer based approach to learning. An environment of group discovery that honors what each member cares about learning and what they already know. It flattens the hierarchy of a typical classroom setting and promotes openness, deeper engagement, greater participation and ultimately higher quality learning.

In my future training endeavors, I plan to incorporate this more humble and inclusive approach to learning. I will propose a partnership in learning, this way others will share more of the depth of exploration, immersion and involvement; benefits usually maximized only for the trainer.