Transitioning from a training instructor to a teaching instructor
I have over 25 years working at many different levels of being a training instructor and now I am transitioning to a teaching instructor. I feel very confident in the training arena and my students always speak highly about the quality of instruction that they received and the level of professionalism they experienced during the course of instruction.
As a teaching instructor with very little hands on training taking place and a great deal of knowledge that needs to be passed onto the student, what are some teaching techniques that you would recommend for me to use so I can still benefit from my past experience as a training instructor?
Anthony,
Create team activities where your older students can interact with the younger students plus share some of their life experiences. This will show them that you respect them and they in turn will respect you. Maintain a professional yet approachable affect in class and you will see that the students quickly see you as a professional both as an educator and a person that represents their field.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I too have recently made the jump from hands on field construction training to classroom/shop training. Where I need to try to refocus is the balance between hands on, and class study. some of my students are my age and some older, how do I keep their attention and prevent them getting bored?
Michael,
You have such an extensive background in instructor already that you effective as an instructor in this new role. The only thing I would suggest is that you might want to use case studies, role playing and problem situations with your students as they are more student based at this point in their learning as opposed to the individuals you trained previously that were more skill or job specific. This individuals say the applications right away whereas the student you have now need additional experience in making applications.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
