a. Involvement in the Learning Process. A soldier who is involved will retain
more of what is taught.
(1) Student involvement. If you consider your own training, you will realize
how little you retained from those instructors who lectured for the entire hour. Involve
your students by discussion after a short (15 to 20 minute) lecture; by demonstration
and then student practice; by a mediated (slides, short films, charts, etc.) short
presentation and student work book; or by making an assignment and having students
research, then later present the topic.
(2) List/explanation of unfamiliar items. If students must learn unfamiliar
names of items, hand them the list and explanations ahead of time and allow them time
to assimilate the material before your class meets. This will save much of your lecture
time and allow the student to learn at his own rate. All you will need to do is explain
confusing terms and clear up misunderstandings.
(3) Role play/simulations. Since subjects such as "patient-medic
communication" and "psychiatric patient handling" may need to be taught, remember to
use role-play and simulations in the teaching process. These methods are appropriate
when a situation is needed but not likely to be encountered by many of your students
under peacetime conditions.
b. Teaching Values. The following paragraphs present examples of how to
teach values. Other important, but hard to measure attributes of leadership are
character traits, communication, counseling, and the ability to apply the principles of
motivation. The first thing to remember when you are teaching is that you must be a
living example of the attribute you want to teach. People learn naturally by simply
following the example of a respected teacher or leader. Role modeling is the strongest
teacher and has long-term effects.
(1) Starting the class. To gain the interest of your soldiers, start with an
interesting, challenging example that illustrates professional values or the lack of them.
Use an appropriate example. Then define the term "value" and explain how values
have a powerful influence on a person's life.
(2)
Involve the troops in an interesting discussion.
(a) Troop talk. After giving examples of values and defining them, you
have talked for 15 to 20 minutes. It is time to involve the troops. Get them talking. Let
them debate with each other about the pros and cons of various values. You can list
them, or have another soldier list them on a blackboard or on butcher paper.
(b) Discussion learning. This discussion will bring out at least one or
more important teaching points that you want to make. Write these down. Let the
discussion continue for 15 to 20 minutes. If it is a meaningful discussion, you can
"sense" the learning taking place. Let the discussion continue if it is meaningful and
participate in it as you see fit. Your job as a teacher in discussions is to ask the right
questions to create and maintain an atmosphere where people are involved and
interested in what is being taught.
MD0560
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