Freedom Paves the Way to Learning

A learner had a strikingly negative reaction when I referenced university lectures while facilitating on the concept of “teaching-centered versus learning-centered.” I remarked that there is a place on the continuum for everything, and that I have also experienced many excellent lectures. However, for the rest of the training, it seemed like key learning connections were disrupted – to the content and to each other – that may have impacted their learning experience.

I was reminded of this incident while listening to a recent episode of the podcast Hidden Brain. Host Shankar Vedantam interviewed psychologist Benjamin Rosenberg about the concept of psychological reactants – our negative reactions to real and imagined infringements on our autonomy or freedoms. Rosenberg shares…

We have evolved with the ability to choose how we fulfill our various needs to survive and thrive. When that ability is taken away it feels especially painful. Negative reactions also show up when we feel a person is trying to deliberately change our view about something.

From an adult learning perspective, negative reactions may appear when we are:

• Teaching content that may be very new to learners,
• Facilitating controversial topics,
• Meeting with challenging perspectives among learners and more.

Strategies from Research That May Address Negative Reactions in Adult Learning:

• Pay attention to the language you use. Instead of mandating and controlling language, support autonomy with inviting language. Examples: I invite you to turn to page 3. When you are ready, move over to the flip chart. Consider moving to another location in your space to journal. We have 2 minutes left, let me know if you need more.
• Offer choices. Offer select ways that you have chosen for learners to interact with the content. As a bonus, choice also helps learners connect in ways that meet their learning preferences. Examples: Please read the question on the screen and respond in the Chat or you may unmute and share verbally. Think about your vision for the next 2 days, and share it with the group as a drawing, a poem, a bumper sticker or a statement.
• Let learners know ahead of time that they may experience a negative reaction. You can also bring it to their attention in the moment. Example: The topic we are going to cover has caused issues in our department and may bring up some history and stress; let’s make a plan for how we will handle this during our time together.
• Use a story instead of instructions. A persuasive message can be folded into a story with characters that the audience like or care about. They won’t feel that you’re trying to persuade them. This allows them to more freely process the message neutrally. Here is a GLP podcast about story-telling as a learning tool that shares more.

I’m grateful to that learner for teaching me the importance of my language and acknowledging the vastness of learners’ experiences.