A “guide” that will point them in the right direction to train students from the poorer sections of town or country, in the few basics they need to know to actually go out and start a tiny business. This will change their lives forever!
Trainers will fill in with details, stories, additional exercises (if they want), give counsel, and so on, as they draw from their own experience and education.
Teachers come from a variety of occupations and backgrounds
Unlike the money poor students whom they will teach in the 6 weekends, I see the first group of teachers as bank workers, store owners or managers, investors, or school teachers and other educated and life experienced people. The school teachers may need to go on-line and learn a little about business basics if they don’t already know them.
Just the basics
It was never my intention to put “everything” into this manual one might need to know. They can search the internet in the areas they are weak. But remember: a huge part of what they need is either in their personal experience or right here in the pages of this operator’s manual.
Motivation & encouragement
There is neither the time, nor was it ever the purpose, to give “advanced training” to the students selected for the 6 weekends of training—JUST THE BASICS! Basic information is sufficient. The students don’t need a LOT of information. What they need is MOTIVATION and ENCOURAGEMENT, and just a little information and practice on how to use it, to get them to actually GO OUT and START a tiny business. It is more important that teachers are MOTIVATORS and SUPPORTERS than it is that they have MBA skills.
We need Teacher/Trainers:
- Who already know how to teach and
- Already have basic business experience
It is the personal encouragement, the confidence building, the being “selected” and being believed in that will get some of the students to “go out and do it.” These are the “firecrackers”—they just need a shove much more than they need information. Teachers need to personally connect with the students, and also, present the material enthusiastically!
Part military drill Sergeant & part kindly pastor
These students may not be used to classrooms and they may not be “efficient learners” with developed classroom learning skills. Their study habits may not be well developed. As a result, the Trainer will need to put in extra effort at classroom control, behavioral re-direction, encouraging students to listen, not talk over each other, etc.
Informal
IMPORTANT NOTE: Don’t get frustrated if half of Trainer’s energy/time in any given teaching hour went to classroom management and re-directing student behavior and only half into “actual teaching” time. It goes with the territory. Constantly monitoring the classroom atmosphere and constantly re-directing students in how to participate in a group learning setting are just “part of the job” you volunteer for.
HOW you run your classroom is JUST AS important as what you teach
The students will follow your examples that you set here—when later on they become the trainers and coach and teach their new employees. In the short term it may be frustrating for you, but, in the long run your efforts will pay off big! Someday you will visit a former student now running his/her own business and chuckle to yourself as you see them putting “your” practices into operation.
Just the bare bones
Also, there will be many wonderful features, traits, and skills you wish you could teach the students but you simply won’t have time to. Don’t try to “stick them in.” They are not necessary to the over-all goal: to actually start a tiny business. Instead, teach a very few basics.
Your job is not done until student shows you that they understand it
This next point is a MUST: it is important that in class you lead them through practicing what you just taught them. After decades of teaching, I know this: what SEEMED clear by teacher saying it and the students listening to you say it, it is only HALF clear!! This will soon become obvious as you say, “ok, now, you draw it on paper.”
You only get what you expected the student to produce after more coaching. Then, finally, they get it. Your saying it aloud to them was only half of their learning it. Or, “ok, get in teams of two and role play this back to each other.” Again, you find more coaching is needed. They learn best when actually practicing what you taught.
IN CLASS STUDENT PRACTICE LIKE THIS IS ESSENTAL FOR SKILLS ACQUISITION!
The un-motivated ones will give up, the motivated will push on. We rely on the idea that only very basic information is required to get these “firecracker” types going. We want them to actually start a tiny business. They really only need the most basic of skills to do that. We have identified and refined those skills and put them in the sequential lesson plans and in the homework.
I am counting on teachers being verbal, enthusiastic and being good at enrolling people. Again, it will be less about the information gained and more about the experience the student had in the training that will get the few who make it thru the program to actually start a little business and be successful.
Teacher just:
- Brings up the topic,
- Tells some basics about it,
- Uses Socratic dialogue/questions to get students pondering “how would I do this?”
- Leads students through practicing what was just taught.
It is not information that moves people. It is enthusiastic energy, encouragement and a sense of emotional connection to a respected person (like a teacher or trainer) that move people to action.
If your heart pulls you to conduct the 6 weekends of training in your community, please listen to your heart and do it! Mr. James Art Ville (illustrator & producer) and I put in hundreds of hours preparing this operator’s manual—we did it for you! You will be offering “new lives” to the maids and field hands who take the training who never before thought they could have a successful life beyond the
kitchen and the field.