| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| �
� |
Applied Skills Curriculum Reorganization and Restructure Introduction In 1997, I began a two-year stint as an instructor at Goodwill Industries Training Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was my first experience as a classroom trainer. Two other instructors and I made up the training staff of the TALENT program at the Raleigh center. TALENT, Taking Advantage of Life; Engaging in New Technology, was initiated as a new program on July 6, 1998. Prior to the implementation of TALENT, the training center had offered three classes: Introduction to Keyboarding, a six-week course which covered typing and computer keyboarding exclusively, a ten-week computer class called MOST, or Modern Office Skills Technology, which covered Windows 3.1 and Microsoft Office Suite, and Independent Solutions, a two-week job seeking/job retention skills workshop. I was initially hired as the instructor for the Independent Solutions class. Not long after I began, however, we found that most students opted to take the two computer classes, but would skip Independent Solutions because they "didn't need that." As a result, my classes usually consisted of no more than five students at a time. The training staff began conducting follow-up interviews that quickly revealed that most students that opted to skip Independent Solutions either remained unemployed after training or lost their jobs quickly. This was no particular surprise. I, as a Job Developer in my previous job, was especially unmoved by the results, because I had first hand knowledge of the qualities most employers seek in their employees. I knew these desirable skills did not necessarily include computer skills. Further, I expected that students who missed the essential link in Independent Solutions were prone to be unsuccessful in their job search. The TALENT program sought to address these concerns. An integrated program, TALENT guided trainees through the identical classes, renamed Basic, Advanced and Applied skills, all as a single-unit course. Trainees no longer were given the option to skip any portion of the program. The new dilemma I faced as an instructor was to transform a commercial off-the-shelf, two-week curriculum into a twelve-week one. Suddenly, I was presented with the time and resources to teach all of the things I had been unable to cover in Independent Solutions. The development of the Applied Skills curriculum was a tremendous and often overwhelming project for me. I utilized the same outline as the curriculum I had been using in Independent Solutions and simply expanded on those things. I strove to integrate my class with the other two by doing things like covering resumes while the trainees were learning Word 97 in the Advanced Skills class or discussing budgeting while the trainees were learning Excel 97. It all seemed like a creative and well-thought-out plan. I was very proud. And then I had to teach it. What I quickly found was that the response to my class was less than enthusiastic. I stood before each successive group and poured my heart into every lesson. Instead of being met with motivated learners equally excited about the class, I received feedback mid-lesson such as, "Why is this class so LONG�" and "Do we HAVE to take this class?" I was convinced that the information I was presenting was important. I simply could not understand why my students did not seem to think so. My confidence shaken, I grew disillusioned and disenchanted with my work. In the second month after the birth of TALENT, I began my own stint as a student in Instructional Strategies in Adult and Community College Education, my first graduate class in the Training and Development program at North Carolina State University. After only a month or so of attending class, of learning about adult learners, the problems arising from my curriculum and course came into steadier focus. If I had only known! I had designed my curriculum based on what I thought my trainees should know. I had chosen activities I thought would be fun. I had designed the course structure and order around someone else's course. Not once during the intricate and careful development of my class had I considered what my trainees would want to know coming into the program. Not once had I asked. And so it became my mission to discover these things through this project. I asked. The trainees answered. And the curriculum grew! The following is the list of objectives originally covered in the Applied Skills curriculum in the order in which they were addressed. This list was created prior to any communication with trainees:
The following is a list of the objectives in order I believed a trainee needed to address and understand in order to be successful in the world of business. This list was created prior to any communication with trainees:
The following is a list of the objectives in order I believed most trainees wanted to address and understand upon completion of the TALENT program. This list was created prior to any communication with trainees:
� Trainee Feedback Seventeen surveys were mailed out to graduates of the first two classes of the TALENT program. The survey asked respondents to share their feelings regarding topics covered in the Applied Skills class and the methods of instruction used. Six surveys were returned. Topics Feedback (Survey) Graduates would like to have seen the following topics covered or covered in more detail:
Most useful topics that were currently being covered included:
Other topics rated very useful consistently among the six graduates responding included:
Methods Feedback (Survey) Methods of instruction consistently rated very useful by most of the survey completers included:
Overall, the class itself was ranked between useful and very useful. Classroom Feedback The most valuable and useful feedback was received from trainees when I asked a group directly what they wanted to learn from Applied Skills. I asked what they feared, what they hoped and what they were insecure about. They began with typical, "safe" answers, but as they warmed up, they provided information that gave me real insight into what Applied Skills needed to address. Highlights included:
Feedback Evaluation Topic Feedback Evaluation What immediately became clear to me as I listened to the trainees voice their fears and concerns, is that we, as instructors had been assuming way too much. I had been teaching concepts within a framework and with a basic knowledge to which the trainees did not yet have access. We made rules and regulations regarding dress and behavior, with the caveat, "You should know this is not acceptable in the workplace." But what I heard the trainees asking me is why they should know? From what prior experience would they be drawing this knowledge? We taught about a world about which the majority of the trainees know nothing. They recognize their lack of knowledge and it brought about all sorts of fears and insecurities about fitting in and acting appropriately. The underlying message in all of their comments was, "What's it like to work in a corporate environment? What if I don't fit in? What if I don't know what to say? What if I dress wrong? What if I act wrong? What if, because of these things I do wrong, they don't accept me?" With this new insight, I composed a list of skills we needed to develop and continue to develop in trainees through our training:
Additionally, while teaching these elements, we needed to address the following issues:
� It became clear to me that in order to make the class work, all of these skills and issues needed to somehow be addressed while teaching resumes, cover letters, applications and budgeting. Once that feat was accomplished, the curriculum just might work. Instruction Method Evaluation I was most struck by the feedback regarding the posters and visual aids used in my class. They were deemed by most to be not very useful. Not surprisingly, however, the methods that were most popular were those that most involved action by the trainees. Presentations, interviewing activities that involved the trainees doing something were ranked most highly. During the time that I was conducting these surveys, my team received a training session by one of our team leaders regarding learning styles. The trainer hit on some of the key characteristics of adult learners that we covered in the Instructional Strategies class. She suggested that teaching means "giving information so that they get it." As my class, to this point, had not been getting it, I was most interested. She pointed out four learning styles: Relators/Peacemakers, Analyzers/Truthkeepers, Drivers/Solutionseekers, Motivators/Risktakers. The trainer suggested that each of these styles should be addressed during each lesson. This should be accomplished using whatever methods of instruction meet those needs. This gave me the framework to brainstorm how to present my newly constructed curriculum so that my trainees got it. Revised Curriculum Plan As I considered all that I had learned from my trainees by the end of that semester, I began the process of figuring out a way to bring it all together into a format that made sense. One day, while standing before a group of new trainees, I found myself listening to yet another horror story about a supervisor who let a friend clock in and then go to breakfast and another who refused to allow employees to cash paychecks until a week after passing them out. I shook my head, thinking, "This just doesn't happen in the business world. How can I make them understand?" I repeated my frustration to my husband, a college student himself. He said simply, "Then teach them that it's another world." And from that evolved the idea for a new framework for the Applied Skills curriculum. The Concept Most of our trainees came from a place I call the "Industrial World." It includes wage jobs, typically time-clock jobs, manual labor, retail, hard work jobs. It isn't a bad place. It is a place where many, many people make a living and a life. It is a place where the pay can be exceptional, but typically the work is hard on the body. It includes plumbers and electricians, construction workers and housekeepers, waitresses and day care workers. Most who live in this world work hard, make a decent living, but rarely make six-figure incomes. I suggest there is a second world. The "Corporate World." This planet includes salaried positions, office environments, and suits. It is a nine to five world where people have organizers and computers on their desks. It isn't a better place. It isn't a less desirable place. It's just different. We used to commonly differentiate between these two worlds as "blue collar" and "white collar," but I hesitate to use those two phrases. I prefer worlds. One is neither better nor worse than the other. As the class begins, trainees are to choose of which world they want to be a resident. They may elect to be in the middle at first. I found that most attend the training in the hopes of gaining the skills to be qualified to fit into the Corporate World. Once they choose, the traveling analogy continues. If a trainee hopes to travel to the Corporate World, they need a way to get there. The training represents the bridge that links the two worlds. It is the pathway from one to the other. In order to find out about this new place, they will need to speak with someone who has been there. The instructors represent travelers who have been both places and are the sources of information about the Corporate World. I suggest that, as other countries have different rules and laws that govern their land, the Corporate World has its own rules by which its residents must live. These rules are surely very different from those that govern the Industrial World. A traveler should know those rules before he enters or risks being booted out back onto the bridge. The computer knowledge the trainees gain is the key to getting in the gate of the Corporate World. It is, indeed, the element that makes them qualified to enter. As any traveler would, the trainees need a suitcase. This could contain the clothing and first impressions that are acceptable in the Corporate World. The ticket one needs in order to travel could be representative of applications and cover letters, or the paperwork a traveler would need to be accepted into this new world. A traveler might need a roadmap to help guide him once he was there. This might be representative of knowledge regarding what a trainee could use his/her computer skills to do once there. What career path would he/she select? To illustrate these analogies, I used a felt board. Two cutout circles were representative of the Corporate and Industrial worlds. They were placed side-by-side on the background. Two cutout people represented the trainee and the instructor. A felt suitcase, rulebook, road map, and ticket were cut out and placed around the traveler. Finally, a bridge was placed between the two worlds, and a key was added to represent the computer knowledge the trainees acquired. The beauty of this format is that the trainees had a choice about which of these items they would like to explore first. They could select the rules, or the suitcase, the ticket, or the map. The material covered was the same, but the power of choice lay with the trainee. Finally, instead of telling them what they need to do to be successful, because I said so, I told them about a place they wanted to visit that I could share information about because I had been there. And with that, the tables turned and I suddenly, wonderfully, had information they wanted. I was no longer bound by a page-by-page, day-by-day curriculum. All I needed was a book of activities and additional information and handouts divided by key sections: ticket, suitcase, rules, map, key, and additional sections like diversity, and listening. The Rules provided a wonderful opportunity to "tell it like it is" and presented information in a way that said, "Here it is. If you want to be successful there, you're going to have to face these facts. If not, you're going right back out onto the bridge." Only my creativity and resources limited the variety of methods of instruction I could use to illustrate these topics. The best news of all? It worked. The Results The difference in the class once the new curriculum was introduced was significant. Though I was nervous at first, I found myself enjoying the increased interaction with my students. Slowly but surely, from the first day, we began building a rapport that provided momentum for us throughout the twelve weeks. My classes were suddenly fun, lively, and sometimes emotional. I began looking forward to each group and sensed that my students felt the same. Often, I found myself ending a session having learned more from them than I suspected they had from me. While I was their guide, I was no longer the only person in the room with useful knowledge to share. It was clear that my students were grateful for my recognition of their contributions. My final reward came a couple of months into the new curriculum. A student approached me after having missed the previous day due to illness. Gently, she touched my shoulder and apologized for her absence. I assured her she'd catch up easily. "Yeah," she replied, "but I missed it. This is my favorite class of the day." Yeah. Appendix The Rules
The Headings and Categories Key
Map
Rules
Suitcase
Ticket
Many more can be added as needed in the appropriate categories. The Database I constructed the new Applied Skills curriculum database with the categories in mind that I learned from the training session mentioned previously. They were as follows:
The challenge every instructor faces is meeting the needs of every learner in the audience. This format helped me to focus on each area and ensure that each and every class utilized methods of instruction that hit every learning style of every trainee in my group. For this site, I have attached a sample from the database in Word format. � A Sample Lesson I Phase: I. Self Assessment Topic: Introduction to Career Development Lesson: Job vs. Career/Trip/Worlds/Career Planning Process Competency: Skills to maintain a positive self-concept. Need: Newsprint and basket of markers, 4 success quotes, dictionary, career planning process poster, Felt Board, Principles of self-sufficiency posters, koosh ball Getting Connected: Have trainees find a partner and answer the question "What do you think this class is about?" and "What would you like to learn in this class?" Pair share information and use as a lead into the introduction regarding what Applied Skills is. Brainstorm "career" on newsprint. Ask for someone else to write. Circle or make note of topics that will follow in the lesson. On separate newsprint, ask for and record differences between job and career. Pair share the question "If money were no object, would you work? Why or why not?" Explain that some people work in order to be "successful." Ask trainees how they define success. Place four success quotes in different corners of the room and instruct trainees to choose and go stand near the one they most believe. Give option to not choose a listed one. Trainees should return to their seats and have a few minutes to jot down their own definition of success. Sharing the Wealth: Explain that some people work to be independent. Ask if any trainees hope to be independent. Explain that facilitator does not wish to be independent, because-- Ask a trainee to look the word up in the dictionary. Elaborate. Ask the trainee to look up "interdependent" and state that is what the facilitator wishes to be. Do trainees wish to be interdependent? But responsibility comes with interdependence, to bring whatever you have "to the table." Offer basket of markers to trainee as example of all one can bring, vs. just a single marker. Others get to pick and choose when you have a full basket. Ask group to define self-sufficiency. Explain this is the steps of gathering your markers, which is what we do in Applied Skills. Tie-in, if possible, using trainee feedback from the career brainstorm something regarding long term or planning. Explain that planning a career is like planning a trip. How many trainees have been on a vacation? What do you need to do or take with you? Brainstorm list on newsprint, letting someone else write. Explain that Motivation and Urgency are needed things to plan a trip. First, you must be motivated to go. Second, we often count down seconds until the time we get to leave, circle it on our calendar, get excited in anticipation. This is the concept of urgency -- feeling the need to do something right now as opposed to later. Explain that these are two of the principles of self-sufficiency - two things one needs to be self sufficient. Introduce that one needs to know where one is going. Bring up the felt board. Discuss how often trainees come through training because they are looking for a better career. Explain that there is one world of work that people occupy that may be called the "Industrial" world. Here, workers typically apply trades like welding, plumbing and occupations that require physical strength and skill. Explain that this world is not bad, and often people in it make excellent salaries. Place felt world on board and label with an "I". Suggest there is yet another world - the "Corporate" world in which most people work at a cube (like Dilbert) or a desk and have a computer on their desk. These people typical apply more thinking- and knowledge- type skills to their work. Use the examples like administrative assistants, those who work in the big First Union building, those that wear heels and carry briefcases. Place this world on the board and label with a "C". Associate felt pieces with things the trainees have already mentioned on the board. Ask trainees to choose and stand on the side of room they would like to be in. They may choose to be in the middle or make up their own world. Explain that neither is a better place, and that is why they are the same size and place in the universe, but that they are very different and have different rules and expectations. Place the felt person on the board and explain that is they trainee. Place around the trainee things like the suitcase, asking what that would represent in the career trip. The map, explaining you need a plan and an idea of where you want to go once you reach the world. Put up the key, pointing out the value of the computer skills and other key skills. Ask what the ticket might represent. Why might one need money? Use as many of their brainstormed ideas as possible. Ask what is the most effective way to find out about another country, or another place. They may suggest one ask a person who has been there. Explain that the staff at Goodwill has been there and will assist them in planning. The bridge may be representative of Goodwill, bridging the way to their selected new world. Encourage participation and discussion. Explain that trainees will be writing poems called "I am from". They should take 10-15 minutes to write the poem. The only rule is that each line must start with the phrase "I am from". Encourage them to be creative, focusing on memories, interests, hobbies, family customs, etc. Tell them they will be sharing the poems. Facilitator may want to share first. Making it Happen: Explain that, like any other trip a person may take, there are sometimes stops along the way in the career planning trip. Pass the route markers sheet out to trainees to take notes on and then pass out the route markers one at a time. Have the trainees read each and explain what each step is in the career planning trip. 1. Self Assessment 2. Career Exploration 3. Goal setting 4. Take action 5. Evaluate. Use the Career Choices magazine as prop if needed. Tell trainees you are taking this trip and simulate a car. Ask for passengers. Ask for feedback about where to eat, but choose your own location. Emphasize that you are driving and make the choices. Simulate an accident. Who's fault? Discuss how each trainee is in charge of their own trip -- that they are the one driving. Explain that the good thing about that is that the trainee gets the credit when things go well. However, explain that trainees must also take responsibility when things go bad. Introduce this concept as Ownership as a principle of self sufficiency. Also discuss how, when you are driving, you are the person gaining experience. Discuss how this concept is Learn by doing. Talk about how most adults learn best by actually participating in the activity they are trying to learn. Talk about how Goodwill supports the idea that trainees will learn best by actually taking the steps in the career planning process themselves and that the course will be on them to make the most of each activity. Have trainees turn to the person sitting next to them and share something trainees have learned at this point that they can use starting today. Explain and show poster of Career Planning Process. Ask why it is round. Bring in Lifelong learning as a principle. Talk about how the career planning process is something we never complete -- that we may have to go back to one or another part of the process at any point in our lives. This means we must always be learning. Tell trainees this wheel represents the syllabus of Applied Skills. This is the last principle of self-sufficiency. Celebrating Success: Toss Koosh ball to trainees to allow them to point out something they have learned and will be working on from this point forward. A Sample Lesson II Phase: I. Self Assessment Topic: Self Knowledge Lesson: Diversity Competency: Skills to maintain effective behaviors. Need: Diversity questions, finger-paints, finger-paint paper, markers, tape. Getting Connected: Direct the group to stand. Tell them they are to find someone else in the room who is the opposite sex of them. Then, they are to answer a question or comment on a statement. Next, find someone a different race. Find someone a different religion. 1. What does it mean for you to show respect? 2. What does it mean for you to be shown respect? Ask for ideas regarding what people come up with. Facilitator should emphasize that the topic can be touchy and all trainees should exercise respect for one another and agree that it's okay not to agree. Sharing the Wealth: Have participants move to the center of the room and sit in a circle. Facilitator hands out list of questions for each participant to answer for the group. Give trainees a chance to note some answers. Before beginning, ask trainees to identify 1-2 people in the group about whom they do not know much and to think about the answers they expect from those people. Do not share that information. Facilitator should model his/her answers to the questions to get started. Limit everyone to two minutes to share their information. Allow the group to discuss what they learned from the exercise. Ask those who had preconceived notions about the others in the group if they were surprised or made judgements about the people in the group based on how they look. Explain that trainees will be writing poems called "I am from". They should take 10-15 minutes to write the poem. The only rule is that each line must start with the phrase "I am from". Encourage them to be creative, focusing on memories, interests, hobbies, family customs, etc. Tell them they will be sharing the poems. Facilitator may want to share first. Making it Happen: Have the group stand in a circle. With upbeat music going, have each participant move to the center of the circle and act out with a body movement how they feel right now. Celebrating Success: Close with a pat on the back. Have trainees finger-paint their hand on a sheet of finger-paint paper. Their name should appear somewhere on the page. While upbeat music plays, trainees should tape their paper to their back and all trainees should put positive compliments on other papers. |