Rhetoric talks of two forms of reasoning: deductive and inductive. Deductive reasoning starts from the general and moves to the specific, and inductive reasoning starts from the specific and moves to the general.
In the training room, most of us are inductive learners. Are you with me so far? If not, that is probably because I have just started with a generalised deductive statement.
The statement:
'In the training room, most of us are inductive learners' is a fairly general statement and could come across as a little detached and theoretical. And of course, one of the most common complaints of trainees is that training seems a bit theoretical and lacks relevance to their everyday work. General theories, principles, and rules can seem dry in the training room. It is not until they are shown in a specific context that they begin to come to life.
Therefore, it is often more engaging to take an inductive approach. And the simplest form of inductive training is to refer to specific stories or examples, often in the form of a Case Study.
So let's start with a famous rhetorical example. Below is a well-known syllogism (Don't worry - look it up later)
'All men are mortal beings
Socrates is a man
Therefore, Socrates is a mortal being.'
This starts with the general deductive statement:
'All men are mortal beings'
It then moves to the specific case of Socrates.
It therefore has a certain bookish, theoretical feel.
However, at work we don't deal in generalities; we deal with specific situations.
So maybe it makes more sense to try to mirror that in the training room.
Let us say we are on a First Aid course.
And to slightly massacre that famous syllogism, let us say:
'Without swift intervention, all men having a massive heart attack will die.
Socrates is a man having a massive heart attack.
Therefore, without swift intervention, Socrates will die.'
That still starts with a deductive statement and is not a lot of use to me as a student - it is still a bit detached from reality.
Instead, give me something specific I can relate to, picture in my head, and work back from.
Therefore, instead of starting with:
'All men having a massive heart attack will die'
we start with the specific case of Socrates:
a precise description of how he looks, how he breathes, his vital signs, and his general circumstances; all of which immediately take me into a real-life scenario and allow me to use my own reasoning to work back and discover the general principle.
The great thing about case studies is that they can be used in many ways.
They are very good at testing all the what, why, how, and when questions.
They can bring training to life by involving the student more fully because they reflect 'reality'.
Our First Aid trainer could use this particular case study example in various ways:
at the beginning of the day to establish how much the student already knows;
in the middle of the session to reinforce some of the theory learned, or
at the end of a session as part of a practical test or assessment.
So rather than starting with a long, dry list of principles, procedures, and rules, try using a lively case study to empower the student to discover those rules and principles in a much more memorable, meaningful way.
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