Introduction

Trainers of personal care home administrators bring their knowledge and expertise about a specific topic to the training setting. However, being able to teach others requires not only knowing a content area, but also understanding and integrating the principles of adult learning. Attention must be given to the personal care home administrators themselves. How do these individuals learn and respond to information? What are effective and efficient methods of teaching this group of learners?

It is important to know the trainees’ ages, ethnicity, culture and social backgrounds which all influence their ways of learning. Traditional training using a lecture format is usually less effective than teaching in a manner that provides hands-on learning experiences. Personal experience, group interaction and action teaching strategies that engage learners physically as well as intellectually increase retention and make learning meaningful.

Adults need a direct linkage between learning and their personal or employment needs. Motivation to learn is increased when adults understand how the content being taught relates directly to their ability to do their job in a more effective way. Creating a climate of encouragement and drawing upon learners’ experience as a resource engages the learner even when the individual assumes a primary passive mode in learning.

The following principles will assist trainers to develop successful trainings that engage personal care home administrators and facilitate learning. By understanding and using the principles, a trainer will find that the training will be more beneficial to the administrators and their workplace.

Principle 1 – Engage – to support learners in feeling comfortable within the group and with the instructor while actively involving them in the topic.

Principle 2 – Excite – to stimulate interest in the topic and provide opportunities for active learning that encourage application and reinforcement of content.

Principle 3 – Enhance – to increase understanding of training content using experience-based methods of teaching that directly apply to the workplace.

Principle 4 – End – to bring learning to closure through summarization that reinforces key concepts.

Principle 5 – Evaluate – to determine the value or impact of learning that occurred.

Understanding how to use the 5 “E” principles is key to developing successful training sessions that engage trainees and facilitate learning. Following is a short training that provides more explanation of each principle and examples of appropriate and inappropriate use of the principles.

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