Most of us learned how ‘learning’ works by going through school, which means we were trained in child-centred education without realising it. Then we entered the workplace and started designing training for adults… using the same model. No wonder so much corporate learning falls flat.
We must let go of ‘teaching’ as we remember it and focus on how best to help adults learn, and then use their learning.
Adults don’t want to be ‘taught’. They want to understand why something matters before they invest time or attention. They are problem-solvers, not passive recipients, and they learn fastest when the content helps them fix a real, current challenge. If they can’t see the relevance to them, you have lost them.
They also bring a lifetime of habits, assumptions, and experiences to every learning moment. That’s both a gift and a barrier.
Consider the effort it takes for someone to start driving on the other side of the road in a foreign country. Many of their automatic reflexes are now an enemy rather than a friend. Einstein said it so well: “I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be”.
Here’s the challenge: look at one piece of learning you’re currently designing or delivering. Ask yourself:
• Have I made the ‘why’ and the relevance unmistakably clear?
• Is it current problem-centred rather than content-centred?
• Where might ‘unlearning’ be required before new learning can land?
