The mirror model

Our mirror model helps trainers and participants focus – before and after the assignment – on what is relevant, namely how the participants have done and how they can translate that to their own work situation.

What does the assignment actually have to do with participants’ daily practice?

To clarify what experiential training is actually about, we often use our ‘mirror model’. This model helps participants focus on the relevant issues both before and during training.

Parallel to the participants’ work situation, we create short, powerful, goal-oriented learning situations during our training sessions; circumstances or assignments in which three elements recur recognisably each time: tasks (what?), people (who?) and resources (with what?).

The power of experiential learning training is determined by the way in which the behaviour displayed during the assignment is reflected upon. The focus of trainers and participants is then on the process elements (how?) during the execution of the assignments. The power of a work form increases as trainers and participants are more and more able to draw parallels between the learning situation and their own work situation. In the mirror model, this means: the more the learning situation can be ‘superimposed’ on the work situation, the larger the shaded blue area, the greater the ‘transfer of training’, i.e. the greater the learning effect.

Focus on the process side means that participants gain insight into what they themselves have the most direct influence on, namely their own behaviour. Reflection reveals which behaviours are or are not effective. During our programmes, participants can discover, experiment and/or demonstrate to their heart’s content.