4 Lessons in Instructional Design & Training

What a wild and exciting year this has been. As we head into December I am wrapping up two big contracts, one as an instructional designer redesigning multiple pre-service training modules for a statewide non-profit that serves children and families, and one with the Gateway to College National Network as an instructional coach with Project DEgree. I've completed 27 of 30 two-day trips to five colleges in 18 months. I've also written over 30 training modules covering everything from safety and transportation to family and health services, to early childhood classroom environments and teaching practices.


In the last 12 months I've either been packing and writing, unpacking and writing, sitting on an airplane and writing, or training and coaching with college faculty and then writing about it on the flight home! To bring closure to this amazing year I thought I'd summarize the lessons I've learned as an instructional designer and trainer as I've split my time between flying around the country and sitting at my desk at home writing:

1. Just when you think you can't write another word…DON'T! Dynamic and effective instructional design requires time on the road, face-to-face with people doing the work you are shaping into training curriculum. When you are stuck, step away from the computer and go hang with your SMES.

2. Spend time with people of all ages, backgrounds, lifestyles and persuasions. As an instructional designer how can you write well for diverse audiences if you spend time only with people like yourself? There is nothing like sitting in on classes and having lunch in a community college cafeteria to broaden one's awareness of and appreciation for life from the Millenial perspective, and the returning from retirement Boomer perspective, and the economically displaced worker perspective, and the first-generation college student perspective, and the other wonderfully diverse and engaging folks utilizing our community colleges for a fresh start.

3. It is good to have a balance of writing, coaching and training. My coaching and training keeps my writing honest and real. My writing keeps me in the discipline of reflecting upon and critically analyzing and recording my real-life experiences. All together it builds a richness of experience that sharpens my skills and makes me that much better prepared to serve the next project and my next client.

4. Good work is good work is good work. I have the absolute pleasure of working with many organizations across a number of social service and educational settings. While each discipline has its own lexicon and set of best practices, when you strip away the discipline-specific lingo, many of those best practices are strikingly similar. Whether I'm working on behalf of families, young children, folks re-entering the community from prison, academically underprepared college students, teen parents, or all of the talented professionals who work with all of the aforementioned, good work with PEOPLE looks strikingly similar. What works is commitment to evidence-based practices, passion, kindness, dedication, collaboration, team work, thinking beyond what's always been done, diversity, appreciation and encouragement of chaos and disturbing the system, fearlessness in examining one's practice, seeking out and exchanging ideas with others who do the same work, starting with and building on strengths, tolerance and encouragement of messiness and mistakes, reflection, regrouping, refining, trusting people to do their best, giving them the freedom to do so, and appreciating them publicly when they deliver.

I guess those are my top four lessons from 2011. I look forward to 2012 and the adventures and projects that await me. As this is a time of wrap up and regrouping, I welcome inquiries for instructional design, training and instructional coaching for 2012. If I may be of service on your people project, please contact me at tracyschiffmann@comcast.net