From spectating to contributing – personality-oriented training

by Erich Ziegler

Participants left the 10-day Andreas Hermes Akademie MDPT training course in Johannesburg deeply impressed and full of drive. With over 70 methods for participant-oriented training, their toolbox is full to the brim with ways to get farmers in their countries more involved and thereby enable more sustainable learning.

“Important discoveries for me are the six trumps and continuing commitment of participants. I have also learned that there are no strengths or weaknesses. We only have qualities that we can use to improve our training abilities. Even so-called weaknesses have advantages,” says Elles from Malawi, who participated in the course “Methods and Didactics for Personality-based Trainings (MDPT)”.

Six trumps for learning

  • Images trump words: our brains are better at remembering pictures than words. Visual representations support learning.
  • Talking trumps listening: active speaking and discussion improves and anchors learning.
  • Movement trumps sitting: movement promotes blood circulation and hence brain activity, which supports learning.
  • Writing trumps reading: writing appeals to several senses, which intensifies learning.
  • Shorter trumps longer: short, concise information is easier to process and remember.
  • Different trumps same: variety and creative methods make learning more interesting and effective.

Sharon Bowman, Training from the back of the room

From the outset, participants became absorbed in the intense, creative atmosphere with growing enthusiasm.
The event was held on behalf of SACAU, the umbrella organisation for farmers’ organisations from 14 countries in southern Africa. Together with my colleague Nanganidzai Mokoho from Zimbabwe, we organised a ten-day intensive training course that covered all the areas relevant to a training course.

Starting with creative use of materials, through a constructive feedback format, to learning psychology and group dynamics, a total of eight subject areas were covered. It was an intensive training course which involved applying over 70 methods.

The most important feature, however, was the increasing involvement of the participants. This was ensured by Sharon Bowman’s 4-C concept, which provided structure to each day.

4-C concept

  • Connect: in addition to contact with and between participants, this is about the connection to the topic: what do you know about it?
  • Concept: new content is introduced here.
  • Concrete practice: content is now applied in concrete exercises and illustrated via activities.
  • Conclusion: participants draw their conclusions from what they have experienced and connect their new insights to their everyday lives.

While participants initially adopted more of a spectator’s stance, they increasingly became active participants. But that was not all – participants organised the final day entirely by themselves. They decided on both content and form and thereby played an active role in shaping it.

After all, that was the main aim of the course: to experience for themselves how powerful the learning effect is when participants are actively involved in the learning process.“I will ensure that I deliver training that is participant-focused, using the different methods, tools and knowledge I have acquired during the training. My communication skills have also improved dramatically, which is not only useful for leading (…) training courses, but also for my personal life,” says Sarita from Namibia.

Thanks to the MDPT course, Andreas Hermes Akademie has once again lived up to its claim of offering training courses that are centred around people.

The Author

Erich Ziegler

This could be of interest to you: