Re: Learning while not doing LO1834

Tim Dixon (tdixon@arnie.pec.brocku.ca)
Wed, 28 Jun 95 12:12:23 -0400

Replying to LO1792 --

Kent: While your comments which do not support the hypothesis below seem
just as logical, I place my "faith" in the validity of this hypothesis
given the nature of my work (experiential training and development):

To get results in activity A that requires learning, practice in related
activity B will often achieve the learning required, while practice in
activity A will not.

Such as statement probably seems self-evident for those training and
development consultants whom utilize an experiential methodology (i.e.
adventure-based initiatives for the purpose of team building). The very
premise of this approach to T&D assumes that a transfer of learning is
possible due to the metaphoric value of the experiential learning process
and may even be necessary for change to occur in many situations. For
example, if a "dysfunctional" or ineffective work team has trouble
resolving conflict/making decisions/communicating effectively in the
office, then a series of experiential group problem solving task will
provide a vehicle to reflect upon (and possibly transform) their team
processes. So the theory goes, that an adult learning process often
requires an "unfreezing-moving-refreezing" cycle. This unfreezing and
moving will often be more effectively facilitated if participants are in a
novel setting (the experiential training program) as opposed to the same
system (their work environment) that generated all the learned,
ineffective responses. Although this hypothesis may seem "self-evident"
to those organizations which utilize the power of metaphor to facilitate
organizational and personal transformation, our research institute has
been conducting qualitative and quantitative analysis on the transfer of
learning from and adventure/experiential learning context to the work
environment in an effort to better understand what is adding value to
sucha process.

See you on-line, Tim

--
Tim Dixon,  Director
Corporate Adventure Training Institute
Brock University
St. Catharines,  ON  L2S 3A1
(905)688 5550 3120
e-mail:tdixon@arnie.pec.brocku.ca