(Microsoft, 2014)
Corporate learning and development organizations can realize three benefits by articulating their educational approach:
Measure Learning Effectiveness
As discussed in the last blog post, the first benefit of being able to articulate our educational approach/theory/pedagogy is for the purposes of measurement. “Success is defined by the sponsors (the persons who control the budget), and only by the sponsors” (Pollock, 2010, p. 62). However, there are times when the sponsor may be unwilling or unable to define what success looks like. In these cases, L&D professionals should be able to stand in the gap to provide the measures for learning success from an educational standpoint. This is impossible without first being able to articulate for each learning solution/project what underpinning theory/pedagogy will be used for development.
Establish Professional Credibility
Our clients, our subject matter experts are educated professionals; as are we. While we do not want to alienate our clients by drowning them in “edu-speak,” we should be able to intelligently answer their questions if they desire to explore the underlying educational approach we are applying to learning projects in more detail. This happened to a colleague of mine a few months ago. The fact that she could not articulate her approach clearly caused strain on the learning partnership and did nothing to enhance our organization’s credibility.
Provide Clear Guidance
As learning professionals, we should be able to articulate our educational approach be it andragogy or pedagogy to each other. Every profession or practice has its unique vocabulary. This vocabulary allows for complex concepts and frameworks to be concisely communicated and understood. This is true in education as well. The entire learning development team should have a clear vision of what educational approach will be taken. Theory and pedagogy/andragogy can provide that guidance.
Corporate learning and development organizations can realize these benefits by taking advantage of existing theory and pedagogy. Finding more hours in the day to learn/develop or even just articulate this is hard to find, I know. But the benefits are worth it.
REFERENCES
Microsoft. (2014). Road being covered with a tunnel of trees [Digital Image]. Used with permission from Microsoft. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/results.aspx?qu=road&ex=1#ai:MP900427595|
Pollock, R.V.H. (2010). What drug development can teach us about measuring learning. SPBT Focus (Winter) 61-64. Retrieved from http://www.the6ds.com/resources-1/MeasuringLearningFocusMagazine2010.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1