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By George Robotham
Learning From Various Approaches
Quotable Quote
“A health and safety problem can be described by statistics but cannot be understood by statistics. It can only be understood by knowing and feeling the pain, anguish, and depression and shattered hopes of the victim and of wives, husbands, parents, children, grandparents and friends, and the hope, struggle and triumph of recovery and rehabilitation in a world often unsympathetic, ignorant, unfriendly and unsupportive, only those with close experience of life altering personal damage have this understanding”
Introduction
There appears to be an ongoing debate amongst many people about the advantages and disadvantages of practical versus theoretical approaches to learning. Both practical and theoretical approaches have a lot of value, it is disappointing there is often a lack of meeting of minds between the different views.
Intent
The author has noticed what he believes is an over emphasis on academic papers as the main means of learning in some quarters. This short paper examines my perceptions on this matter and outlines alternate means of learning.
Background
I am a believer in a thorough, professional, research-based approach to OHS Management and OHS Learning. Having been exposed to tertiary education in OHS, H.R.M., Adult & Workplace Education and Management of Organisational Change, there is no doubt some of the theory I have been exposed to has been of practical value and some has been an utter waste of time. I generally believe tertiary education can be a wonderful thing.
I rarely watch television and have a wish list of 50 odd carefully selected books on OHS, Learning, Communications, Interpersonal skills, Leadership, Psychology and Team building that I intend to buy over the next couple of years. I am well known at the local library. I note some of the high profile American authors spend a lot of time telling you how incredibly clever they are, exaggerate their successes and over complicate issues.
Academic papers
Practical management and learning skills are vital in an all professionals. These can be enhanced by focused formal learning that has direct practical application. Some of the formal learning does not have a practical orientation and we sometimes see long winded, boring academic papers that have little useful relevance to the real world .
The term succinct is often not evident. Busy people do not have the time to read masses of information and busy people do not have the time to write it. Some succinct information on what they have to do and what the benefits are is the focus of many managers and professionals. A good rule with any communications is to explain “What is in it for me” from the perspective of the receiver.
In my experience many people are like me and quickly scan a long report and try to quickly get to the guts of “Where to from here” A lot of the material in a long report will rarely be read in detail.
Some individuals and organisations use practically useless academic papers as a way of trying to boost their perceived credibility and reputation. Some papers make outlandish claims about the success with limited sample size and with very little detailed and credible justification and research. Some researchers put in a big effort and write a long report to tell us things that people practicing will have figured out for themselves a long time ago. Some organisations demand their staff publish, we thus sometimes see quantity and not necessarily quality.
Having said this I love an academic paper that helps me improve practically and in amongst some of the garbage I have been exposed to there has undoubtedly been some excellent material.
Learning
Some of the necessary skills can be learnt through formal study, some through short courses, some through practical experience, some by reading focussed sources of information, some through exposure to informed opinion of peers and experts, some through a combination of the foregoing. All will be enhanced through practical experience and critical reflection on that experience (What went well, what opportunities for improvement were presented)
The adult educators say critical reflection is an important component of adult learning, the opportunity to apply theoretical learning in an authentic environment and figure out what works and what does not work is part of this. Some university based learning does not make allowance for a thorough approach to critical reflection. More people are realising the workplace can be a robust and transferable environment for learning.
The following is taken from Chapter 4 of Dr. Robert Long’s book Risk Makes Sense-“Learning is about experience, awareness, understanding, ownership, perception, motivation, capability, adaption, thinking and investigation. One of the first things we need to know about learning is that it is different for everyone. People do not all learn in the same style or at the same rate”
People can learn through many ways-Academic papers, critical reflection on the practical application of theory, benchmarking, secondments, participation in problem discussion groups, special projects, attendance at courses / workshops / conferences / seminars, being exposed to the informed personal opinion of peers / experts, practical experience in authentic settings, learning needs analysis, reading, coaching / mentoring, reviews / surveys / appraisals, maintaining a reflective journal and so on.
Indigenous people use storeys as a powerful means of transmitting history, meaning and learning. With my particular learning style I have found exposure to the personal, informed opinion of experts and peers has been a powerful means of learning. Sometimes the discussion with peers over a coffee or a beer can be as valuable as formal learning.
I do some work with an organisation that conducts adventure-based ,lifestyle, team building and leadership learning for at risk youth. The insights that can be found around the campfire at night can be outstanding.
Conclusion
When I see people focusing on any one approach as the main means of learning it says to me they have a limited understanding of how people learn. For me melding the theory with the practical is the most efficient means of learning. This is the stuff of life-long learning.
George Robotham
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