What should teachers look forward to in a training program? Part-2

During a training program, the presentations of the Resource persons and discussions arising out of their presentation might indicate different perceptions to the concepts being dealt with. This is indeed a great learning opportunity to anyone. They may seed innovative ideas for consideration. Keep your eyes and ears open to such learning opportunities. This could help you to use similar techniques in your own classroom to help learners understand concepts better. Further, they may help in handling differentiated learning strategies in the classroom.

I have witnessed on several occasions, the pedagogical approaches adopted by the Resource Persons are quite gravitating, impressive, thought provoking, experiential and provocative. One should look for such skills of the presenter and reflect over them to examine how the same can be adopted by them in their classrooms. I often call this as a ‘butterfly’ approach, as the trainers move through several programs in various places; and carry the experiences of one place to another as their own gift. This helps a thousand flowers (ideas!)  bloom with fragrance!

Learning happens through multiple strategies and with the use of multiple types of resources. Understanding the way different resources are used during the program helps to contextualize the same or similar resources for use either in the classroom or in our own contexts. It helps to expand our own knowledge, refresh our own approaches, add value to our own engagements outside the training programs. Many resources are culturally, geographically, socially contextual, and hence the use of these resources in contexts helps one to understand the choice and power of the resources.

Extended learning is essential in the current learning dynamics. As such extended learning helps not only in expanding our knowledge universe, but to have deeper learning and impactful insights from the relevant knowledge cloud. These inputs are indeed worthy gifts that you receive from any presenter. Given the expanse of learning universe, the speed of new knowledge that evolves day in and day out, Resource persons provide opportunities to connect the trainees with their own learnings, readings, and experiences. It is said “Listening to an erudite person is worth reading a hundred books.” Learning from such people may help in repositioning and re-engineering the way we deliver our own programs.

I have personally grown by learning from several inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary references, narratives, anecdotes that Resource Persons have brought to the discussion table. They tend to open our own experiences and help us to articulate our presentations on similar lines. Learnings from them will help to eliminate our own fear of trespassing into other knowledge domains with which we are not familiar. Further they help us to understand both the convergence and divergence of knowledge in each area.