How I transformed 6 limiting thoughts around learning and development

I will be vulnerable here and you are welcome to join me in reflecting on your own practices, especially if you are teaching or facilitating learning experiences for others.

In April 2022, I had a chance to attend a challenging and transformational course called Training from the Back of the room (TBR) with Actineo colleagues, @Jean-Paul Bailey and @Jose Casal as my guides. The course is the work of Sharon Bowman and is taught by her and many experienced TBR Certified Practitioners around the world.

Before the class, I had c.a. 8 years of experience in training design and delivery, guiding adult learners to learn about business lean and business agility, often in a corporate context. I have read many of the Brain-science based learning and Training from the back of the room books by Sharon a few years ago and did experiment with some of the Toolbox activities, the 4Cs…

Fast forward to year 2022 :) Thankfully, I signed up to the class!!

Only during the course, did I realize how I needed this experience and the practical immersion to challenge my earlier beliefs and to practice more. I would like to reflect on how 6 of my previous core beliefs and recurring thoughts were tested and challenged by the TBR/TCC courses - by the facilitators and fellow attendees alike …

You will see what these 6 thoughts are and how they were either Transformed or Reinforced by my learning experience…

Thought: “Learners need to be sitting at a desk or on their chairs, at least in order to be able to take notes and stay focussed while learning.”

Transformed

During the course, I could experience that movement trumps sitting for myself - not only movement did not distract me, when we associated specific movements with new concepts, like dropping a pen + saying “graphic organiser”, my brain was grateful for this association and helped me remember new concepts.

Thought: “Learning is preferably best when there is quiet in the room. This allows focus and a calm environment”

Transformed

I certainly had a preference for studying in a quiet environment. However, during the course, I experienced laughter and learning together, in a social group. It was not quiet at all. At one Concept Centre activity, we were invited to share practical experiences from our teaching practice on one of the Trumps. The whole room was buzzing and noisy. Still, I picked up super valuable stories and also lots of emotions and drive from my colleagues, which I am grateful for. So a bit of laughter and buzz trumps silence for me now!

Thought: “Learning outdoors in a natural environment is not going to be effective as learners might get distracted by the environment and not focus on their learning”

Transformed

JP Bailey arranged for our course to be held in the lovely Windsor, in Yellowfoot lodge, which has a green field, forest and an outdoor patio attached. Thanks JP! I cherished the environment during breaks and some activities, when we were invited to take up space - I could balance between the silence I need and the buzz in the room :)

Thought: “I as the trainer/facilitator will need to be able to answer all content related questions from participants”

Transformed

I kind of knew that I don’t have to know it all to be able to help learners learn. But my ego sometimes grew stronger and I felt a discomfort with not being able to answer questions from participants on my courses… JP Bailey role-modeled the contrary very well. To create a diverse set of answers and perspectives in the room, before answering any questions, he always asked, what do others think in the group? We were all invited to co-create possibilities and widen options. Was lovely to experience the wisdom of the group - and this can only be created when we as trainers/facilitators are able to “step back” and let the learners explore, learn, investigate their own answers…

Thought: “The Learning objectives are a waste of time. They are never used or looked at in training, apart from in the Class description when customers such as Learning and Development/HR buy the course.”

Transformed

This was an eye-opening experience. JP Bailey and Jose in our course designed a very smooth Warm-up activity, allowing us to connect with each other and with the TBR topic as we arrived to our course. Very soon during our C1 exercise flow, they asked us to take a post-it and draw and/or write on it, what is the ultimate change we would like to see in us by attending this course. After we drew/wrote our post-its, they invited us to open the Workbook and to read through the LOs of the course. We had plenty of time to read and reflect on these, and were asked to see if these connect at all to our main reason for being in the course. And if they do, then to prioritise those top 3 LOs which most highly correlate and connect with our own personal goals. At the end of our reflection time, we were invited to grab 3 stickers and to gather around a Whiteboard where all the LOs were drawn as numbers. The whole group of participants voted with their stickers. This allowed us to move and to step back and see where the interests of our class lie. There were 2-3 LOs where the majority of the votes from each person were found - we were very aligned. As everyone completed voting, we were invited to verbally reflect and debrief, what is happening and why. I highly appreciated the space and time for this activity and what I learned from participants during the debriefing. I will hold this in my memory and put it into practice on my own programs and courses - allowing plenty of time for people to connect with each other and the topic, and to make the connections to the topic personal and meaningful to the group!

Thought: “Different trumps same when it comes to learning”

Reinforced

Voilá. The first belief which I believed in before and now hold even more firmly!

I have experienced variety and diversity in many workshops before, often held by TBR practitioners on various topics. In fact, I was seeking out the TBR community to be able to fully live into my desire for creativity. I want to help my learners to live out their full creativity, to explore and to fully feel, see, and experience the world around them.

My mission is to help people use their whole body and whole brain to learn, to learn via feelings as much as thoughts, via movement, via practicing the new skills in and with a safe and supportive social community.

In my next phase of learning to be a better facilitator and learning experience designer, I am curious to explore topics like - environmental psychology - the impact of the varied environment (art galleries, outdoor and indoor creative spaces) on learning outcomes, and another topic - somatic experiencing. Happy to connect with any of you in the community, if you are already wiser in these domains! :)