There are some common terminology issues in training and staff development departments in many organizations. Some of these terminology issues give birth to larger problems and ways of thinking about training and the goals in organizations.
I’m always thinking about the difference between training and learning and the importance it has to how we do our work in Training & Development. Changing our thought process from learner to something else is an important change to also drive the change from Learning & Development to Training & Development (or something else?).
Lastly, I’ve thought a lot about the difference between a training culture and a learning culture. The former is far too common and one that is confused a lot for the latter both by those in the industry and even worse, by executives who perpetuate the idea fast and wide.
Training vs. Learning
There are a lot of assumptions made in the training world, from the name of the Learning & Development department to what the people are called who take the training (learners if you’re not familiar). These assumptions have an effect on how we treat people whether it’s obvious or not. To me the difference needs to be clarified so the job and purpose can be clarified.
Training – This is an experience that is designed or delivered. There is an experience involved which might be where the term learning experience comes from, but the experience of learning cannot be attached to the training itself, it’s merely a hope.
The dictionary definition of training is
the action of teaching a person or animal a particular skill or type of behavior.
Save that definition for the next section.
Learning – A lot of confusion enters here when training is more often than not interchanged with learning, as if they’re the same thing. The confusion is exacerbated when learning is skewed even more to refer to somebody taking training. You know, learner.
The dictionary definition of learning is
the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study, or by being taught.
This leads to my next observation; there is no learning until there is learning.
Who Is Your Audience?
The confusion and misnomer is when somebody taking training is called a learner. There is a presumption made when somebody is called a learner, to say you’ve successfully taught them something because you are designing for them.
There is no learner until somebody has learned something. When a training solution is being developed, there is not yet a learner and perhaps there will not ever be depending on how successful it is.
When asked who your audience is, or when talking about your audience, the term learner (They’re not learners, they’re people) should never cross your lips. There is no learner from a trainer or designers point of view, there are only users. Only the person doing the learning can call themselves a learner, the label is up to them.
I cannot count the number of eLearning courses or instructor led classes I’ve been in where I’ve learned nothing, I just take them because I have to. I also cannot count the number of webinars I’ve taken where I’ve anticipated learning something but was unfortunately let down.
I do not think it’s fair for the instructor or designer of those courses to call me a learner. They’re telling me they were already successful even before anybody participated, even if they did a horrible job. A bit of arrogance there? I’d say so.
The Roots
Part of the problem is in the name that’s so common for people to refer to the training department. One of the most common terms is Learning & Development which immediately sets a state of mind that the audience is a “learner”.
This Tweet sparked this idea and sums up the terminology change that needs to happen:
Kind of wondering if the problem of referring to "learners" is rooted a bit deeper in the name L+D. Maybe should only be T+D.
— Nick Leffler (@nick_leffler) November 3, 2015
I think a better way to refer to the department would be to remove the learning altogether and go with Training & Development. You’ll already find Training & Development used, but it’s much less common.
There’s also the added benefit of making it more obvious that the department may own training, but it doesn’t own learning.
No One Ruler For All Learning
Other benefits from a name change are that learning may be less seen as being owned by one department. The goal of many (should be all) organization is to have a learning culture where employees seek learning and improving themselves on their own.
A learning culture comes from a wider organization though, never from a single department. No one department can own learning or helping employees improve their careers through learning. With the name change puts the task of the department clearly in view, to manage and create training and aid in developing staff.
Learning as a whole belongs to the organization and each employee in it. In another Tweet from my musings, I think about how a training culture belongs to L+D but a learning culture is not rooted in any department.
We want an org wide learning culture but a learning culture is not rooted in one dept. A training culture is and that's what L+D does.
— Nick Leffler (@nick_leffler) November 3, 2015
Mind Shift
Making the shift in thinking from learning to training is a difficult transition, but a necessary one for learning to claim its rightful place in the organization. With the term learning being used in place of training, the entire organization is being done a disservice by not allowing for an easier interpretation of a learning culture.
Training culture will often be seen in place of a learning culture because it’s easier to classify things this way. Executives love things boiled down in simple terms that are easy and quick to understand, and Learning & Development does that to the detriment of creating a true learning culture in the organization.
Have you seen organization which believe to have a learning culture when in fact what they have is a training culture?
I’m curious to do a bit more thinking and research on how best to achieve the mind shift from a training culture to a learning culture.
This was a thought provoking article, highlighting an interesting comparison between training and learning. With the plethora of technology available at their disposal, it is time corporates make this essential shift from harbouring a training culture to cultivating a learning culture. Do you think sanctioning MOOC credits as authentic learning credits for compliance purposes, will bring about the paradigm shift from training to learning, especially for CPD activities? Research shows that undertaking and completing MOOCs requires motivated self-learners, which would then naturally create a learning culture within corporates instead of the current ‘tick-box’ training culture.
I think we actually WERE T+D for a long time. But everyone felt like we were getting no respect and that Learning had more value so then everyone ran towards becoming learning consultants instead of training designers/developers. Sort of like how today everyone fancies themselves as Performance Consultants. And that’s great work if you can get it, but who’s going to continue doing the training work? That’s right! The Training Professional.
Thanks Brent for the comment!
The problem is the work has remained the same for most yet the names have changed. This has created a sense that training is now equal to learning, but it’s not. Some learning happens in training, but training isn’t inherently learning.
The problem I have with it is that it creates passive behavior when creating training. Some of the thought has been taken out of it because hey, it’s learning and they’re learners, that’s my audience. If they’re learners then I don’t have to try, they’ll just learn right? < That seems to be the mentality out there.
There are still relatively few performance consultants though, the focus is still primarily on learners, learning design, etc. You mention respect, well, respect isn't earned by trying to fool people with a change of terms. Smart people aren't fooled by these name changes (I hope!) but it does create a sort of laziness and assumption that people will learn because they're learners.
I'm a lifelong learner, but I'm the only one that can give myself that label or determine if I learned anything, or anything of value 🙂