Johnny Park

I have to agree as well. The class did a good job of laying out some big needs in the classroom and in making me aware of some critical elements I need to improve on.

As an instructor, I try to be more the veteran sergeant down in the trenches with my students instead of the inaccessible officer behind a desk somewhere. Not that I become their buddy, but that I lead from the front by doing first - and being seen doing first - anything I require of them. I also strongly encourage a team-oriented, collaborative environment. It's amazing how much people can learn from each other in addition to learning from the instructor.

Lots of learning can happen outside of or even in the midst of formal training. The beauty of this organic learning is that a lot of times it's spontaneous: students start interacting, helping each other, and picking up knowledge from everyone else. The instructor can facilitate this and make it part of instruction.

The 80/20 rule is definitely the way to go. Relying too heavily on formal training without ever applying that training to actual problem-solving is like trying to learn to fly just with ground school and no time spent at the controls. Students learn by doing, they learn from instructors, they learn from each other, and they learn from their own mistakes. Classroom training is invaluable, but it's only the jumping-off point, not the total experience.