| It is important to realize that any trainer needs two | | | | the topic or topics that they will be teaching. |
| separate sets of skills and knowledge. First, they need | | | | It is ironic that the elementary schools and middle |
| to know the topic they are teaching (subject matter | | | | schools, which are designed for much less intense |
| expertise). And second, they need to know how to | | | | instruction than colleges, better understand the |
| transfer that information to the student (instructional | | | | importance of hiring teachers who have been taught |
| expertise). | | | | how to teach. |
| When instructors are hired to train adult students, they | | | | The same can be said for any instructor -- whether |
| need both of these sets of skills. The problem is, | | | | you are teaching preschoolers, teenagers, or adults, |
| corporations need people that know the topic material | | | | you can't just explain a topic to your students, and then |
| very well; and in order to know a topic well enough to | | | | expect them to "get it." Training is more than just |
| teach it at a high level, you often have to have expert | | | | simple transference of knowledge. You don't just open |
| experience or a graduate degree in it, yourself. So | | | | your mouth and deposit knowledge into the students' |
| most corporations and colleges hire instructors that | | | | brains. You have to know how to organize that |
| have graduate degrees or subject matter expertise in | | | | knowledge, properly present it in a variety of formats |
| the areas they will be training. But this is a sacrifice, | | | | for students who have different learning styles and |
| because most of the instructors have little or no | | | | preferences, and talk about the topic in a way that the |
| training in instructional expertise, or trainer training. The | | | | students can understand and learn from. |
| administrators assume that having been exposed to | | | | You must also be able to design ways to authentically |
| so many learning experiences, the instructors will have | | | | assess whether or not your students have learned |
| learned how to teach simply by watching other | | | | what you're trying to teach them. And you should be |
| instructors teach. Most commonly the skills that are | | | | able to address different types of difficulties that |
| learned are traditional lecture style, which are | | | | students with special needs may have so that you can |
| non-interactive and not well suited for non-auditory | | | | best assist them in learning the topics you are |
| learning styles. | | | | presenting. |
| High schools, middle schools, and elementary schools, | | | | Train the trainer training can help you do all of those |
| however, know better. They know that the best | | | | things, and more. PrepMasters Be A Great Trainer |
| teachers have usually been taught how to teach. So | | | | Workshop gives you excellent training skills and career |
| they require their teachers to have both classes in and | | | | certification based on the latest research. |
| practice at teaching -- in addition to other education in | | | | |