Planning for Learning
I consider myself fortunate in that my personal learning experience has been positive overall. This may be because I enjoyed learning from an early age, and was receptive to new learning experiences – it might also be due to having attended a private school and being in relatively small-sized class groups where attention could be given to each student according to their needs. Further, it might have been enhanced by streaming, as I was able to progress in line with my ability – and to benefit from the challenge of other equally capable pupils. Certainly, I have little recollection from my schooldays of poor teaching delivery.
Contrasting that with experience in later life, I have undertaken a number of short courses with different training providers during my working life, and found some examples of tutors who have been poorly prepared for a group of students with a range of abilities. For example, a recent course I attended was aimed at Level 1 students, but in a job-specific technical subject requiring IT skills; I have good IT skills, and a reasonable understanding of the technicalities of the subject, while other students had low IT skills and little or no technical knowledge. The result was unfortunately that most of each lesson passed – for me – in waiting for something to do as I had completed each task within a few minutes, and the tutor had made no provision for higher achievers. This was demotivating for me, and is something which I would hope to avoid in my own preparation and delivery.
The most memorable trainer I have worked with is my skydiving coach, who I observed working with others as well, always on a one-to-one basis, and he was able to work out the right approach to bring out the best in each individual. For some, he would use a quite didactic approach, particularly when working with students from a forces background (he is himself an ex-Para); for others he would use a straightforward approach with reference to the physics of
Contrasting that with experience in later life, I have undertaken a number of short courses with different training providers during my working life, and found some examples of tutors who have been poorly prepared for a group of students with a range of abilities. For example, a recent course I attended was aimed at Level 1 students, but in a job-specific technical subject requiring IT skills; I have good IT skills, and a reasonable understanding of the technicalities of the subject, while other students had low IT skills and little or no technical knowledge. The result was unfortunately that most of each lesson passed – for me – in waiting for something to do as I had completed each task within a few minutes, and the tutor had made no provision for higher achievers. This was demotivating for me, and is something which I would hope to avoid in my own preparation and delivery.
The most memorable trainer I have worked with is my skydiving coach, who I observed working with others as well, always on a one-to-one basis, and he was able to work out the right approach to bring out the best in each individual. For some, he would use a quite didactic approach, particularly when working with students from a forces background (he is himself an ex-Para); for others he would use a straightforward approach with reference to the physics of