Are You Connected with the Learner?

Quadrant One: Connecting the Learner to the Content Our brain processes new information by seeking connections to what you already know. When learning a new piece of software your brain asks, "What do I know already that is similar to this?" If you discover that this new software is similar to software you already use, the new software seems much easier to learn.

You begin the learning process by asking how new information relates to something you already know. You do this, to be frank, because you’re lazy – it’s easier and more efficient. It saves you time and effort. The minute you connect the new thing to something you already know, you find assimilating the new information or skill far easier.

You begin the learning process by asking how new information relates to something you already know. You do this, to be frank, because you’re lazy—it’s easier and more efficient. It saves you time and effort. The minute you connect the new thing to something you already know, you find assimilating the new information or skill far easier.

There’s another reason you look to see how new information connects to your life experience—to figure out if it’s important enough for you to pay attention to. You have so much information coming at you, that you filter what you truly want to process, based on what you think is important. If you decide that new software connects to your need to eliminate and control the credit card debt that keeps you up at night, the value of learning the software goes up. The more personal and important the connection is, the more value you will put on the process of learning.

Your role in Quadrant One, as a trainer, is to design experiences that allow your learners to explore their personal connection to the content you are teaching. The better you become at designing and delivering Quadrant One, the more engaged your learners will become. Engaged learners fuel the training process, making it easier for you to teach—and for them to learn.

What Happens in Quadrant One
Goal: Personal Connections

• Bring meaning from these experiences into discussions and conversations.
• Ask questions to identify personal experiences.

Learning Climate: Easy, Open and Inviting

• You explore perceptions and talk about experiences.
• There is authentic dialogue.
• Ideas are generated.
• Listening is focused.

Method: Dialogue

• The learners are engaged at a feeling level.
• There is authentic conversation happening.
• Individual perceptions are honored.
• There is a high level of listening.
• The group listens and shares.
• Attention is focused.

In Quadrant One, you are never telling the learner why the information they are going to learn is important. Instead, your role as a trainer is to focus the experience and dialogue around the learner's experiences and help them to discover why the content is valuable.

Putting It Into Practice

• Think of the absence of something you are about to teach – the absence of customer service, the absence of coaching.
• Think about provoking discussion – write down (and then share) the one thing you believe your team spends the most time on.
• Think about the learner in every class – who is thinking, “Why are we here?” and design an experience that answers that question.
• Think about identifying common experiences – common frustrations, insights and needs.
• Think problems that have similar elements – the skills you want the learners to master.
• Think “talk-story” – learners relate past experiences about the concept.
• Think experiences – use simulations or activities.
• Think interactive.

Be Well,
Jeanine O'Neill-Blackwell
President/CEO, 4MAT 4BUSINESS