How to make students fail: part one
I just attended a three-day marketing seminar conducted by a self-proclaimed expert in curriculum design.
It was very disappointing to see once again what happens when a trainer ignores the basics and causes students to fail.
He made ten flagrant errors. Here are the top five:
1. Never say “no” when a participant asks a question or makes a comment. It immediately becomes a rejection of the person, who will not risk asking questions or comments again. Time after time in this class, the trainer would answer “no” to a question or comment, with and sometimes without additional clarification. I’m not saying she was nasty about it. It is simply a fact that “no” can invalidate the individual’s thinking and, depending on the individual’s sensitivity, invalidate the person as well.
Instead, accept responsibility for confusion on the part of the participant. “Sorry, I may not have been clear.” Or, “I can see why you might think that. I may not have made my point as directly as I could have.” Or, “If I had said x, then you would have been absolutely right. However, I said y and I must not have made the distinction as well as I had hoped. Let me rephrase…”
2. Never ignore it when a large part of the class is confused by a point or instruction. In the case of this course, I watched the trainer send 1/3 of the audience to the back of the room for recovery assistance with the trainers, and then proceed to teach the remaining 2/3 of the audience new concepts. Can we count the ways this was irresponsible of the coach?
Instead, if a good portion of the audience doesn’t understand a concept and it’s a critical stepping stone to the next concept, STOP and TEACH AGAIN. Don’t remove them from the group and then make them have to catch up on something that confused them in the first place!
3. Never give participants a complex task without first modeling what you want them to do. In this course, the instructor handed out a worksheet that required very complex thinking and told the group to go fill it out. Of course, people got stuck. What should have been a very productive hour and a half of writing turned into an hour and a half of shared frustration.
Instead, guide the class through each step, modeling it at least twice. Post flipcharts of that work in plain view so participants have examples for reference. Then you will have set them up for success.
4. Never spend so much time building a positive relationship that you waste time on content. In this case, the trainer included a series of games and activities that were not relevant to the content. He then hurried on when he got to the actual content.
Instead, focus on both content and relationship building. It is important that a group of participants feel comfortable in a class. It’s also important for them to get the content they paid for. Energizers are great, just keep them manageable so they don’t burn out most of the time.
5. Never rush through content so there is little or no time to practice and no time to reflect. In this class, ideas were thrown around at a breakneck pace with rushed practice time, if any. There was absolutely no time for follow up discussion or questions.
Instead, plan carefully so that participants have adequate time to practice what they have learned and then time to reflect on what went well, what did not, and questions that were raised, with time for discussion and clarification.
Hopefully you know and do better than her!
In the next article, we will look at the last five errors.