In the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, there is often confusion around TAEDEL402 Plan, organise and facilitate learning in the workplace. Show
It usually gets eclipsed by its other ‘DEL’ cousin, TAEDEL401 Plan, organise and deliver group-based learning – the unit where you do more traditional classroom style training. Let’s be clear on what TAEDEL402 is all about:
What is a Workbased Learning Pathway Plan?Just want to get to the action? Jump Down to How To Video and Free Template! If you’re at point A, and you want to get to point B, you choose a path, and you follow it to your destination. In TAEDEL402, you find a learner who is at point A (current skills and knowledge). You determine point B (the learning objective). Then, together, you plan the best way to get to point B. You write it down. That’s your workbased learning pathway plan. Together you commit to it. And then the journey begins! As the facilitator, you guide them along this pathway. This path might be very familiar to your learner. They may have walked on similar pathways before, just in different environments. They may move faster than expected, and require little guidance from you. That’s okay. That’s what happens on workbased learning pathways. As long as you monitor their progress, you will be able to help them when they need it, and point out pitfalls, hazards, or new tricks and hacks for getting there more efficiently. You may even introduce them to others along their journey who are also familiar with the path, who have different ideas and perspectives on how to get to the destination more effectively. So you can see in workbased learning, you are less of a teacher – more of a guide. At times you may need to demonstrate, coach, instruct, correct, support, clarify, mentor, and go back and repeat steps. Example of a Learning Pathway you might plan for TAEDEL402Imagine a new staff member joins your landscaping company, Hardys Landscaping, based on the Mid North Coast of NSW. They previously worked in landscaping over in Western Australia, in a place where the soil is quite loose and sandy. On the Mid North Coast, there’s a lot of hard compacted clay soil. The new staff member is very experienced in planting shrubs and small trees, but the different soil here requires the use of different tools and techniques, such as different shaped holes and the need to scrape the edges to ensure better root penetration. You determine an overall objective (point B). Demonstrate successful planting of 5 different species of shrubs and small trees, without assistance, in hard compacted clay soil in accordance with the tools, techniques and procedures of Hardys Landscaping.Your Overall Learning Objective You chat with your new worker and get and understanding of what they already know about planting trees. How close is their ‘Point A’ to your ‘Point B’? Course Tip: The simpler and more specific you make this objective, the easier it is going to be to help your learner achieve it. Now remember TAEDEL402 Plan, organise and facilitate learning in the workplace, is all about 1-on-1 training. You have a very big advantage in helping one person achieve a learning objective, over a group of people (where you have to work to the lowest common denominator for pace, progression, and prior knowledge). With this one person, you can take the time to understand what they already know about planting trees and build the learning pathway on that. Again, here is a key difference to classroom training. With work based learning, as a facilitator, you’re doing less ‘teaching’ and more coaching and mentoring. You’re creating a pathway. A series of ‘steps.’ Where they go off and do real work tasks and learn on the job. The amount of guidance or support you provide while they do this will depend on their previous experience, complexity and the risks involved. Often, as a work based learning facilitator, you’re doing a little coaching and mentoring. But as the facilitator you may actually be pairing them up with another experienced worker so they get exposed to different ways of doing things. Some tips when developing your workbased learning pathway plans“The learner will know how to change a tyre” at first glance seems okay as an objective. But can you see where it is problematic?
✅ Always try for simple, clear, specific measurable objectives. With vague, ambiguous objectives your learner will never be able to actually achieve them and measuring their performance will be difficult. Ensure the training matches the objectivesIf the objective says “develop a full understanding of…” but the training only covers a few basic things, there is now a permanent record showing the person was trained to have “a full understanding of” something when they probably only have a limited understanding. Unfortunately, some people learn this lesson the hard way, when inadequate training leads to serious incidents, accidents and court cases. Be clear about safety and supervisionLearners are often novices. Letting them work with materials, tools and machinery or in unfamiliar environments brings additional health and safety risks, and business risks (e.g., ruining thousands of dollars worth of valuable raw materials).
Use the workplace as your learning resourceOften some of the most effective learning experiences are a result of learners ‘just doing it.’ Doing the job in a real environment under real work conditions is an excellent way to practice and develop skills. Ensure your plan (while being mindful of safety, supervision and risks) gives the learner opportunities to practice and develop their skills by doing the tasks. Did it stick?Ensure your plan has opportunities for checking that the objectives have been achieved. Commonly, people do up nice looking plans with good learning activities, which end suddenly with no way of checking the learner arrived at ‘Point B’ – the objective. This is especially true of those who have very simple objectives which are covered in just a few quick demonstrations. Give the learner time to implement and practice what they learnt! Check in a week or so later and see how they are doing. Are the performing the skill consistently now due to the learning? See a full example workbased learning pathway planThis video steps you through the process of documenting a formal and detailed workbased learning pathway plan. The video explains things in a nice easy to understand way, with lots of examples. Download our free templateIf you’re studying TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, you are most welcome to use our template which is very similar to the one in the video. Feel free to use it create your own workbased learning pathway plan.Note: TAEDEL402 refers to “learning styles” – so we have to make reference to it for completeness and validity. However, there is no evidence to support the theory that people have learning styles. See our article here for more info on that.
Continuous improvement programs are proliferating as corporations seek to better themselves and gain an edge. Unfortunately, however, failed programs far outnumber successes, and improvement rates remain low. That’s because most companies have failed to grasp a basic truth. Before people and companies can improve, they first must learn. And to do this, they need to look beyond rhetoric and high philosophy and focus on the fundamentals. Three critical issues must be addressed before a company can truly become a learning organization, writes HBS Professor David Garvin. First is the question of ITAL-meaning: a well-grounded easy-to-apply definition of a learning organization. Second comes ITAL-management: clearer operational guidelines for practice. Finally, better tools for ITAL-measurement can assess an organization’s rate and level of learning. Using these “three Ms” as a framework, Garvin defines learning organizations as skilled at five main activities: systematic problem solving, experimentation with new approaches, learning from past experiences, learning from the best practices of others, and trans£erring knowledge quickly and efficiently throughout the organization. And since you can’t manage something if you can’t measure it, a complete learning audit is a must. That includes measuring cognitive and behavioral changes as well as tangible improvements in results. No learning organization is built overnight. Success comes from carefully cultivated attitudes, commitments, and management processes that accrue slowly and steadily. The first step is to foster an environment conducive to learning. Analog Devices, Chaparral Steel, Xerox, GE, and other companies provide enlightened examples.
As we all know, to stay ahead of competitors, companies must constantly enhance the way they do business. But more performance-improvement programs fail than succeed. That’s because many managers don’t realize that sustainable improvement requires a commitment to learning. After all, how can organizations respond creatively to new challenges (shifts in customer preferences, market downturns) without first discovering something new—then altering the way they operate to reflect new insights? Without learning, companies repeat old practices, make cosmetic changes, and produce short-lived improvements. To transform your company into a learning organization, Garvin recommends mastering five activities:
Woven into the fabric of your company’s daily operations, these activities help your organization make enduring improvements that translate directly into measurable gains—including superior quality, better delivery, and increased market share. The Idea in Practice Garvin offers these suggestions for mastering five organizational learning practices: Solving Problems SystematicallyDon’t try to solve problems by relying on gut instinct or assumptions. Instead, generate hypotheses, gather data to test your hypotheses, and use statistical tools (such as cause-and-effect diagrams) to organize data and draw inferences. ExperimentingSystematically search for and test new knowledge. Use small experiments to produce incremental gains in knowledge. For instance, specialty glass manufacturer Corning experiments continually with diverse raw materials and new formulations to increase yields and provide better grades of glass. Use demonstration projects to produce knowledge you can use for systemwide changes. General Foods experimented with self-managing teams at its Topeka plant with the aim of adopting this approach across the company later. Learning from Past ExperienceReview your successes and failures, identify lessons learned, and record those lessons in accessible forms. Example: Boeing compared the development processes of its 737 and 747 planes (models that had serious technical problems) to those of its 707 and 727 (two profitable programs). It then compiled a booklet of lessons learned. Several members of the learning team were later transferred to two start-up programs—the 757 and 767. They produced the most successful, error-free launches in Boeing’s history. Learning from OthersLook outside your immediate environment to gain new perspectives. Consider these sources:
Transferring KnowledgeNew knowledge carries maximum impact when it’s shared broadly. To transfer knowledge quickly and efficiently throughout your organization, move experts to different parts of the company—across divisions, departments, and facilities—so they can share the wealth. Example: Time Life’s CEO shifted the president of the company’s music division (who had orchestrated years of rapid growth and high profits through innovative marketing) to the book division, where profits were flat because of continued reliance on traditional marketing concepts. Continuous improvement programs are sprouting up all over as organizations strive to better themselves and gain an edge. The topic list is long and varied, and sometimes it seems as though a program a month is needed just to keep up. Unfortunately, failed programs far outnumber successes, and improvement rates remain distressingly low. Why? Because most companies have failed to grasp a basic truth. Continuous improvement requires a commitment to learning. A version of this article appeared in the July–August 1993 issue of Harvard Business Review.
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