Brilliance by Design: Creating Learning Experiences That Connect, Inspire, and Engage

by Vicki Halsey

“Learning,” Vicki Halsey writes, “is the gateway to optimal life experiences. Learning transforms people’s lives, and teaching, in any forum, is the art and science of bringing out the brilliance that drives those transformations.”

Or it should be. But what often happens is that people who teach—in classrooms, meetings, workshops, coaching sessions, or any other setting where learning happens—don’t know how to transfer their great content to others effectively. They spend 70 percent of their time on what they are teaching and only 30 percent on how to teach it, when it should be the other way around.

Halsey is here to reverse that equation, laying out a comprehensive instructional design model that deeply engages and energizes learners because it focuses not on how smart they are but on how they are smart. She shows how to create content that is clear, relevant, easily absorbed, and readily retained because it is tailored to each participant’s specific needs, abilities, and inclinations.

Halsey’s six-step ENGAGE Model replaces the old “sit ’n’ get” model with “woo ’n’ do”—learners are actively drawn in and perform activities that reinforce the learning. She presents hundreds of proven ideas, strategies, and practices that will enable you to Energize learners at the beginning of any learning session; help them Navigate the new content and Generate personal meaning and relevance from it; Apply their learning to the real world; Gauge and celebrate their progress; and Extend their learning to action.

Brilliance by Design offers a systematic way to reach joyfully into the soul of learners and facilitate their brilliance so they can make a positive difference in the world.
 

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Professional Development

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 10, 2011

Reviews

[Jung]

Teaching is all about transforming people’s lives through learning –⁠ unlocking the inner brilliance that lies within everyone. Through the Brilliance Learning System, you create synergy between yourself –⁠ the teacher –⁠ and your learners using the content you create. That content should follow the principles of the ENGAGE model, with which you can immerse learners actively in the information you’re teaching and unleash their brilliance over time.

And here’s some actionable advice:

Take care of learners in the virtual classroom.

All the principles of the Brilliance Learning System and the ENGAGE model apply equally as well to the virtual classroom as they do to physical classrooms. But, of course, there are some special considerations you should take into account when teaching online. For one, it’s more difficult to engage learners online than in a physical classroom. Excite them by mailing them a learning packet ahead of time, a workbook, and a little rubber ball that learners can fiddle with during class. Use the chat function to ask interesting and provocative questions for your learners to discuss, and have one-on-one conversations as they filter into the room to get to know them. Oh, and sending them a chocolate bar wouldn’t hurt either!

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The Brilliance Learning System

Meet the glass sculptor Dale Chihuly. He is renowned for his beautiful, bold, creative pieces. But the sculptures themselves are perhaps not his greatest innovation. Instead, it was his idea of assembling teams of skilled glassblowers to create the amazing, large-scale artworks. By capitalizing on the synergy of their collective skills, Chihuly and the other artists produce unique pieces that they would never have been able to create on their own.

When it comes to the classroom, a similar synergy is at play between teachers and learners. At the end of the day, it doesn’t result in intricate sculptures in the shapes of sea creatures or cacti. But this synergy does result in a different kind of masterpiece: the beauty of shared knowledge, empowerment, and new crystallized skills in the minds of your students.

When there is synergy in the classroom, teachers and learners work together to reach greater and greater heights. As the teacher, it’s your job to create and foster that synergy –⁠ just as Dale Chihuly does with his teams of glassblowers.

This is where Vicki’s Brilliance Learning System comes into play. It’s made up of three components, all of which we’re going to cover. The first component is people –⁠ more specifically, people who create synergistic relationships that bring out the best in both themselves and others.

How can you become such a teacher?

A great way to start is by adopting the 70/30 principle. This is the idea that you, as the teacher, should be talking only 30 percent of the time, while your learners should be talking 70 percent of the time. This will make your learners feel like they are the focus of the session. Remember this important axiom: whoever is doing the talking is doing the learning. Learners should spend 70 percent of their time practicing and building skills, and 30 percent of their time learning from you.

Put effort into getting to know your learners. What are their goals, passions, and areas of expertise? Could it be that you’re subconsciously stifling their learning through your tone, demeanor, facial expressions, or body language? Is your classroom a safe space?

Assume that every learner comes to your session wanting to learn, and that those with pessimistic attitudes may feel closed off to learning because of negative experiences from the past – not necessarily because of your class. So instead of getting annoyed, be curious about their experiences and feelings.

While your focus should be on the learners in the classroom, it’s also important that you invest in yourself. This will help you to bring out the best in others. One way to do this is by practicing self-care. Busy instructors often let self-care slip by the wayside. But if you aren’t feeling good and restored on a regular basis –⁠ if you aren’t, in other words, bringing out the brilliance in you –⁠ you’re going to have a hard time bringing out your learners’ brilliance.

Self-care might mean more sleep, more time to eat, walks in nature, mini-vacations, or quiet time with family. Whatever it is, make sure you’re staying fresh, healthy, and inspired!bl

[Lils]

I absolutely loved this book and the way that it shifted the focus to meeting students learning-needs rather than grinding out A's for the semester. I think any teacher would get a lot from reading this book, as it offers many tools to help teach in a classroom in a way that will stick with the students for life.