Introduction
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn” Alvin Toffler. The world we live in is fast and dynamic, where change remains the only constant. The ‘learn, unlearn, relearn’ cycle captivates more critical thinking skills, inspiring you to analyze continually, have the courage to recognize one’s own knowledge gaps, and creates a willingness to broaden one’s perspectives and embrace changes, evaluate, and challenge knowledge to ensure it is relevant and up to date.
In the context of the opportunities with new projects and its prescribed deliverables as per the current employment market demands to skill the youth and employ them with various job opportunities, a two-day workshop was organized to equip all the facilitators of the state to empower and sharpen their thinking, planning, and strategizing as per the current need using our inherited methodologies.
The agenda was to enhance our training and learning skills and styles, to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of ourselves and our team, and to Strategize the skill training program implementation plan as per the NSQF Levels and its requirements. Agenda
Participants List
• Fr. Noble George, Assistant Director - Don Bosco Tech Society
• Ms. Antony Niveditha, Regional Program Manager, Don Bosco Tech
• Mr. Veeresh Modi, State Coordinator & State Placement - Karnataka
• Mr. Pritto Thomas, State MIS, and State Finance - Karnataka
• Ms. Anila Samson State MIS, and State Finance - Kerala
• Mr. Juby M T, State Coordinator & State Placement - Kerala • Mr. Arulraj Aloysius, State Coordinator & State Placement - Tamil Nadu
• Mr. Suresh Babu Nayudu, State Operations and Finance - Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
• Mr. Balaraju, Cluster Coordinator - Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
• Ms. S Dhanushree, ITES Trainer – Don Bosco Skill Mission
• Ms. Jaishree B.M, Electrical vehicle (EV) Trainer – Don Bosco Skill Mission
• Ms. Karpagam.G, DCOM Trainer – Don Bosco Skill Mission
• Mr. Mohan Kumar, Community Mobilizer – Don Bosco Skill Mission
Day 1 – 20th July 2022 The blessing of the almighty was sought upon the workshop with the prayer and welcome by Fr. Noble George. The workshop started with the introduction of all the participants to know each other better and to be with each other throughout the journey.
Energy Connectors - Knives and Glasses ‘Unlearning and Relearning is an ongoing process. To help us understand this better an activity called “Knives and Glasses” was conducted where the team was divided into two. Each team had a trainer and trainee who was guiding them to build a strong base with knives to hold a glass full of water without any support. This game included strategizing planning, and execution with instructions, teaching and learning, and leading to evaluation. This activity also helped each one of them to understand the role of a trainer and trainee and the importance of understanding each other’s perspectives to calibrate the best outcome of our training programs. The detail of the activity is attached here. Knives and Glasses
Training and Learning
Training is sharing of information and knowledge, through speech, the written word, or other methods of demonstration in a manner that instructs the trainee. Learning is the process of absorbing that information to increase skills and abilities and make use of it in a variety of contexts. Both these aspects are to be diligently handled in our classroom to ensure our trainees face success by the end of our skill training program. The achievement is evident when our trainees our employed successfully. Training and Learning
Further, the session was carried out with an interesting concept of: -
• Learning principles
• Motivation is the key to success
• Characteristics of Learning
• Obstacles of Learning
• Activating Teaching Training Approaches –outcome together How to do, practice, Supervise, evaluate the learnings and training is the trainee based
• Dimension of a Learning Objective –outcome Specification of Terminal Behavior, level of performance, Grading the performance, and educational objective
Adult Education
Adults unlike adolescents are complex since they hold a lot of responsibilities that demand them to lead a balanced life. These barriers could also lead to limited learning. There could be further challenges to proper learning due to financial constraints, difficult family background, limited learning opportunities based on domicile, etc.
The organization and trainer should design an effective learning module to help in the learning process of an adult. Adults have a lot of life experiences, which could be leveraged to teach the required skills as per their profession. An inclusive and interactive session could help build a good rapport with them and engage them all along the learning process. More practical sessions and analytical sessions would motivate them to achieve their goals in the longer term. Details attached. Principles of Adult Education
Self and Team Analysis
In the process of following the jargon such as ‘Deliverables, Target, Impact, Outcome, Leverage, Competency, etc.’ we have forgotten that we work with human beings and to be focused on Cognitive Skills, Active and Adaptive Learning, Critical Thinking, Developmental Learning, Empathy, Emotional Intelligence, Collaborative learning, etc. Therefore, this session was dedicated to taking time and understanding each participant and their respective team members’ knowledge, skills, and abilities as per the job roles executed in each of their centers. This helped the team to analyze and help each other to create a collaborative and supportive work environment, which could help our beneficiaries with a better future i.e., the mission and vision of the organization.
As part of the analysis activity, the team had a conducive atmosphere to share their strength and weaknesses at a personal level and the perceived strength and weaknesses of their teams. This process and experience led to a better understanding of themselves and their teams. This led to a realization that they need to be understanding and supportive of all in the team than just being only taskmasters. They are more confident in building and supporting their team as a unit towards the common achievement of the tasks thereby the vision and mission of the organization.
Classroom Learning
As the term specifies, in a classroom learning setup, the trainers and the trainees are physically present within four walls to understand and learn better. The benefits of classroom learning are Encourages Collaboration, Allows Instant Accommodations, Supports Student Social Development, Promotes Greater Critical Thinking, Teaches Better Responsibility, and Adds More Opportunities for Stimulation. This way it leads to behavioral change through four steps Experiencing, Understanding, Storing, and Remembering. The detailed physiological and psychological effects and consequences of classroom training are explained in the attachment Classroom Training
Learning Styles and Strategies
We all develop individual learning patterns. These can be grouped according to three major learning styles related to the sensory input channels of looking & seeing, listening & hearing, and touching & feeling: They are divided as Visual Learners, Auditory Learners, Read and Write, and Kinesthetic Learners. Every individual has a different ratio of each of these learning types which makes them unique. On this basis, all the participants attempted a VARK Test for themselves to analyze their learning styles and strategies. Each one of them had a different combination of scoring but the majority of them scored high in Kinesthetic and Auditory Learning. This test helps us to identify our trainees and their learning styles such that it could help us create better strategies to help them learn better; it also helps us individually identify the learning styles to be improved such that it could help us improve.
Procedure to Follow the VARK Test Procedure of VARK Test
VARK Questionnaire VARK Questionnaire More questionnaires can be referred to at http://vark-learn.com
Steps of Training Cycle and Systematic Approach
Considering this activity as the need of the hour the team together brainstormed and created a format for themselves with clear steps required for the training cycle in a systematic approach i.e an inclusive design as per our BASE Model and as per the NSQF Levels of each of our job roles. The steps are broken into Strategy Planning
• Need Assessment
• Program Designing
• Implementation process
• Evaluation and follow-ups
Conclusion
The two-day workshop concluded with an evaluation and everyone explicitly shared that this was a ‘need of the hour’ activity. In the chaos of achieving targets and reporting to the funding agency, we have forgotten to understand, plan and support each to achieve the vision and mission of the organization. It was also highly recommended to be conducted for staff at all levels right from National Office to the Center Level.