Context is King

Posted on 23 June 2011 by James McLuckie and tagged as learning design, content

During a recent group discussion session, the facilitator asked us what our favourite fruit was. "Banana!" "Strawberry!" "Apple!" "Blueberry!" we all individually piped up. Fairly straightforward so far. The facilitator then invited us to discuss which one was the best.

• "You get a good variety of choice with apples."
• "But strawberries are symbolic of summer."
• "Well, blueberries are a super fruit."
• "You can't make banoffee pie out of blueberries!"

And so the debate raged on for, oooo, literally seconds.

Up stepped the facilitator and said, "OK, so what's the best fruit to give you energy?" "Banana" we all chorused as one. And so the dispute was ended and the decision was made. Bananas it was. (My original choice, incidentally. But I'm not one to gloat.)

The Importance of Context/Content

The point of this exercise was to highlight that we often approach things in our lives, be it an activity, a decision-making exercise, a project or a personal task, without defining a clear context. We could have gone on forever debating the best fruit, but once we established a transparent framework about what "best" meant in this circumstance, the selection was easy.

This context/content perspective says that content is useless without context. Without defining the context, you risk swimming in content. Wrap a context around the content you're working with and decisions are taken more easily, progress is more rapid, and choices are made with more purpose.

So What Relevance Does This Have to Learning?

Recently, I have been putting together a coaching workshop, and approached this much like I do any piece of learning design. I outline a set of performance outcomes (i.e. what I want to learner to be able to do) and start writing or sourcing suitable content.

These performance outcomes provide my context. So, I go off and write scenarios for exercises, and messages around key learning points etc. All is good, I thought.

As I looked at the material I put together so far, however, I had a rethink from this context/content angle. Much of the content was from my context. What about that of the learners? What if my context doesn't resonate with them?

The scenarios and the messages (to give two instances) that I have detailed make sense and follow a narrative that get the learning points across. But I am pushing my context down through them. Is it worthwhile instructing people to have a conversation about what fruit gives them the most energy, when what they're really interested in is which one tastes the best with vanilla ice cream?

For me, going forward it will be important to design learning that gives enough breathing space to allow the learners to apply their own context, rather than one that I think works for them.

I can provide guidance, highlight things to look out for, get them to think about what is going on. But we need to trust learners to be able to personalise things in a way that makes it relevant to them. In a scenario you devise, John might be an IT manager with responsibility for 200 staff, needing to let go 50 of them. That's a difficult decision that needs to be made. But if one of your learners is not an IT manager needing to decide which of his 50 staff to make redundant, why make them go through acting that out?

The mechanics of making a difficult decision are the same, regardless of the circumstances. Provide learners with those, and let them devise their own context. One that applies to them. One that is meaningful to them. One that will help them learn.

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