The Difference Between Education, Training, and Learning

In our 30 years of consulting to organizations both big and small – it has become very apparent that most workplace training fails for one fundamental reason…

People don’t “get” the difference between education, training, and learning.

As an expert in the field, we often speak at industry conferences and always start with this distinction.

It is amazing to hear many people in the audience exclaim “ohhhh.”

Here is the distinction:

Education is something we’ve all experienced.

It is formal. It is typically done in large groups.

It is mostly a one-way flow of information.

It’s usually an expert imparting knowledge - which often takes the form of facts, rules, or underlying theories.

At the end of education we expect people to “know stuff.”

Training is more outcome based.

At the end of training you are expected to be able to do something or to behave in a certain way.

And training is dependent on education because you often cannot do new things without understanding certain facts or rules.

For instance,  you can’t hit a golf ball with accuracy unless you understand how your body position changes the trajectory.

But above and beyond that – there are many different techniques for hitting a golf ball …which can be learned through training.

Finally, learning is achieved when you have internalized something.

It is the point where somebody says “how do you do that?” and you don’t even know.

You forget what it was like to be a beginner.  

You forget what the steps are – you just do it.

So if we want to get to learning – which we do – how is that accomplished?

Three ways:  experience, spaced learning, and reflection.

First Experience – not all learning is done in the classroom or in a formal, prescribed setting, right? Think of all the things you’ve learned in your life. A well-known example is teaching a child not to touch a hot stove. Rarely do any of us actually teach that. If we were to educate the child we’d say “don’t touch that stove, it’s hot!” or  “be careful, you’ll get hurt” or the simple NO! 

But none of those words mean anything.

Inevitably we all touch a hot stove and IMMEDIATELY learn what we’ve been “taught” but didn’t internalize.

So – if you truly want someone to learn something – they have to experience it.

Next, spaced learning or practice.

Think about when you learned to ride a bike or drive a car.

 You didn’t take a class and then miraculously know how to do it.

You practiced over and over – repetition, yes, but also - you practiced over the course of many days or weeks - - spaced practice.

We simply do not learn something once, and change our behavior or our capabilities immediately.

And third: reflection.

Reflection is something only an adult human can do.  

Have you ever punished your child by saying “go to your room and think about what you’ve done.” That is futile. They can’t do it.

But you know that internal monologue you have running in your head… as you drive or when you’re in the shower …where you’re constantly reflecting on what has happened and whether you were satisfied with the outcome or not? That’s reflection.

In order to learn - people need time to reflect.

Sadly, we rarely allow for that in the workplace.

We put people into 2 hour or 4 hour training classes and then release them back to their jobs where they get inundated with new and urgent things… and that’s the end of that.

And then we wonder why people don’t change their behavior … despite the fact that we provided them “training.”

So -  to reiterate:

Education, training and learning are different.

When people get to the point of having learned – they have internalized the content.

They know what they are doing…

why they are doing it…

when they should do it…

and how their behavior might have to change based on changing circumstances.