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The Adult Learner and ChangeA Leadership Seminar

February 2 , 2011Sao Paulo, Braz i l

Dr. E l la S . S immons

Global Leadership Summit

2

People and Organizations

David Swanson Story

The Focus3

Not authority, force, or coercion – us versus them

But rather, all for Quality Change for improvement Transformation

The Focus4

The development of an organization’s core skills and capabilities, such as leadership, management, finance and fund-raising, programs and evaluation, in order to build the organization’s effectiveness and sustainability

assisting an individual or group to identify and address issues and gain the insights, knowledge, and experience needed to solve problems and implement change

capacity building through the provision of support activities, including coaching, training, specific technical assistance, and resource networking

Assurances5

Human Capital: Assets that are available for on-going needs to produce desired outcomes toward mission

Buy-in: Acceptance by key stakeholders of a proposed plan or stakeholder “ownership” to the extent the stakeholders are willing to champion the plan to other individuals or groups.

Task/Project Logic - A clear model that aligns resources, activities, and goals of a project to allow the relationships to be clearly viewed and understood

Leaders6

Leaders act as change agents in the organization by:Promoting mission to create and sustain value.Recognizing and relentlessly pursuing new opportunities

to serve that mission.Engaging the organization in a process of continuous

innovation, adaptation, and learning.Acting boldly without being limited to resources currently

in hand.Exhibiting a heightened sense of accountability to the

constituencies served and for the outcomes created.

REASONS FOR TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT7

1. Challenging processes.

Instead of being satisfied with the status quo, leaders make things happen.

They continually push the limits of the organization by innovating and by taking initiative and risks.

They question the status quo and find new ways to accomplish their mission.


2. Inspiring a shared vision.

Leaders have a clear and compelling vision of the future, and they are able to communicate this vision to others—both inside and outside the organization.

They have a vision of how to create value, and they share it widely.


3. Enabling others to act.

Rather than simply assign tasks to others, leaders empower them with the authority that they will need to get the tasks done without additional permission.

Leaders support their staff/team and help clear away organizational hurdles.

They enable members of their team to find their own ways to accomplish the organization’s goals.


4. Equipping by modeling the way.

The best leaders walk their talk—they follow through on their promises, and they are willing to do the things that they say others should do.

They have values and they exhibit them in their everyday organizational lives.

They model desired behaviors: resourcefulness, accountability, and more.


5. Encouraging the heart.

Leaders inspire those around them and encourage them to do their very best and to persevere in the face of adversity.

Leaders celebrate successes—and those who brought them about—and they share in the inevitable failures.

They encourage the members of their team to reach high and to never be satisfied with mediocrity.

Developing a Culture of Continuous Quality & Improvement

Understanding the Organization12

Governance. Rate the capability of the organization. What is the composition in terms of professional need, diversity, and so on? How well does the organization perform its functions, and what is the level of commitment to the mission?

Management and Organization. Rate the capability of leadership and senior staff. Analyze the structure, policies, reporting systems, and guiding principles.

Culture. Are there organizational values and beliefs, and entrepreneurial spirit, and a commitment to outcomes? Is there an environment where all associates, volunteers, and advisors know that their contribution is making a difference?


Strategic Thinking/Planning. Does the organization have clarity of mission, outcomes, and strategies? Are there marketing plans and processes for the evaluation of the organization’s effectiveness?

Resources Development. Does the organization have viable fund development, reporting, and communication plans? How good are the supplier/supporter relationships, partnership, and alliances?

Financial Management and Reporting. Rate the financial controls. Does the organization have an annual budget, monthly financial reports, annual or semiannual audits, adequate insurance, and timely reporting to appropriate sources?


Marketing and Promotion. Has the organization done a market analysis? Is there a marketing plan, process for constituent feedback? Are communication materials consistent with marketing plans and strategies?

Human Resources Management. Does the organization have good operating policies, up to date task descriptions, annual performance reviews, professional development and financial support opportunities? Are there quality orientation activities and training?


Physical Plant and Equipment. Does the organization have the technology to create efficiency and effectiveness (quick access to information, rapid response, quality control, financial accountability, etc.)?

Are your facilities safe and inviting to constituents, and do they facilitate a positive working environment? Does program-related equipment exceed quality standards, and is it well maintained?

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What do we know about adult learners?

Andragogy: Adult Learning17

Adult Learners:

1. Motivated to learn as they experience needs and interests that learning will satisfy

2. Orientation to learning is life-centered3. Have experience as their richest resource4. Have a deep need to be self-directing5. Have individual differences that increase with age

Andragogical Model: Factors for Teaching and Learning18

1. Adults need to know why they need to learn something before undertaking to learn it.

2. Adults have a self-concept of being responsible for their own decisions, for their own lives.

3. Adults come into the educational activity with both a greater volume and a different quality of experience from youths.

4. Adults come ready to learn those things they need to know and be able to do in order to cope effectively with their real-life situations.

5. Adults are life-centered (or task-centered or problem-centered) in their orientation to learning.

6. Adult learners, while responsive to some external motivators, respond best to internal pressures.

The Teacher as Facilitator19

Our environments change constantly, therefore, we must strive for the facilitation of learning.

The critical element in the role of teacher as facilitator requires a personal relationship between the teacher and the learner.

The facilitator must possess three attitudinal qualities Realness or genuineness Nonpossessive caring spirit, prizing, trust and respect Empathetic understanding and sensitive, accurate listening

Guidelines for Facilitator20

1. The facilitator has much to do with setting the initial mood or climate of the group or class experience.

2. The facilitator helps to elicit and clarify the purpose of the individuals in the class and the more general purpose of the group.

3. The facilitator relies upon the desire of each student to implement those purposes which have meaning for him/her as the motivational force behind significant learning.

4. The facilitator endeavors to organize and make easily available the widest possible range of resources for learning.


5. The facilitator regards himself/herself as a flexible resource to be utilized by the group.

6. In responding to expressions in the classroom or group, the facilitator accepts both intellectual content and the emotionalized attitudes.

7. As the acceptant classroom climate becomes established, the facilitator is able increasingly to become a participant learner, a member of the group, expressing his/her views as those of one individual in the group.


8. The facilitator takes the initiative in sharing himself/herself with the group—including feelings and thoughts—in ways which do not demand or impose, but represent simply personal sharing which students may take or leave.

9. Throughout the classroom experience, the facilitator remains alert to the expressions indicative of deep or strong feelings.

10. In his/her functioning as a facilitator of learning, the leader endeavors to recognize and accept his/her own limitations.

Guidelines for the Facilitation of Learning23

1. Behavior that is rewarded from the learner’s point of view is more likely to recur.

2. Sheer repetition without reward is a poor way to learn.

3. Threat and punishment have variable effects on learning, but they can and do commonly produce avoidance behavior in which the reward is the diminution of possibilities.


4. How “ready” we are to learn something new is contingent upon the confluence of diverse—and changing—factors, some which include:

Adequate existing experience to permit the new to be learned (in relation to what we already know)

Adequate significance and relevance for the learner to engage in learning activity (what is appropriate to our purposes, contexts, needs)

5. Whatever is to be learned will remain unlearnable if we believe that we cannot learn it or if we perceive it as irrelevant or if the learning situation is perceived as threatening.


6. Novelty (per 4 and 5 above) is generally rewarding.

7. We learn best that which we participate in selecting and planning ourselves.

8. Genuine participation (as compared with feigned participation intended to avoid punishment) intensifies motivation, flexibility, and rate of learning.


9. An autocrat atmosphere created by a dominating teacher who controls direction produces in learners apathetic conformity, various and frequently devious kinds

of defiance, scapegoating—venting hostility generated by the repressive atmosphere on colleagues, or escape, and produces increasing dependence upon the authority, with consequent submissiveness, flattery, anxiety, shyness, and acquiescence.

10. “Closed,” authoritarian environments condemn most learners to continuing criticism, sarcasm, discouragement, and failure so that self-confidence, aspiration, and a healthy self-concept are destroyed.


11. The best time to learn anything is when whatever is to be learned is immediately useful to us.

12. An “open” nonauthoritarian atmosphere can be conducive to learner initiative and creativity, encouraging the learning of attitudes of self-confidence, originality, self-reliance, enterprise, and independence. All of which is equivalent to learning how to learn.

A System of Educational Design28

1. A possible educational activity is identified.2. A decision is made to proceed.3. Objectives are identified and refined.4. A suitable format is designed.

a. Learning resources are selected.b. A leader or group of leaders is chosen.c. Methods are selected and used in preparation.d. A time schedule is made.e. A sequence of events is devised.f. Social reinforcement of learning is provided.g. The nature of each individual learner is taken into account.h. Roles and relationships are made clear.i. Criteria for evaluating progress are identified.j. The design is made clear to all concerned.

A System of Educational Design29

5. The format is fitted into larger patterns of life.a. Learners are guided into or out of the activity both at the

beginning and subsequently.b. Life styles are modified to allow time and resources for the

new activity.c. Financing is arranged.

6. The program is carried out.7. The results of the activity are measured and appraised.8. The situation is examined in terms of the possibility of a new

educational activity.

Teacher as Helper30

Characteristics Is warm and loving; accepts and cares about the students and

about their learning needs and problems; takes all seriously; is willing to spend time helping; is approving, supportive, encouraging, and friendly; regards the learner as an equal

Has confidence in the learner’s ability to make appropriate plans and arrangements for learning; has a high regard for the learner's skill as a self-planner; and does not want to take the decision-making control away from the learner.

Teacher as Helper31

Views his/her interaction with the learner as dialogue—listening as well as talking; tailors help to the needs, goals, and requests of the learner

Helps because of genuine regard and concern for the learner Is an open and growing person; continues to be a learner; seeks

growth and new experiences Tends to be spontaneous and authentic, and is free to behave

in unique ways

Teaching through Modeling32

The teacher behaves in ways he wants the learner to imitate.

The teacher’s basic technique is role modeling.

Perspective Transformation33

Adult learning endeavors must do more than satisfy the learning needs of individual, organizations, and society, but they need to seek to help adult learners transform their way of thinking about themselves and their world.

To accomplish transformation the learner must develop competence in “critical reflectivity.”

Change: A Group Dynamics View34

1. A group tends to be attractive to an individual and to command his loyalty to the extent that: It satisfies her/his needs and helps him achieve goals that

are compelling to him/her. It provides him/her with a feeling of acceptance and

security. Its membership is congenial to him. It is highly valued by outsiders.

2. Each person tends to feel committed to a decision or goal to the extent that he has participated in determining it.


3. A group is an effective instrument for change and growth in individuals to the extent that:

Those who are to be changed and those who are to exert influence for change have a strong sense of belonging to the same group.

The attraction of the group is greater than the discomfort of the change.

The members of the group share the perception that change is needed.

Information relating to the need for change, plans for change, and consequences of change are shared by all relevant people.

The group provides an opportunity for the individual to practice changed behavior without threat or punishment.

The individual ins provided a means for measuring progress toward the change goals.


4. Every force tends to induce an equal and opposite counterforce. (So the strategy is to weaken the forces that are resisting change, rather than adding new positive forces toward change. Model/help, rather than coerce/threaten.)

5. Every group is able to improve its ability to operate as a group to the extent that it consciously examines its processes and their consequences and experiments with improved processes.

6. The better an individual understands the forces influencing his/her own behavior and that of a group, the better he/she will be able to contribute constructively to the group and at the same time to preserve his/her own integrity against subtle pressures toward conformity and alienation.


7. The strength of pressure to conform is determined by the following factors:

a. The strength of the attraction a group toward requiring conformity

b. The importance to the individual of the issue on which conformity is being requested

c. The degree of unanimity of the group toward requiring conformity


8. The determinants of group effectiveness include:

The extent to which a clear goal is present The degree to which the group goal mobilizes energies of group

members behind group activities The degree to which there is agreement or conflict among members

concerning means that the group should use to reach the goal The degree to which the activities of different members are

coordinated in a manner required by the group's tasks The availability to the group of needed resources, whether they be

economic, material, legal, intellectual, or other The degree to which the group is organized appropriately for its task The degree to which the processes it uses are appropriate to the task

and stage of development

What is learning?39

Learning involves change in knowledge, skill, attitudes, and habits or ways of doing things.

A process by which behavior is changed, shaped, or controlledGrowth, development of competencies, and fulfillment of

potentialThree domains of learning

Affective Cognitive Psychomotor

The Learner’s Perspective40

1. Law of proximity: closeness in pattern, time, space

2. Law of similarity and familiarity: similarity in form, appearance, characteristics, and so forth

3. Law of closure: end state, equilibrium/balance

4. Law of continuation: organization in perception so as to continue a straight line, close a circle, complete a triangle

Change in Adult Learners41

Critical Periods: time surrounding important experiences: marriage, birth of a child, loss of a loved one, and other “choice points” in lifeAn older dog may learn new tricks better than a younger dog because of these life experiences!

Commitment: long term versus short-term value of education and learning characterized by intentionality, a sense of personal responsibility

The difference is similar in nature to the difference between courtship and marriage.

Change in Adult Learners42

Time perception: the realization that time is not unlimited and that as time passes one’s options reduce correspondingly

Time seems to pass more rapidly as one grows older.

Changes in intelligence: often lesser formal education than younger persons, assumption is a lessening of the ability to learn with age

Role and Self-concept: the view of society and self as non-learner (role of children and youth)

Sense of discovery: tendency to be lost in adult years

Creating Lifelong Learning Communities43

1. Learning in a world of accelerating change must be a lifelong process.

2. Learning is a process of active inquiry with the initiative residing in the learner.

3. The purpose of education is to facilitate the development of the competencies required for performance in a life situation.

4. Learners are highly diverse in their experiential backgrounds, pace of learning, readiness to learn, and styles of learning; therefore learning programs need to be highly individualized.

5. Resources for learning abound in every environment; a primary task of a learning system or community is to identify these resources and link learners with them effectively.

Creating Lifelong Learning Communities44

6. People who have been taught in traditional schools have on the whole view the proper role of learners as being dependent on teachers to make decisions for them as to what should be learned, how it should be learned, when it should be learned, and if it has been learned; they therefore need to be helped to make the transition to becoming self-directed learners.

7. Learning (even self-directed learning) is enhanced by interaction with other learners.

8. Learning is more efficient if guided by a process structure such as a learning plan than by a content structure such as a curriculum outline.

Steps in Creating a Lifelong Learning Resource System45

1. Identify the learning resources in a community.

2. Incorporate information about the resources into a databank.

3. Establish a mechanism for policy making and administration. (cardinal principle: All parties that have a stake in the learning system should be represented in its management.)

4. Design a lifelong learning process. Systems thinking is process thinking; form becomes associated with process, interrelation with interaction, and opposites are unified through oscillation (fluctuation, flexibility, variation, ebb and flow) – an ecological view emphasizing the interrelatedness and interdependence of the elements (and persons) in the system.

Process Design for a Lifelong Learning Resource System

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The model proposes that the process of lifelong learning consists of individuals engaging in a series or spirals of learning projects involving these elements:

1. A broadening and deepening of the skills of self-directed inquiry

2. The diagnosis of learning or competency development needs

3. Translation of these needs into learning objectives

Process Design for a Lifelong Learning Resource System

47

4. Identification of human and material resources for accomplishing these objectives

5. Design of a plan of strategies for using the resources for accomplishing these objectives effectively and efficiently

6. Executing the plan

7. Evaluating the extent to which the objectives have been accomplished

Skills of Self-Directed Learning48

1. Ability to develop and be in touch with curiosities; ability to engage in divergent thinking – thinking out of the box

2. Ability to perceive one’s self objectively and accept feedback about one’s performance nondefensively

3. Ability to diagnose one’s learning needs in the light of models of competencies required for performing life roles

4. Ability to formulate learning objectives in terms that describe performance outcomes

Skills of Self-Directed Learning49

5. Ability to identify human, material, and experiential resources for accomplishing various kinds of learning objectives

6. Ability to design a plan of strategies for making use of the appropriate learning resources effectively and efficiently

7. Ability to carry out a learning plan systematically and sequentially (convergent thinking)

8. Ability to collect evidence of the accomplishment of learning objectives and have it validated through performance

Creative Leaders50

Creative leaders make a different set of assumptions about human nature from the assumptions made by controlling leaders.

Creative leaders accept as a law of human nature that people feel a commitment to a decision in proportion to the extent that they feel they have participated in making that decision.

Creative leaders believe in and use the power of self-fulfilling prophesy.

Creative Leaders51

Creative leaders highly value individuality.

Creative leaders stimulate and reward creativity.

Creative leaders emphasize internal motivators over external motivators.

Creative leaders are committed to a process of continuous change and are skillful in managing change.

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Learning Communities: Discussion

How do learning communities differ from other structures?

Communities versus Business Functional Units

Communities versus Project or Operational Teams

Communities versus Informal Networks, “Communities of Interest,” and Professional Associations

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Seven Principles for Designing Learning Communities

1. Design for evolution.2. Open a dialogue between inside and outside

perspectives.3. Invite different levels of participation.4. Develop both public and private community spaces.5. Focus on value6. Combine familiarity and excitement.7. Create a rhythm for the community.

Getting Started: Broad Strokes54

1. Outline a strategic training and development framework.2. Review and clarify the mission and purpose for the organization/unit.3. Review, update, and analyze previous existing training needs data.4. Introduce the idea/concept and establish communication lines.5. Seek to acquire buy in from the larger or target group.6. Rediscover organization and individual core values.7. Establish a process of assessment for training and development.8. Determine short and long-term goals and objectives (organization, unit,

and individuals).9. Lead out in completing and implementing the plan.10. Guide the process and help facilitate the plan.

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Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God’s ideal for His children. Ed18

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Do not follow where the path may lead,go instead where there is no path and leave a

trail.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Ps 119:105

Sources58

Christina DrouinDirector of Institutional Marketing

Saint Andrew’s School, Boca Raton, FL

Scott LooneyDirector of Admission and Financial AidCranbrook Schools, Bloomfield Hills, MI

NAIS ANNUAL CONFERENCE, March 4, 2000

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Sources

Malcolm KnowlesThe Adult Learner: A Neglected Species, 2nd Ed.

Gulf Publishing Co, 1978

J. Gregory Dees, Jed Emerson, and Peter EconomyStrategic Tools for Social Entrepreneurs: Enhancing the Performance of Your

Enterprising NonprofitJohn Wiley and Sons, Inc, 2002

Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott, and William M. SnyderCultivating Communities of PracticeHarvard Business School Press, 2002

60

Sources

Lee G. Bolman and Terrance E. DealReframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership, 2nd Ed.

Jossey-Bass publishers, 1997

Jim CollinsGood to Great

Harpers Collins Publishers, 2001

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