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Unit 7: Learning in Training

Influence: The Trainer Notes

The teacher/trainer influences the learning situation a great deal. The trainer’s values, general
style of interaction, competence, and individual needs matter a great deal. His contribution to
the learning process is most vital.
The trainer’s main contribution is through his values. It may be useful for teachers/trainers to
examine what values they are incorporating. Since the main role of the trainer/teacher is to
influence the learners and their learning process, the question they should ask themselves is
what their model of an ideal human being is. Cognitive learning takes place best through
enquiry, through the learner’s own motivations.
The trainer’s style is very important in the learning process. One dimension of the trainer’s style
is the type of influence he uses. Teacher/trainers can be classified as having a direct influence style
or an indirect influence style.
The interaction process between the trainer/teacher and the learner is very important. One
simple and useful system of classification for the interaction process is that based on the influence
of the trainer. The trainer influences learners in various ways. Direct influence restricts the
freedom of the learner, is prescriptive, and develops coping behaviour. Indirect influence increases
the learner’s freedom, is liberating, and develops expressive behaviour.

Direct influence behaviour by the trainer includes negative reinforcement (criticizing,
reprimanding, punishing), ordering and giving directions, asking specific testing questions,
lecturing, defensive behaviour (justifying), expressing anger, and so on. Indirect influence
behaviour includes accepting feelings, expressing feelings, accepting ideas, building on the
learner’s ideas, positive reinforcement (praising, encouraging), asking exploring questions,
sensitivity (encouraging silent members to participate), and so on.

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Caution Teachers/trainers must examine how they can use indirect influence behaviour
and encourage creativity and development of potential in learners.
It means providing minimal guidance and recognizing the learners as important resources in
learning. Learning then becomes a process of mutual influence and the teacher/trainer is as
much in the learning roles as the learner. The whole approach to teaching and training then
changes. Much emphasis is given to helping learners to discover, innovate, develop their own
systems, and develop their capability for self-learning.

7.4.3 How Do Trainees Learn?

In the first phase, incoming sensory information is processed by the brain and is organised into
coherent action impulses, mainly through muscular movement. In the middle phase, the brain
operates upon the sensory stimuli, called the cognitor processes. The learner cyclist, for instance,
reaching his first bend in the road, may tend to lean too far over an approach. However, the
brain corrects the action necessary in successful ‘judgement’ and the learning process takes
place. This shows that not only does the brain exercise judgement, but also has a storage facility
we term as ‘memory’. The third phase of the process can be termed the effector or action phase,
where instructions from the brain operate the motor functions of the nervous system and
culminate in muscle movement. The effector channels are the limbs and the faculties of the body
and consist of speech, head, body, legs, feet, arms, fingers, toes, joints. A diagrammatic
representation of the entire system is shown in Figure 7.4.

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