When trainers bicker about terminology, keep moving
After 25 years as a trainer, I get a little fed up with people who get carried away with the saying, “we don’t train people - we educate people, and we train animals.”Feels like I’m listening to people argue about whether to say roots or roots. (got that one? )
My question is, do we know what you mean? Great! Next topic, please.
But for those who insist on arguing, I will respond with this:
What are we trying to do? Get people to learn!
And, for a number of years now, this concept has been catching on. In fact, many organizations have re-titled their training departments to Learning departments. And 20 years ago you never saw a Chief Learning Officer — but you do now. A lot of them.
They even have a their own magazine!
The idea behind it all is to make sure people know their jobs. Hopefully, if the training has been conducted well, people also know how their job inter-relates with other jobs.
Thank God we’re using the word learning now. We can argue over whether people being trained or being educated, but what’s most important is that people learn.
