4 reasons why you should teach skills, not theory
Despite so many trends in the broader L&D industry today, hands-on, skills-based learning is more important than ever. Most industry studies suggest that approximately 50% of the workforce will need upskilling and training in the near future. There’s no better way than to focus your training on the skills you need.
Skills-based training is action-oriented and highly appealing to both instructors and learners. Many of the basic principles used in learning can also be applied to skill-based learning. There is nothing to prevent you from including learning outcomes and learning objectives to ensure that they align with Bloom’s revised taxonomy. The only requirement is that you be oriented towards teaching practical skills.
Andragogy should not expect adult learners to recite book chapters or share e-learning summaries. What this audience needs are practical skills, and here are some reasons why this type of learning is so important right now.
1. The most effective way to learn
Skills-based learning is the most effective type of training for adults. According to the most reliable studies, including one conducted by the OECD, approximately 67% of adults report seeing improvements after participating in skills-focused training. While older learning approaches focused on theoretical understanding and conceptualization, skill-based learning takes a more behavioral approach. Both the end result and the process learners go through are practical, engaging, and show consistent improvement. Even if a learner actively fails to use a new tool, it can be presented as a positive outcome. You can learn from clicking on the wrong spot in the tool, but it only frustrates you when you can’t remember the facts from a book or compliance training.
Conceptually, it can be very difficult to explain to learners that to fully understand laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the EU AI Act, they need to have a basic understanding of why the EU was founded. Skills-based learning does not need to ignore this theoretical foundation. Just package it differently. It teaches students practical skills and reflects on how post-World War II Europe provided a good foundation for close-knit communities that were once mortal enemies, ultimately leading to comprehensive privacy legislation. This isn’t the easiest fact pattern to present, but teaching history can be tedious. This is also something that is easier to achieve through skill-based learning.
2. Skills-based learning works with any delivery method
It is a very common misconception that skills-based learning can only occur in person. This misconception likely stems from information training in the field. Although there is a clear link between the two approaches, to say that skills-based training can only be delivered informally or face-to-face is an oversimplification of the broader implications.
Take the application of GDPR as an example. What is stopping companies from launching e-learning courses on GDPR, including case studies showing the consequences of not asking for customer consent? And returning to the key principles of GDPR by showing multiple perspectives? Showing the fines of up to €20 million that companies can be hit with? Explore practical case studies on how GDPR violations can negatively impact your customers. Ask just about anyone to think about how frustrating it is when they receive three unsolicited cold calls in a week.
By considering these small and highly practical approaches to breaking down concepts and turning them into analytical skills, you can make any form of material or content more engaging. This applies not only to in-person delivery, but also to e-learning course development.
3. Skill-based learning is essential in an era dominated by AI
There is a lot of focus on how AI will transform education and transform our workforce and society more broadly. But in one very fundamental way, not much has really changed. We still trust human judgment to make the final difficult decisions. Most organizations that are serious about using AI in a safe and responsible manner typically have controls called human-in-the-loop (HITL). And while training them in HITL is essential to ensuring they can handle these difficult demands, what exactly are we trying to teach them?
Do we have the ability to argue that AI is wrong? Well, perhaps as a practical consequence, yes. However, to say that this is simply “AI identified the facts as incorrect” is an oversimplification that borders on factually incorrect. Most modern businesses need to understand how their AI models work before they can accurately determine if they are producing misleading or inaccurate content. It should also be kept in mind that many of the people performing HITL will also need to provide constructive feedback, given that in many small businesses they are very likely to wear a variety of roles.
And how can you provide even some constructive feedback on how to fix an AI model if you don’t have the relevant skills or capabilities? HITL isn’t just about knowing the facts and identifying that the AI got it wrong. This is still the skill set that distinguishes human experts from AI. And like AI, knowledge is not static. Therefore, our professionals who work as part of HITL management require continuous skill-based learning to remain at the top of their respective fields.
4. Skill-based learning is fun
Perhaps this is just a personal opinion, so let’s go back to the GDPR example to discuss this point. Unless you are a lawyer, I think most people who have taken GDPR training have found it to be a fairly dry subject. Let’s be honest: Starting with the origin story of the EU, from how the European Coal and Steel Board came into being to how far the Council of Europe (not the EU) got with Treaty 108 in 1981, isn’t the most interesting topic to teach.
By the time you manage to explain that the Council of Europe is a completely separate international organization from the EU, if this were an online class, you would probably have lost half the space. You might have a little more luck if you can get this delivered to you in person. Also, I’m not sure where I stand with you personally, but I hope you find some value here. But that doesn’t happen when you take a skills-based learning approach to a topic. This may be very biased, but in my experience, when you teach any topic using tools and skills, most people become more engaged.
Even when I was teaching GDPR to a recurring group of customer support reps (who hate the topic), they were able to better understand these tools and procedures if they were tied to clear job requirements. Once I understood that the skills I was trying to teach were really necessary, rather than boring theoretical foundations, I no longer had to worry about my audience falling asleep. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a classroom or on a Zoom call. Skills-based learning is delivery method agnostic.
No matter what topic you’re training on or what format you choose, skill-based learning will give your audience a reason to engage right away. It’s more effective, more flexible, and better suited to rapidly changing workplace demands. As an added bonus, it’s a much more rewarding experience for everyone in the room.
