When I first learned about the Training from the bask of the room method of Sharon Bowman, I was surprised at how many principles I was already applying in my sessions.
But one of them attracted my attention more than the others. Because its name was “Different trumps the same”. And I was reflecting on what I do in my sessions and asked “How different is different?” :)
Different trumps the same - a neuroscience short explanation
Is it a novel way of teaching / unusual/strange? What is actually different?
The human brain is hardwired to notice elements in the environment that are different from what is routine or predictable.
Anything that is out of the ordinary captures the brain’s attention; anything routine or repetitive usually gets ignored.
The same holds true for learning environments. When these environments look like any other, the brain creates its own stimulation: it daydreams. When bored, it amuses itself. It#s almost impossible for the brain to do otherwise.
The more familiar the learning environment and instructional strategies are, the less effective they are!
But what can you do to create a different learning environment?
🎲Surprise them: use every time a different opening or closing activity that fits the session and participants; change the pace: fast, slow, quiet time; sit, stand, move around, change groups; bring something new (Lego, Playmobil, card games, playdough, etc.)
🎲 Try new things with them: draw live the instructions of the activity, ask them to draw, and celebrate at the end by asking them to hand out certificates to each other sharing their appreciation towards each other rather than you doing all of this.
🎲 It’s also different for you: doing different settings, and activities with your learners will also help you not to get bored while teaching the same content over and over again - it shall be also for you fun, right?
Examples of “different” activities you could use:
🎲 Treasure hunt: instead of you presenting slides, create a hunting game and group learners in small groups to solve it out - they will read the content and learn it while doing this game, it will be fun!
🎲 Reflection: we learn from reflection, not from experiences. Try to insert as many reflection times as possible, either individually, or in small groups, and then share in the big group. It is not only about the content you are teaching, but the learners to find their own way o apply what they learned.
🎲 Summarize: instead of you summarizing what they learned, ask them to share in pairs what were the 3 ideas they took away; then switch pairs and ask them to tell the new person what the other partner told them and so on depending on how much time you have. In the end, ask them to shout out what they heard. Repetition helps to bring in the long-term memory the new information.
One-phrase summary:
The more familiar the learning environment and instructional strategies are, the less effective they are! To change that, use different ways, the ones that fit your style, your setting, and of course your learners. Make it yours!
Resources:
Book: “Using brain science to make training stick” by Sharon Bowman
I am “cooking” a new on-demand training:
Facilitation - neuroscience behind - a 3h online session where I would explain some neuroscience principles I use in most of my workshops in order to create brain-based workshops that are universally applied independent of culture, industry, etc.