Customer Reviews

The Creative Trainer: Holistic Facilitation Skills for Accelerated Learning

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Given the pedigrees of the *two* authors (Peter Handley and the Michael Lawlor) this book *should* have been an absolute knockout. But it isn't.

Each chapter starts with a short extract from the hypothetical introduction of AL training into a mythical pottery manufacturer - Glospot Ltd. - designed as an intro to the subject matter of the chapter. I personally found these pieces too short and poorly written (especially the dialogue), and eventually came to dread facing yet another piece of stilted and (in my perception) vaguely patronising prose.

The main text is primarily concerned with Accelerated Learning (about which both authors obviously know a great deal), with occasional references to NLP, about which they seem to *understand* considerably less (the description of 'anchoring' on page 123 verges on the ludicrous).

To my mind the key paragraph in the whole book is to be found on page 132:

"There are a number of other memory techniques which can be useful when studying. These include the 'Loci System', the 'Chain of Links', the 'T for I' system, and creating sentences in which the initial letter of each word stands for words which are to be remembered. They are described in Michael Lawlor's book 'Inner Track Learning'.

Maybe it's just me, but I strongly object to this practice. I believe the authors should describe the techniques, or not mention them at all - certainly not as an advert for another book by the same author.

I was equally non-plussed by the choice of the HBDI (Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument) as the preferred tool for determining someone's learning (Chapter 8). The HBDI is a very closely guarded product and (according to the text) only the staff of the Ned Hermann Group(UK) are authorised to score the questionnaires, at £35 each. That's nearly enough to purchase the highly successful Honey and Mumford Learning Styles Manual, complete with questionnaire and scoring details and a licence for *unlimited* personal use.

Both of the authors have long since founded their own training establishments, and I couldn't help feeling that this book might have been a whole lot richer and more detailed in it's descriptions of the various techniques if the authors hadn't had to deal with this apparent conflict of interest.

When I found myself purchasing multiple copies of "The Creative Trainer" this holiday for bright young students who have a passion for training, I knew this book deserved a review. I have discovered the healing benefits of Accelerated Learning and NLP applied to corporate training for several years, and this is the best review and application of those techniques that I have found. Its attributes include: Well organized, easy to read, extremely useful reference section, and a score of brief introductions to the valuable tools and techniques it could take years to discover on your own. An important addition to academic books on the topics of instructional design and delivery and a useful introduction to tools used by outstanding trainers and consultants in organizations today.