The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development The Business Skills Handbook

Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development The Business Skills Handbook Learning and Skills Week 3

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Reading Recommended text: The Business Skills Handbook Horn, R. London: CIPD. 1st edition, 2009 ISBN: Chapter 3: Learning and Skills (page 53)

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Lecture Outline l learning and skills l learning styles l work-based learning l the Kolb Learning Cycle

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Learning Objectives l understand the nature of learning and skills l understand and select appropriate learning styles l understand and use in practice the Kolb Learning Cycle

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Learning [1] l knowledge gained by studying – Collins Dictionary l a relatively permanent change in behaviour brought about by instruction or reinforced practice – Anon l the process of developing a skill or of acquiring knowledge and understanding of a subject – American Accounting Association

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Learning [2] l the acquisition and development of memories and behaviours, including skills, knowledge, understanding, values and wisdom. It is the product of experience and the goal of education – Wikipedia l A person can be said to have learned when they have increased their options for applying, to a specific set of circumstances, new or different behaviours which the person believes will be to their benefit – Author

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development PacifiCorp [1] l ‘Learning, as used here, refers to concerted activity that increases the capacity and willingness of individuals, groups, organisations and communities to acquire and productively apply new knowledge and skills, to grow and mature and to adapt successfully to changes and challenges. Such learning empowers individuals and organisations to make wise choices, solve problems and break new ground. In particular, it is sustainable, it is a lifelong, renewable process for people and for the institutions that serve people. Learning certainly includes academic studies and occupational training through high school and beyond. But it also encompasses the physical, cognitive, emotional and social development of children in the earliest years of their lives.’

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development PacifiCorp [2] l ‘It includes the capacity of organisations to anticipate and adapt to evolving values, technologies, performance standards and constituent expectations. And it includes the capacity of geographic communities and communities of common interest to respond with understanding and initiative to broad changes that represent threats or opportunities.’ – PacifiCorp, 2004

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Definitions of Skill l refers to a person’s ability to perform various types of cognitive or behavioural activity effectively – Anon l ability, proficiency, facility, or dexterity that is acquired or developed through training or experience – Per Johansson l ability to use knowledge, a developed aptitude, and/or a capability to effectively and readily execute or perform an activity – Mohamed Elashri

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Learning Styles l The notion of learning styles is widely used and many models represent the ideas. The presumption is that different learners are stimulated by different ways of learning and that most people have a preferred learning style.

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Visual Learners [1] l Visual learners prefer to learn by seeing and respond best to diagrams, illustrations, images, videos and handouts. You will often find the visual learner taking notes using spider diagrams and other picture forms. l Visual learners tend to: –take numerous detailed notes –be neat and clean – visually presentable –often close their eyes to visualise or remember something –find something to watch if they are bored.

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Visual Learners [1] –like to see what they are learning –benefit from illustrations and presentations that use colour –are attracted to written or spoken language rich in imagery –prefer stimuli to be isolated from auditory and kinaesthetic distraction –find passive surroundings ideal.

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Auditory Learners [1] l Auditory learners prefer to learn from listening and respond best to discussions or the lecturer speaking. They will pick up underlying meanings from the pitch and speed and other nuances in speech. Auditory learners often gain little from written material and may translate this into sound, such as reading notes into a tape recorder. l Auditory learners tend to: –sit where they can hear but needn't pay attention to what is happening in front of them

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Auditory Learners [2] –not co-ordinate colours or clothes, but can explain why they are wearing what they are wearing –hum or talk to themselves or others when bored –acquire knowledge by reading aloud –remember by verbalising lessons to themselves (if they don't they have difficulty reading maps or diagrams or handling conceptual assignments like mathematics).

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Kinaesthetic Learners [1] l Kinaesthetic learners, also called tactile learners, prefer hands-on learning and respond best to practical learning where they are involved in doing something. They are often fidgety and ill at ease when asked to sit and listen. They will turn dry, paper-based notes into action and practical exercises. l Kinaesthetic learners tend to: –need to be active and take frequent breaks –speak with their hands and with gestures –remember what was done, but have difficulty recalling what was said or seen

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Kinaesthetic Learners [2] –find reasons to tinker with things or move when bored –rely on what they can directly experience or perform –activities such as cooking, construction, engineering and art help them perceive and learn –enjoy field trips and tasks that involve manipulating materials –sit near the door or somewhere else where they can easily get up and move around –are uncomfortable in classrooms where they lack opportunities for hands-on experience –communicate by touching and appreciate physically expressed encouragement, such as a pat on the back.

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Work-based Learning l How is learning at work different from learning at university? In university you do a lot of formal learning and very little working. In the workplace you do a lot of working and very little formal learning. At the end of your degree you will move from the university environment to the workplace environment.

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development The workplace is characterised by: l very little formal learning l many tasks to be completed – a large workload l workplace stress and a culture of immediacy l Performance-driven – quality outcomes l practical problems needing fast practical solutions l solutions to problems that must fit within the strategic intentions of the organisation

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development The Kolb Learning Cycle

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development The Kolb Learning Cycle l The Kolb Learning Cycle offers a model to explain how to learn from experience. Many learners will follow this approach quite naturally, but applying and using the concepts in a conscious manner will lead to improved learning at work. The stages of the cycle are as follows:

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development The Kolb Learning Cycle [2] l Concrete experience – in business contexts this is usually some form of managing. This will be the actual experience of managing a person or a group. But, it could also be task experience. At university it is likely to be the experience of an assessment or presentation, but it could also be the experience of learning or contributing to the learning process, maybe in a seminar.

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development The Kolb Learning Cycle [3] l Reflective observation – is your thoughts and feelings in relation to the concrete experience you have undergone. People naturally reflect on both good and bad experiences and this is called our common-sense reflection. To learn more fully from experience we need to reflect in a more systematic manner. Keeping a reflective record of your experiences in a diary or logbook facilitates systematic reflection.

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development The Kolb Learning Cycle [4] l Abstract conceptualisation – is a way of thinking about experience and reflections of experience. Many of you will have been slightly burned by the steam from a kettle as it boils. Once we have had that experience a few times we reflect that it is unpleasant and to be avoided. Abstract conceptualisation involves using or developing theory to explain what has happened and to change things. Common sense tells us that steam burns so avoid it.

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development The Kolb Learning Cycle [5] l Active experimentation – the concepts and ideas formed in the previous part of the cycle form the basis for some planned changes when you next experience the situation. You implement the changes when you next experience the same situation.

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development The Kolb Learning Cycle [6] l Real-world problems are often hard to solve and the experiential cycle will have to be followed many times before a full and satisfactory solution is developed.

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development The Kolb Learning Cycle [7] l I have introduced the Kolb Learning Cycle as a useful tool for workplace improvement, but it is also a very effective approach in understanding and improving learning at university. Assessment experiences such as assignments and presentations can be improved by using the learning cycle: –EXPERIENCE – REFLECT – CONCEPTUALISE – EXPERIMENT.

The Business Skills Handbook Roy Horn - Chartered Institute of Personnel and DevelopmentActivity ‘Learning from my past’ Reflect on learning you have achieved to date, setting out the context and nature of that learning. How does this learning relate to the definitions and the Kolb Learning Cycle? Work in threes 30 minutes’ prep 5 minutes’ feedback Feedback to the group – ‘the group’s reflections on past learning and Kolb’

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