Sunday, October 29, 2006

Tip #145: How I First Became a Trainer

People often ask me how I got into training. Well, it certainly wasn't planned. While I was working on my masters degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1972, a friend of mine (Sharon Sotsky) and I sat in on auditions for a spoken poetry night. There were a number of male students reading poetry, but almost no women. I had been writing poetry for years and had a number of poems about my experience of marriage, childbirth, separation and single motherhood. ( I was married at 20 and had my daughter, Jennifer, when I was a 22 year old junior in college. Within less than six months, I had separated from her father and by the time she was two I had moved halfway across the country to attend school and raise her alone). Sharon also had poems about her experience as a woman. So we signed up to read our poems.

The night of the poetry reading, Ed Kamarck, who was the Director of Outreach for Theatre Arts at University Extension, was in the audience. He approached us after the reading and told us if we would create a play about the woman's experience, he would provide a venue for the performance. So Sharon and I began The Apple Corps, Ltd., which was the first feminist theatre in the Midwest. Our poem play, titled –Empty Space Blues,” dealt with the way that the feminist movement affected the lives of five different women: a divorcee, a Catholic mother, a student, a model, and a feminist. During the course of the play, which is humorous on many levels, each woman experiences her own soul wrenching epiphany. We found a director and auditioned women for the roles, attracting a number of women who were willing to work on stage, sets, and publicity simply because they loved the characters and the message of the play.

True to his word, Ed arranged for us to perform on campus for several nights. After the play, the actors, director, and playwrights came out on stage to discuss their characters with the audience. The night of one of the performances, there were two professors from Family Services at the University of Wisconsin-Extension in attendance. Connie Threinen and Marian Thompson drew me aside and told me they would like to see me teach an –Assertiveness” class for Extension. I asked them what assertiveness was. They responded that was the focus of our conversation with the audience and that I should read the book The New Assertive Woman by Lynn Bloom, Karen Coburn and Joan Pearlman.

So, I read the book and created an agenda for a two session class on –Assertiveness” for Extension, based on the content of the book. They publicized the course and before I knew it, I was teaching an evening course for UW-Madison Extension. That course went well, so we expanded the next course to eight weeks- and the participants requested that we extend that further to sixteen weeks. I was officially an ad hoc instructor for UW-Extension.

That was how I first got into training! I owe it all to the creative gifts of Sharon and the first cast and director of –Empty Space Blues,” and the incredible encouragement and support of Ed Kamarck, Connie Threinen and Marian Thompson. Talk about getting by with a little help from your friends and being in the right place at the right time!

I would love to hear your story, if you are willing to share it. How did YOU first become a trainer?

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Tip #144: Accelerated Learning in Croatia #5

Accelerated learning techniques include involving as many senses as possible for whole brain learning and to meet the needs of different learning styles. Color, music, touch, movement, visual stimulation, and the use of metaphor and story are all very important ingredients in an accelerated learning classroom.

After my first trip to Croatia to train trainers for the small business development centers in 1998, I returned four more times in March and July of 2000 and March and May of 2001 to work with the School of Economics at JJ Strossmeyer University in Osijek.. My assignment was to help them design the first European student-centered MBA program in Entrepreneurship and train the faculty there. My son Seth accompanied me on the first two trips, becoming a world traveler at the ripe old age of 10!

When I returned to Osijek in May, 2001, it was to be my last visit. However, this time I came as an honorary member of the faculty to co-teach a Negotiation Skills class with Ljerka. The course content was designed to meet the students'stated interests, based upon a training needs assessment. It included two days of Getting to Yes techniques, with a real-life negotiation homework assignment that walked them through the five steps. Because several of the students were seasoned negotiators, it also included two days of Getting Past No techniques, with a real-life negotiation homework assignment that walked them through the six steps.

After reviewing the nature of the negotiation situations with which the students were dealing in their homework assignments, it was clear that the last two sessions of the course needed to be focused on their issues, rather than case studies, as had been previously planned.

Consequently, the fifth session was redesigned to reinforce previously-taught concepts in order to prepare the students to successfully role play a real-life negotiation situation of their choice during Session 6. They worked in triads, with an observer providing an assessment, as well as each individual assessing his or her negotiation.

The homework assignments and in-session role play and assessments provided ample practice for the students in preparation for their course project. The project required them to complete similar negotiation planning worksheets, conduct a real-life negotiation, and then assess their performance. They submitted their completed project work to Ljerka after the class ended and she forwarded them to me by mail.

Ljerka's expertise, creativity, and perspective were essential to the success of the Negotiation Skills course. She was actively involved in the course design, organization, selection of outside resources, and implementation. During the course, she translated concepts and terminology, as well as directed, observed, and provided feedback for the small group activities and role playing. She conducted the last session's role playing activities with three students who were absent. She also collected the student projects, for transmittal to me.

The new training facilities were wonderful. The site in the old city was huge, with a beautiful sitting room and exquisite view of the river Drava and the old city. The sole drawback was that it was up three very long sets of stairs, which was a strong disincentive to any lecturer with heavy materials or audiovisual equipment!

The first generation of students in the Entrepreneurship masters degree program were extraordinary in terms of their experience, expertise, and commitment to the program.. It was clear that the lack of job and life experience of the second and third generations in the program would necessitate simplification of the current course content for Negotiation Skills.

As a result, we recommended that future Negotiation Skills courses focused in on a modified Getting to Yes content, with ample practice using each negotiation strategy in both prepared and real life negotiation exercises. We also recommended that the current Getting to Yes instructional materials be augmented with the staying calm and active listening skills exercises from the Getting Past No content.

All of the content and handout materials necessary for the redesign of the course for future generations were already in Osijek, with Ljerka. So it would be an easy matter to revise the lesson plan and create new participant materials.

After I left Osijek, I was able to read and grade the students'projects, which were all very effective and complete. They clearly understood how to apply negotiation skills in their work lives and had ample opportunity to practice them!

Although there were tentative plans for me to return again to conduct a team building session with the faculty, the occasion never arose.

I left this Croat training experience with more gifts than I can mention. The ones that jump to mind include the incredible opportunity to visit and get to know different people of varying ages, experiences, and backgrounds from throughout Croatia;

  • travel to and through Europe for the very first time;

  • make good friends in Croatia and in Hungary;

  • see the world and the United States from the Croat perspective;

  • enjoy the culture, the food, the architecture, the customs, the open markets, the art, the inland and Adriatic cities and the cosmopolitan capital, Zagreb;

  • watch my son build friendships and happy experiences that spanned language differences;

  • learn from the most stimulating economic marketing and entrepreneurship gurus;

  • be welcomed into different homes and family lives; and

  • stand in awe at the warmth, generosity, resilience, creativity, humor, and fortitude of the students, academics, and business people (and their families) I had the pleasure to meet.

And to treasure the gift of Joan's friendship, business acumen, generosity of spirit, fierce loyalty, and networking that made it all possible.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Tip #143: Accelerated Learning in Croatia #4

Accelerated learning techniques include involving as many senses as possible for whole brain learning and to meet the needs of different learning styles. Color, music, touch, movement, visual stimulation, and the use of metaphor and story are all very important ingredients in an accelerated learning classroom.

After my first trip to Croatia to train trainers for the small business development centers in 1998, I returned four more times in March and July of 2000 and March and May of 2001 to work with the School of Economics at JJ Strossmeyer University in Osijek.. My assignment was to help them design the first European student-centered MBA program in Entrepreneurship and train the faculty there. My son Seth accompanied me on the first two trips, becoming a world traveler at the ripe old age of 10!

When I returned to Osijek in March, 2001, it was again a busy time:

  • Facilitating the 8 hour Team Teaching Primer workshop for 14 faculty.

  • Outlining the 20 hour Negotiation Skills course to be co-facilitated with Slavica and Ljerka.

  • Conducting consultations with seven faculty to: discuss interactive pedagogy; create, review, and/or revise lesson plans; and plan student projects.

  • Eliciting student feedback regarding the program to date, as well as desired content for inclusion in the Negotiation Skills course.

On the whole, I observed that the faculty appeared to be sincerely attempting to put into practice the interactive pedagogy that they had been taught. As with any new endeavor, some needed additional experience and coaching support.

Feedback from students indicated that they appreciated the program. They also saw visible evidence of professional growth and effectiveness of individual professors, citing the professor whom I had coached the last visit in particular!

The Team Teaching Primer generated a lot of good ideas among those present. They were aware of a continuing need to discuss their planned curricula with each other and integrate their lessons, where appropriate, to avoid unnecessary duplication.

Unfortunately, only a few full professors attended the Primer. It was clear that more would have to be done to minimize the impact of the traditional formal educational hierarchy on the partnership between the degreed and lesser degreed –faculty” in the program.

In order to establish a strong team identity and obtain commitment to shared team goals and procedures, I suggested a two day retreat:

The first day would be devoted to interactive team building training exercises designed to:

  • create a sense of team;

  • reinforce the importance of team work;

  • develop more comfortable interpersonal relationships; and

  • increase the awareness and appreciation of individual member's strengths and capabilities.

The second day would be devoted to establishing the formal Entrepreneurship program team by:

  • identifying team procedures and expectations (in relation to the program, the program faculty, individual teaching teams, and the students);

  • discussing the key focus and approach of each course to identify opportunities to integrate or build upon content; and

  • opening up both formal and informal communication channels.

Although plans were made to schedule this retreat, the difficulty in coordinating schedules with the Entrepreneurship program and their other teaching assignments ultimately made this impossible.

As an adjunct to this retreat, or to accomplish some of the same ends should the retreat not be possible, I also recommended that program faculty meetings be scheduled and conducted in which the overall program philosophy, as well as the individual course content and design, would be discussed. The desired end result would be an integrated and consistent program curriculum.

Individual faculty were encouraged to observe each other's lectures as well as to offer peer coaching, when requested.

In the interest of creating a formal systematized curriculum, I strongly encouraged that a written orientation to the Entrepreneurship program should be created for all continuing and ad hoc program faculty, so that there was a complete and consistent understanding of the mission, pedagogical philosophy, organization, structure, norms, and expectations.

It also seemed very important that annotated course outlines and lesson plans be created and/or compiled for each course.

After helping to draft and shape the curriculum, train the faculty in student-based teaching techniques, audit the courses, coach individual faculty members, and recommend ways to ensure a formal consistent program, I was eager to return for a brand new experience. During my fifth visit, I would actually join the faculty to present a negotiation skills class!

Friday, October 13, 2006

Tip #142: Accelerated Learning in Croatia #3

Accelerated learning techniques include involving as many senses as possible for whole brain learning and to meet the needs of different learning styles. Color, music, touch, movement, visual stimulation, and the use of metaphor and story are all very important ingredients in an accelerated learning classroom.

After my first trip to Croatia to train trainers for the small business development centers in 1998, I returned four more times in March and July of 2000 and March and May of 2001 to work with the School of Economics at JJ Strossmeyer University in Osijek.. My assignment was to help them design the first European student-centered MBA program in Entrepreneurship and train the faculty there. My son Seth accompanied me on the first two trips, becoming a world traveler at the ripe old age of 10!

I was very busy when I returned to Osijek in July of 2000:

  • meeting with Economics professors to design interactive curricula for core and elective courses in the second, third, and fourth semesters;

  • designing a 90-minute orientation session for incoming students;

  • auditing all first semester classes currently in session at least once;

  • creating coordinated course schedules for the first and second semesters;

  • advising professors with elective courses to develop marketing blurbs and making provision to have students rank their elective choices to ensure that all courses have sufficient attendance;

  • discussing the program web site and making plans to include information about adjunct professors;

  • planning to create consistent and reasonable student evaluation methodology;

  • planning to create a first semester progress report format to give students useful feedback about their performance; and

  • making provisions to provide ongoing e-mail assistance and support for the instructors as they continue to design their courses, as well as to review the marketing blurbs for the electives.

It was incredibly exciting to find that the students were enthusiastically and actively participating in all interactive activities, including case studies, mind mapping, group problem solving, group discussion, personal assessments, questionnaires, and role playing.

The students said that the assistant dean, Sanja and Ljerka had set a very high standard of teaching for the other professors to meet.

All of the first semester instructors were excited about their curricula and delighted with student interaction. Sanja mentioned that her lessons had exceeded her expectations.

It became apparent that the professors needed to learn techniques to manage class activities, including group work as well as guest lecturers, to maintain student enthusiasm yet exert necessary control to keep on schedule. In the meantime, a kitchen timer was suggested as a way to end group activities on time.

The work accomplished with the various professors ranged from the review of one lesson plan, to the creation of several plans, to the discussion of all content planned for the entire course. All were open to, and generated their own, very creative ideas, keeping in mind the need to ensure that the students receive practical tools to use in business.

All in all, it was extremely gratifying to see the interactive training techniques in successful use, both in the current sessions as well as the planned sessions.

If you are wondering how I managed to audit the courses, despite a lack of fluency in Croat or a translator, my secret is very simple. I used the Mastery Teaching Model to determine if learning was occurring. I watched for the content decisions (was there a clear and logical progression and were the students set up for success), the learner activity decisions (what was the ratio of lecture to interactive exercises that checked student comprehension and application of the content), and the trainer facilitation decisions (engaging the students in dialogue, coaching to correct answers, providing sufficient clarify when making assignments). Occasionally, I would ask a student fluent in English to explain anything that was unclear to me.

My son would explain that his mom spent the day sitting in classes where she didn't understand the language. Perhaps I didn't understand Croat, but I definitely could understand when learning was happening!

Also, as a wonderful side note, I also saw that these students, who had spent a lifetime in lecture classes without any interaction with the professor, were now unwilling to sit and be lectured to! When guest lecturers were brought in, they would sit patiently for about ten minutes and then raise their hands to make comments or ask questions. Once they had a taste of being an active partner in their own learning, they were eager for it to continue!

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Tip #141: Accelerated Learning in Croatia #2

Accelerated learning techniques include involving as many senses as possible for whole brain learning and to meet the needs of different learning styles. Color, music, touch, movement, visual stimulation, and the use of metaphor and story are all very important ingredients in an accelerated learning classroom.

After my first trip to Croatia to train trainers for the small business development centers in 1998, I returned four more times in March and July of 2000 and March and September of 2001 to work with the School of Economics at JJ Strossmeyer University in Osijek.. My assignment was to help them design the first European student-centered MBA program in Entrepreneurship and train the faculty there. My son Seth accompanied me on this return trip and one other trip, becoming a world traveler at the ripe old age of 10!

It was gratifying to learn that that the small business center in Osijek, just started two years ago, when they feared that no one would make use of their training and small business counseling services (entrepreneurism is a very new concept there), now had over 44 clients and could not handle all of the course and counseling demands!

Thanks to Sanja, an associate professor at the School of Economics, University of Osijek, we were kept very busy: I spent the first week alternately meeting with Sanja to develop a 20 hour Creativity and Innovation course and with Ljerka to develop a 20 hour Presentation Skills course, both to begin April 13-15 with the inception of the masters degree program in Entrepreneurism there.

The second week, I met with a different professor each morning for four hours to help with their second or third semester course, then taught a train-the trainer from 2-6 for all professors who will be involved in this masters program. The emphasis was on having them use interactive instructional methods rather than 90 minutes of straight lecture. The group was open, enthusiastic, and very appreciative. I also learned a lot, myself, as they each had to explain their area of expertise (intelligent systems, statistics, economic finance, etc.) to me before I could help them.

Amazingly, almost everyone spoke English, with a broader vocabulary than most Americans. And each apologized for their English, which left me even more apologetic about my complete lack of facility in their language!

On the last afternoon of training, Ljerka presented a 45 minute segment of a lesson we had co-created in Presentation Skills the previous week, using all sorts of interactive methods and audiovisual aids. She did a brilliant job, modeling what we expected of each professor and establishing a very high benchmark.

Ljerka and I actually managed to design all 20 hours of her course, primarily due to her great facility with the English language (she teaches it, with a beautiful British accent), her quick and perceptive adoption of the techniques, and her amazing energy and enthusiasm. Sanja and I were able to design over 12 hours of her 20 hour course.

The exciting thing was that I knew I would be going back in July to audit all four of the courses that would be nearing completion in the first semester (two are being designed with professors at St. Louis University), as well as to work more intensively with the professors who would be conducting the second and third semester courses. So, I would actually be able to watch the designs in full fruition!

Of course, I brought 20 pounds of candy (as opposed to the 85 pounds two years previous, when I had trained five days in Osijek and five in Dubrovnik, along the Adriatic). And koosh balls, which they loved and which I left with them. I also showed my cartoons, but didn't choose wisely. There was a cute one about a wife using a football analogy to get her husband to take out the garbage- but football in Croatia means soccer!

While I was working, Seth spent the entire day with Jadranka and her three children with Danijel, who was a veterinarian: Tomi (turned 14 while we were there, and spoke and understood English), Denis (10, who understood it a bit, but didn't speak English), and Ivana (8, who didn't speak or understand it). Since the children had only four hours of school a day, one or the other two were always home for Seth to play with. Jadranka, who works for the School of Agriculture, took time off from her work for the duration of our stay so that she could entertain Seth. When I found out about this, I felt very guilty about such an extreme imposition on her time and income- however, she assured me that, as academic staff, she could make up the time later- and she saw this visit as an investment in her future- her children.

This beautiful, vibrant, loving woman took Seth and her children to all kinds of parks, bicycling, playing outside, to the city pool (which is new and puts Madison to absolute shame!), to the zoo, feeding Seth lunches, and overseeing his getting his huge amount of homework done (he is very conscientious and worked continually to complete it, which he did before we returned to Madison). Seth also went to give a talk in Tomi's class about America, using postcards and books of America and Wisconsin that we brought- and was such a huge hit (the children privately asked him questions, such as whether or not he had a girlfriend!), that they invited him to return the next day to visit the zoo with them. Jadranka also sewed up his left shoe when their small and protective dog (who was in a cage) took a healthy bite (of Seth's sock, but not his foot, which was in both, thank goodness!) when Seth inadvertently walked too near the dog's enclosure.

It was a wonderful trip, which ended in Osijek with all of the professors, Jadranka, Danijel, their children, and Seth and I sharing a lovely dinner at a very nice restaurant. A lovely and generous send off.

The world is an increasingly small place- and the warmth and generosity of people we met gave us a true feeling of connection. It would be wonderful if all children could travel to at least one other country and live with the people there. Once you have been in another country, it is impossible not to care about the health and well being of the people there. It would be a true investment in a peaceful world future.

Wednesday, October 4, 2006

Tip #140: A Tribute to Dr. Alma Baron

When I first started training adults in assertiveness in the mid 1970's, I taught in the evening for the University of Wisconsin Extension in Madison, Wisconsin. After I had taught two sessions, I got a call from a Dr. Alma Baron, who was interested in having me conduct a one hour after dinner program on assertiveness for her class at the Management Institute. Dr. Baron had recently introduced women's programs, beginning with a series of seminars on administrative and secretarial skills, and she thought I might possibly be a good addition to her program.

That one- hour after- dinner program soon became a two- hour afternoon program, then a four-hour program, and eventually an all- day program, as Dr. Baron took me under her wing, mentored me, and included me in more of her workshops.

We eventually even created a distance learning program in assertiveness, long before the advent of home computers and video hook ups. Alma asked me to write the introduction to the workbook, design activities, and administer the program, reading the participants'written homework which they mailed back every week! Surprisingly, it worked!

Alma was this petite bundle of energy who was always impeccably coiffed and clad in wonderful dresses and pant suits. Since she had spent a long time working in a women's clothing store with her husband, Lee, she knew just when to buy the latest fashions at the best prices. I'm sure I was a terrible disappointment to her in that arena.

However, she was a very vocal and enthusiastic supporter of my training skills and, because of Alma, I began my relationship as an ad hoc instructor for the Management Institute that would last over thirty years!

For years, her energy and vitality, her absolute love of being in front of a group and telling stories, her sincere commitment to help women move into management roles, and her ability to engage people to learn and share what they had learned were a beacon at the University.

Among Alma's many extraordinary accomplishments, the one that made the greatest difference to me was her decision to go back to school to earn her doctorate in adult education at the age of 51, while still managing Lee Baron's women's clothing store on the Square in Madison. And Alma never stopped encouraging me to return for my own doctorate, feeling that it was an important key to unlock my future.

It certainly unlocked Alma's, because she quickly expanded her sphere beyond the borders of Wisconsin and the United States to include yearly teaching commitments in India, Scandinavia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia.

She even created her own endowment: The Alma Baron Second Chance for Women Scholarship. The beneficiary of this annual award is a woman older than 45 years old who has been accepted at the University of Wisconsin- Madison to continue her education after a period of time away from academia.

Dr. Alma Baron died last week at the age of 83 after an incredibly full life as a civic leader and an amazing inspirational teacher. Because of her trust in a fledgling trainer and her prodigious support as a mentor, I was able to move with focus and certainty along the path she blazed as an independent training consultant.

I will miss her energy, her thousand- watt smile, her practical, can do optimism and creativity, her down to earth humor, and her wonderful stories and belief in the human spirit. We were all blessed to have had her with us to light the way.