Sometimes it helps to see Dialogue Education in relief...
i.e. to see what it is NOT. And really, what a relief that is!
The
sad status of IT Training
by
Adriano Pianesi
Training Consultant
Everybody around
me is lost. We’ve been sitting here for five hours now.
The trainer has no intention of doing anything but talking.
She keeps repeating “Ok? So far so good?” She asked
us not to touch the computer while she talks. I’m stuck.
What do I do? People seem to be listening. Are they mad? Am
I? Not at all. Maybe they don’t know there’s a better
way. In the meantime they sit here. For five hours… In
silence, assumedly learning.
My mind start
rambling again and this time with a hint of outrage: we’re
nine professionals with little extra time on our hands and it’s
being wasted. Am I oversensitive or she is insulting our intelligence?
Good heavens, she just repeated, “Ok? So far so good?”
I may explode.
The question
someone asked earlier was answered “We’re not there
yet.” Instead, I feel she is not where we are. Maybe she
wasn’t given enough information about us, our level of
proficiency. Maybe it’s not her fault. Is she part of the
problem or part of the solution? In the meantime I need to learn
these skills for my job; I try to concentrate.
Now we’re
supposed to do an exercise. I don’t know which page we’re
at. Shall I ask? Everyone is silent and I don’t know the
name of the person sitting next to me. Here I am, feeling lonely
in the middle of ten people. She said the software is a “different
paradigm.” What’s a paradigm doing in our training?
She talks about her work. One trainee started small talk totally
unrelated to the subject at hand. I flip through the pages of
the thick manual she gave us. She starts talking again. I wonder
when I will learn this… Now she’s talking on the cellphone
during a break. Did I hear her saying that “Training is
going well?”
I keep clicking
on the desktop and decide to give it a try. I manage to do something.
Will it be right? Am I totally off? Maybe she really convinced
me that I don’t have what it takes to learn this. Didn’t
she mention earlier that she’s been using this for ten
years? Or 20? Maybe 30! Maybe this class is not for my level…I
forget what I should do.
She asked us to do another exercise
after she talked about the best way to search. I hear her saying
to someone that it will take time for us to learn this. Is this
true? Then I should start as soon possible. She asked if anyone
has questions. I wouldn’t know where to begin. All I’m
sure about is what I’ll write on the evaluation form: “There
was a person constantly talking and disrupting the class. Unfortunately,
that person was the instructor.”
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