Beyond Instructional Design
Instructional Design is holding back L&D. No matter how many times this argument crops up, we have a whole industry built on a model of learning that is inherently flawed for a modern workplace.
Instruction has proven itself to be an efficient teaching method - it’s pretty quick to impart skills and knowledge. Yet with the negative stats around L&D’s impact, it’s clear Instruction is not an effective teaching method.
Why?
Over the years ID has evolved in spirit for the better, incorporating more cognitive & constructionist approaches, including things like motivation (ARCS model).
But the basics of Instructional Design remain the same:
Attention
Recall
Demonstrate
Practice
Apply
It assumes a controlled classroom to practice with a compliant audience. It has little interest in metacognition & makes no allowances for social dynamics.
In the spirit of informal learning (70:20:10), the average L&D interventions miss most of where people gain new skills and experience at work. Given the rise and rise of digital learning, how much of that happens in a classroom? The existing approaches just aren’t relevant.
I want a model goes beyond Instructional Design, that has learning at its core, but takes into account the wider working context.
Performance - linking skills and behaviours to measurable outcomes
Personalisation - space for self-reflection, motivation & planing
Environment - interleaving and resilience to prepare people for change
Culture - design around how things are done at work