Learners First. An Agile Approach to Learning

1.1 Table of contents

Introduction

What is Agile Learning?

2.1The Origins of Agility

2.2The Agile Manifesto

2.3The Agile Framework Scrum

2.4The Core of Agility

2.5The Agile Learning Approach

2.6Agile Learning in Organisations

2.7Comparing Agile and Traditional Learning

Theoretical Foundations

3.1Learning Goals and Motivation

3.2Scripts

3.3Self-regulated Learning and Metacognition

3.4Feedback

Roles in Agile Learning

4.1Learners

4.2Agile Learning Coaches

4.3Instructors

4.4Managers

4.5Customers and Partners

Meetings and Processes in Agile Learning

5.1Kick-Off : What's it all about?

5.2Planning : Where will the journey take you?

5.3Sprint : Off you go!

5.4Review and Retrospective : Learning never stops

5.5Interim Meeting : How are you?

5.6Settings, Preparation and Follow-Up

Agile Learning in Practice

6.1Where to Start

6.2Gathering Experience

6.3Gaining Confidence

6.4Healthy Growth

6.5Return on Investment

6.6A Glance Into the Future

References

About the Authors

1. Introduction

Money can't buy agility, you have to practice it

We are delighted that you are interested in agile learning. Agile principles and methods paired with the right mindset can really improve the way people live and work together – we have experienced this time and again in many projects and teams over the last few years.

Maybe you share this experience because you are already working in an agile environment, or perhaps you are just vaguely familiar with the term 'agility' and want to learn more about new learning approaches. No matter what made you curious about this book, if you are interested in how to make learning processes more exciting, eff icient and sustainable, then you have the right book.

We are passionate about agility. From this passion and from years of experience in agile coaching, agile projects, teaching, training and seminars came the idea to also introduce agility to learning and personal development. We have set out to create agile learning oases in very diff erent contexts.

On the way to a truly agile approach to learning, we have done a lot of research, development, testing and finally put our results into practice. With this book we want to share our findings and experiences. It is intended to be a theoretically sound yet also practical introduction to agile learning.

What you will find in this book

You can expect background information from the field of pedagogy and learning theory as well as soft ware development, but above all we would like to give concrete tips for the practical realisation of agile learning. A large part of this book addresses workplace learning, but it can also be implemented in other contexts. We have had very positive results and experiences with agile learning in schools, youth work and non-profit organisations.

To this date, there are relatively few research results on applying agile learning in practice. Therefore, in chapters 2 and 3 we have collected well-documented findings from organisational theory, teaching-learning research, learning psychology and pedagogy and present how they play a role in agile learning.

In chapters 4 and 5 we provide practical tips for designing roles, processes and meetings in the agile learning practice, combining theoretical considerations with our own research results and practical experience. These chapters are particularly interesting if you want to learn agile yourself or support others in their learning eff orts as a coach, manager or L&D professional.

The tips and practical advice we present here may seem very detailed and model-based at first glance. The reason for this is quite simple : Agile learning can be challenging at the beginning because its key aspects are quite diff erent from the typical learning environments we grew up in and were influenced by for many years. To trigger changes in our thinking processes, it is helpful to start by describing new roles, processes and meetings in detail. Over time, these detailed 'instructions' can be scaled back and interpreted more freely. The eff ectiveness of this approach has been studied quite well in script research ( see chapter 3.2 ).

In the last chapter we would like to give you practical guidance if you are considering to establish the agile learning concept in your organisation. We show you a viable path from the first steps to a comprehensive, new and inspiring learning culture.

Depending on what you are particularly interested in, you can also read the individual chapters on their own. We made sure to refer from the practical to the theoretical chapters, and vice versa.

The never-ending journey

When we set out to write a book about agile learning, we quickly realised that a book with agile content should also be written in an agile way. But what does it mean? For us it means :

The book of many : It starts with an idea, then evolves through brainstorming in a team, through questions and suggestions of our peers, through lots of typing and proofreading – this book is the result of the incredibly stimulating collaboration process involving many of our fellow QualityMinds, even if there are only two names on the cover. This book was a new kind of writing experience for all of us and it was exciting, insightful and a lot of fun.

Grown organically : We had a rough structure of the content quite early on, yet sections kept changing. Again and again conversations or teams meetings led us to rewritten sections, or delete others or include completely new ones. This book may be printed, but the process is still going on.

The never-ending journey : We want to continue working on the topics of this book. Thanks to Book on Demand, we can incorporate new experiences and studies into an updated edition more easily. And this is where you come into play.

Your insights matter : We look forward to your feedback, suggestions and advice for the further evolution of the agile learning approach and this book.

Do you have experience with agile learning or interesting information you would like to share with future reader and us? Then write to us at : [email protected]

Thank you!

We would like to thank all our supporters, helpers, friends and colleagues who made this book a reality. Thank you Carina, Elena, Guna, Joona, Veronika, Rick, Markus, Sanne, Susanne, Tine and the entire QualityLearning team for thinking and developing together. Thank you Madeleine and Rosetta for the typesetting and graphic design ; Bettina, Eva, Tamara and Ralph for the input and proofreading. Thank you Michael and Robert for the unconditional support, critical questioning and creative freedom. Massive thanks to the whole QualityMinds community. You are simply wonderful!

Vera Baum and Manuel Illi, 2022

2. What is Agile Learning?

Learning something and then using it right away, for example a new language, can be very motivating. Being able to react to situations in a dynamic way, even in completely new and challenging situations, is also motivating and more and more important. This chapter therefore takes a look at how learning and agility can be combined and thus creating something completely new – something new that can even change our understanding of how we learn, live and work ( Gehlen-Baum & Hoppenz, 2018 ).

A good starting point is the illustrious word 'agility'. The English adjective 'agile' derives via French from the Latin 'agilis', which means 'quick-moving, nimble, active'. The idea of agility widely discussed today in business management and organisational development, however, is much more recent.

2.1 The Origins of Agility

Scientifically, the concept of 'agility' was developed and researched in sociology in the early 1950s. In their study Working Paper in the Theory of Action ( 1953 ), the authors Bales, Shils and Parsons examined group behaviour which Parsons ( 1978 ) later on incorporated it in his theoretical AGIL paradigm.

The broader interest in agility, however, began in the 1990s. That was the time when not only the 'personal computer' entered many households but also the complexity of computer programs started to increase rapidly. This is well illustrated by the example of Microsoft Windows. While the first version ( NT 1.0 ) had about 4 to 5 million lines of code in 1993, Windows XP ( NT 5.1 ) in 2001 had already ten times more, containing about 40 million lines of code ( O'Brien, 2005 ).

Traditional production methods that were established in other contexts, for example in automotive manufacturing, could not keep up with this complexity. In 1991, the Iacocca Institute of Lehigh University called for new forms of production under the slogan of 'agility' and defined this term to be A manufacturing system with extraordinary capability to meet the rapidly changing needs of the marketplace [ … ] ideally in real-time response to customer demand ( quoted from Hopper et al., 2001, p. 632 ). The same institute also founded the Agile Manufacturing Enterprise Forum ( AMEF ) shortly aft erwards to advocate the required dynamic reactivity.

In the late 1990s, this flexible reaction was combined with aspects of proactive behaviour, customer expectations and process adaptability ( Förster & Wendler, 2012 ). Soft ware companies quickly took notice of this since they had to develop their products in shorter cycles and react to suddenly emerging requirements all along. There is hardly anything worse than an application that, although well-engineered and stable, is already outdated at the time of its delivery or fails to meet the needs of its users.

Then, in February 2001, a group of 17 leading soft ware developers met in the snow-covered mountains of Utah to pool their experiences into a common approach. The result was the Manifesto for Agile Soft ware Development ( or in short : Agile Manifesto ). The values and principles described in this manifesto are still having unforeseen eff ects until today, in widely diff erent contexts such as business management or, as in our case, learning.

2.2 The Agile Manifesto

The Agile Manifesto is based on the realisation that many factors determine the success of a complex process and that therefore a well-considered prioritisation is vital. These influencing factors can be anything from interaction among team members and collaboration with customers, to tools, functioning soft ware and documentation up to reactions to changes, contract negotiations, planning, and so forth.

The authors of the Agile Manifesto were driven by the desire to clearly prioritise these factors to make the highly complex processes of soft ware development more transparent, more eff icient and more pleasant for everyone involved while still delivering value. The Manifesto is based on four basic values which, as a matter of fact, are a list of priorities :

"We are uncovering better ways of