BM Thinking Out Loud

End of Program Blog Post

            I hardly know where to begin to describe my experience in the adult learning program. My first course was ADLT 601, The Adult Learner. This course set the tone for things to come. We participated in activities that I had never experienced in a college course. We created a timeline of our life experiences around all the walls of the room and shared with the class the events that shaped our lives, both educationally and personally. We sat on the floor in a group and created a web with yarn as we tossed it from person-to- person and shared what we learned. This type of involvement in class was very new for me.

            In addition, the type of work has been different from what I was used to. Many of the discussions and papers were synthesis of different ideas, theories, and application experiences we had in class; not at all the fact-based recall that I was used to in other college classes. In most of my classes in this program I experienced the principles of adult learning at work in the classroom and not just in the text book. Experiential learning, reflection, metacognition, and corporately and independently creating meaning are some of the most important concepts I take away from this program. In addition, working in groups and teams has been a large part of this program and for that I am most grateful. I am in a position at work where I need to influence people all across the organization, yet I have no real authority to do so. Much of what I have learned and experienced in this program has prepared me to do just that. I have learned about process consulting and action learning through actually applying those skills in real world situations.

            This form of learning has had a great impact on me. I have experienced every part of the different processes, worked through the difficult and uncomfortable situations, and dealt with people at various levels in their own development in order to accomplish sometimes quite daunting tasks. I have learned to look at where others are in their understanding and motivation and consider what their needs are, in addition to the needs of the project I am focused on. I have also learned that sometimes it is important to let people run into a wall or even fail at a task in order for them to experience ‘real learning’. It is the learning that is the point, rather than the particular project. This was impressed on me during our capstone class where the point of our work was our action learning experience and the learning that the set gained, not the solution of the presenting problem or even the ‘work’ of the project.

            Another important concept this program has taught me is the meaning of a learning organization. In my workplace, that term means that the organization has lots of training courses to offer and that it supports its employee’s educational endeavors. I have learned that a learning organization can develop as employees learn together in real world situations, through application, practice, and reflection and as they then share their learning throughout the organization. I have also discovered that a learning organization can not be ‘created’ in a short time by any action of the leadership. Rather, it has to be nurtured, encouraged, supported and demonstrated over time and that ‘behavior begets behavior change’. People have to experience this type of learning in order to understand it and an organization is the same.

            I have especially appreciated the emphasis on reflection as a part of the learning process. This has been both taught and required in each adult learning class. The use of the blogs for this purpose has been very effective for me. I am usually the last one to journal or write my thoughts and feelings down. However, somehow the forum of the blog made that process less painful for me. The fact that it was required course work didn’t hurt either. I know that my experiences in this program have changed my behavior in this area. I now make a point of taking the time to reflect on experiences and new information. Again I must refer to my experience in the program with the many group projects. I have learned to enjoy working in groups and I believe I learn more effectively when I have others to share with and from which to gain their perspectives. This is something I have learned to incorporate at work as well. 

            It was very helpful to learn to consider and pay attention to the basic assumptions from which people operate. Before this program I had only a vague understanding about the fact that people have different perspectives which are created by their knowledge and life experiences. As I learned in this program, reality is created based on the basic assumptions that people and organizations hold. The fact that these assumptions are so ingrained in one’s thinking and the culture of an organization that they are just taken for granted was enlightening to me. I was really struck when I read that these assumptions are so much a part of the fabric of behavior that if someone does something different it would seem completely inappropriate and out of place that everyone would notice and would not be able to understand that behavior. It was as if a light turned on for me at that point.

            I have always wondered why social behavior among different groups can be so distinct and how people of different groups could be so convinced that certain ideas and behaviors were right and others were wrong. Now when I look at the behaviors of people and organizations I find myself wondering about the shared basic assumptions that lie beneath behavior and culture and about what behaviors serve to reinforce those basic assumptions. I also think about how to help people begin to consider these things as well, in both themselves and in others. I now think about how to help people learn to take an objective look at these assumptions. Another change in me that I have noticed is that these days I at least think about the basic assumptions I hold and that inform my own behavior and perspective. I also am more aware of the fact that I need to be willing to separate my emotional attachment to my own way of thinking and find ways to be more objective about those basic assumptions and behaviors.

            There were a couple of other pivotal events that happened in the program that strengthened some of those basic assumptions and beliefs that I knowingly and purposefully hold. One of these events was seeing the movie Mind Walk. Because my beliefs are so contrary to many others, I won’t go into detail about this except to say that that movie helped me understand, at least to some degree, how people can get so far away from truth that they no longer believe there is any truth. This is the greatest deception perpetrated among men.

            A few courses were especially relevant to the work I do including ADLT 610- Consulting Skills, ADLT 620-Human Resource Development and ADLT 602-Adult Program Planning, Management & Evaluation. Often the projects in these classes enabled me to have authentic experiences as they matched up well to things I was working on in my job. This made the learning that much more relevant for me and gave me concrete evidence of the effectiveness of the skills I was able to practice.

            Another important change in me as a result of this program is my awareness of adult learning and organizational development theory. I have been exposed to, read about, researched, and written about the people and events that have shaped these fields. In addition, I have developed a strong interest in researching these topics on my own. There is a long list of books I want to buy and read in my Amazon shopping cart, all of which are about those two topics. I also fully intend to review many of the textbooks we used in this program to refresh my memory. As I mentioned, I find that being able to put the concepts and ideas we learned in authentic situations is the best way to learn and to stretch my understanding.

            I am also more keenly aware of what others around me have to teach me. I now make it a point to not only listen to other’s ideas, but to observe their actions and ask them questions. It seems that my experience in this program has served to awaken my senses in regard to the give-and-take that we can take advantage of if we pay attention to our own learning and take an interest in the learning of others. This may seem odd for a former teacher to say, yet it is true that I used to only look for this type of learning to take place in a classroom or when gathering new information was a designated purpose. This program has helped me to pay attention to the learning that happens in me and around me all the time.

            I recognize there is yet much to learn about adult learning and organizational development, however I feel that this program has certainly given me a frame of reference from which to move forward. It has also provided a foundation on which to build as I continue to gain knowledge, reflect on and make meaning of experience, and share with others. If I had to choose one word to describe what this program has given me, I think the most suitable word would be ‘awareness’. I know I am not fully aware and I will never be in this life, but I am definitely more aware, having had the great fortune of being in this adult learning program.