CARACTERIZACIÓN MICROESTRUCTURAL POR

“YOU COULD TELL SHE HAD BEEN THERE”: DESCRIPTIONS OF TRAINERS

I mean they pretty much knew what they were talking about. I tried to find out things about the people if I could. If they had a background in child care, if they even worked in a center because I don’t like taking training from someone who just has book knowledge. If they don’t live it, then they don’t really, then they

can’t sit there and feel it, you know, your frustration, your aggravation, if they have never actually done it. Pretty much everyone that I have to gone to training with had experience. They had been in the field, they had been directors, they had been, you know, cooks, they had been everything. And that really helps. First of all because I know that they have been there. They had the day care experience. (Kim)

Kim spoke for many of the teachers when she talked about how she saw the background experience of the trainer as an important element in the usefulness of the training she had attended. As discussed earlier, the majority of these teachers described their training experiences in positive terms; however, almost all could give examples of training sessions they had attended that the speaker was seen as the issue when they felt the class was not helpful to them. According to these teachers, both the qualifications and the speaking style of the trainer are important elements for training.

In Texas, the Minimum Standards do not “have specific criteria established for someone to be a trainer or provider of clock hours” (Texas Department of Family & Protective Services, 2006, p.30) nor do they “approve or endorse resources or trainers” (p.45). However, the training itself must meet specific criteria. First, the clock hours must be obtained through the sources previously discussed. Second, all training must include: (1) stated learning objectives, (2) a curriculum, which includes experiential or applied activities, (3) an evaluation or assessment tool to determine if participants have met the stated objectives, and (4) a certificate of completion from the training source (Texas Department of Family & Protective Services, 2006). Although the state standards

do not have criteria for trainers, the teachers in this study listed several qualities for trainers they thought were necessary.

Trainer Qualifications That Includes Real-World Experience

When these teachers were asked about how knowledgeable they felt their trainers had been, most thought that their trainers had been knowledgeable and that they had obviously “been there”. However, many of teachers had examples of training sessions they had attended where the speaker did not appear to have the knowledge necessary to teach the topic nor the experience in the field. Typically, when they spoke of trainers as not having knowledge, they were referring to the trainer’s experience in child care settings and not necessarily educational qualifications. Francis was the only teacher that mentioned education when she wondered about the background of a trainer. She gave the following example:

I had one and I just think the lady was a dingbat. I was like, why is she teaching this? I don’t think she ever took a child development course in her life. And she kept referring to how she disciplined her [own] children. And how… it was just like a waste of money. Other than that, I haven’t had any bad ones. I’ve had some that have gone, I’m going to sleep now, but other than that, not bad. When questioned further, Francis said that “you really didn’t know what she was talking about”. This memory lead her to suggest: “I think that every now and then

someone coming in and looking into their class, on how they teach the class, to see how it goes” as a possible strategy for preventing “dingbats” from becoming trainers. Other teachers thought they could tell by the manner in which trainers presented information as

to whether or not the trainer had experience in the field and was someone worth listening to. Gina gave a description of a trainer that she felt was knowledgeable and had real- world experiences. She said:

She actually had been in the situations and you could tell by the way she was talking that she knew what she was talking about. It wasn’t any of the…people that just come out with I think you should da da da…and you know they’ve never really been there. You could tell she had been there. She was very interesting. I think she even cut a few jokes, just to keep you, you know.

Gina felt that in some of the training she has attended, the trainers did not have the levels of experience that led participants into believing that what they said was valid and helpful. Beth also attended trainings where she “felt that the presenter needed to sit down and let the ones that have been in child care do more because…the presenter didn’t know what she was talking about.” Eve said that “several times I’ve been to a training where I think this person has not had any direct experience with a child or they wouldn’t be saying what they are saying.” Real world experience seems to be an important characteristic for trainers for these teachers. The lack of the real world experience of some trainers led the teachers to question what the trainers was trying to teach and also led some to discount the content. Gina said she wonders if the trainers themselves believed what they were teaching. She explained, “I think some people do a more practice what I preach, not what I do. Does that make sense? Like this is what you should do, but it’s not what you’re going to do, but what you should do.”

According to the teachers in this study, the background experience of the trainer plays an important role in their ability to connect to the ideas and information being

presented. For most of the teachers, the crucial factor was not the formal educational level of the trainer, but their past experiences actually working in a center and with children. While the state standards to not list requirements for trainers (Texas

Department of Family & Protective Services, 2006), many of these teachers thought that trainers must have “real world” experiences working with children to be credible.

Charismatic or Boring Trainers

Some of them were helpful and some of them were not. To be honest with you, a lot of them, I didn’t even pay attention. I have a short attention span and if they are not going to make it fun and they are not going to make it hands-on, I’m not going to pay attention. No one is paying attention. (Lisa)

For some of these teachers, the trainer’s personality and speaking ability played a key role in how they perceived the helpfulness of the training class. A few of the

teachers said that they chose what training classes they attended based on, as Eve said, “who’s giving it”. Olga spoke at length on how important she thought the personality of the trainer was in relation to how she received the material being presented. She said she preferred someone with a “go-get-em kind of a personality” that was “enthusiastic and not someone that is going to stand up there monotone and just give you the facts and nothing else.”

More than one third of these teachers mentioned examples of training sessions that were boring and most attributed this to the trainer. Joyce talked about boring sessions that were “hard to sit through”. Lisa talked about training sessions that were “horrible”. When asked why they were horrible, she replied, “I couldn’t stay awake.”

She said she tried to look for sessions that she did not “think are going to bore me to death”. Gina said that “a lot of the trainings we go to are really boring” and that it is “a waste of time if it is boring”. While the format has a part in this (and thus, the preference for interactive formats), many of these teachers also mention the skill of the trainer in making the class not so boring. Quinn said, “Sometimes when I see that person’s name, I will not take the class because it’s going to be boring. Or if I know someone has been to that class, I will ask them, did you go to Mary Smith’s class? How was she this time?”

For many of these teachers, the personality of the speaker was seen as an important element in the quality of their training experiences. The style of the speaker often was attributed to whether or not a class was considered “boring” and could keep their attention. Regardless of the quality of the content, if the trainer did not have the personality characteristics to keep them focused and engaged, the training class was not seen as beneficial.

“YOU CAN CERTAINLY HEAR THE SAME THING TWICE” (REPEATED