Many trainers focus on imparting knowledge. That is, they have
knowledge which they teach to their students. I have often heard
students on courses say that most of the time what they are being
taught is not what they need. This is because the focus is on
what the trainer has to offer, rather than on what the students
need to learn.
In my training work I prefer to use a student-centred approach.
As a trainer I see myself primarily as a resource that students
can use in order to learn how to learn. My focus is on enabling
students to unblock their learning process - to discover their
own ways of learning.
Those brought up with traditional approaches to teaching can find
this a challenging step. A pioneer of the student or person-centred
approach was the American psychologist Carl Rogers, and there
is an excellent description of student-centred learning from the
perspective of trainer and student in his book 'On Becoming a
Person'.
Traditionally, managers were people who knew what needed to be
done, but did not have the time to do it all themselves. So they
hired people and directed them to carry out the work on their
behalf. These hired people were, in effect, the servants of the
managers, and were there to benefit the managers.
Over the past 10 or 15 years progressive organizations have faced
the limitations of this model. They have seen the frustrations
of people limited by their role in serving the needs of their
managers. They realise that we need to turn this model upside
down: to foster the idea that the leader's function is to support
and encourage his or her people in carrying out the tasks of the
organization rather than to direct or control them. Management
theorists now talk about 'servant leadership', and team coaches.
Managers need to become coaches to their people. The role of the
coach is well established in the sports field. The aim of the
coach is to help pupils develop skills with which they can excel.
The coach's reward comes from seeing pupils performing well.
In my work as a coach I am particularly interested in supporting
the development of the coaching approach. I have written about
the task of introducing this approach into organizations in my
book Sharpen Your Team's
Skills in Coaching.