We all struggle in our efforts to target the "just right" amount of detail and the proper level of difficulty in our classes. We do the best we can to assess skill levels prior to our sessions, but is knowing enough? Will we ever have a class that arrives with almost identical experiences and needs? How do we help them maximize the experience if the material is a little over their heads? A little too basic? If it's any comfort, this is a question Vella raises, also. Which group should be the target of the delivery and material--the more experienced, or those who haven't been around as long?*
*Take care not to confuse 20 years of experience with one year 20 times.
This process serves in two ways. The less experienced in the group benefit from those with more experience, of course. However, the ability to influence objectives encourages buy-in from the more experienced, which has a synergistic effect throughout the program.
One last thing on the Vella Nepal experience - on the first day in the cowshed, an old woman from the village passed by muttering to herself. Those who understood the language laughed. She was mocking them, basically saying, "Talk, talk, talk and no one learns anything." Now, remember, the purpose of the the train-the-trainers session was to help villagers. From the villagers' perspective, all the chit chat was helping them not at all. The group took a day off from the learning to repair the water system in the village--a tangible way to provide help. The trainers were exhausted at the end of the day, of course, but gained insights: how hard it is to work together, and how it is necessary to provide visible and quantifiable support.
So, let me turn the original problem posed back to you. How do we, as educators, find our happy place in the level of instruction when there isn't an option to slot learners into different classes? Here are some thoughts.
- Where possible, use diversity of experience in groups.
- Allow experienced learners as much control as possible to facilitate buy-in.
- Be upfront about the challenges.
Something else that Vella didn't say--well, not in these words, but which strikes me--is to keep your eyes on the prize. Don't forget about the whole point of the training. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in getting the right verbs at the beginning of our objectives, we lose sight of the main thing. Without that, nothing is going to be "just right."