Although the concept was attributed to the American psychologist and pedagogue John Dewey (1859–1952), in reality he didn’t invent it. The learning by doing educational doctrine is indeed as old as humanity itself. The methodology, without going into too much detail, is the foundation of the apprenticeship system practiced for centuries very successfully by artisans, artists and trade and craft professionals through the knowledge transfer from maestros to apprentices, based on observation, practice of skills, and the gradual perfecting of personal performance in real work situations.
Well before even shoemakers, carpenters and jewelers plied their trade, at the dawn of the human race the expertise in action of previous generations served as a direct reference for youngsters as they were schooled in the arts of hunting, war, toolmaking, agriculture and home-building for their tribes. Even animals learned survival techniques by imitating the behaviors of their more experienced congeners!
This approach emphasizes action as the origin of knowledge and not simply a consequence of it.
What will I learn from this article?
What John Dewey did – and here lies his true merit – was to rationalize the idea of learning by doing and build it around a structured, systemized theory that was to have enormous influence later. Considered to be one of the fathers of so-called progressive education, Dewey was not a fan of traditional memory-based learning, which he thought was passive and didn’t lend itself to knowledge retention or transfer. Instead, he defended the theory that people learn better when they do, than when they study, i.e. when they participate actively and get involved in meaningful experiences, rather than when they are limited to just assimilating concepts, formulae and statistics.
Among his great contributions are theses on instrumentalism, a philosophy based on action and experimentation, and the introduction of work through school projects. He also maintained that, for an experience to be truly meaningful, it is not enough to live it; it must be accompanied by a guide and later reflection that leads to the understanding of why certain actions garner a specific result.
As happened with the artisans of the past, the world of work is where the learning by doing system best fits today. Not just because, as Dewey maintained, transfer levels are much greater when they are applied in situ to “real life” situations, but also because they allow training of a team without interrupting the workflow or losing productivity during the learning curve, as would inevitably happen with conventional training and theoretical orientation in class.
This adjustment of learning, adopted by training programs dedicated to student employability, is increasingly founded in bridge-building between academic institutions and business. Such synergies, including the incorporation of business professionals into teaching of Masters and Bachelor degrees, as well as professional training, are becoming essential requirements for the obtention of qualifications by business students.
It’s the “flying hours”, not the academic qualifications or corporate awards, which allow a professional of any discipline to achieve excellence
Medicine is probably the classic example of a profession to have internalized the need to throw students in at the deep end, working with flesh-and-blood patients with real illnesses. The status of a junior doctor, a professional still in a period of training who spends a minimum of three years working in a hospital under the supervision of a senior doctor, is the perfect example of learning by doing as an accelerating factor in professional apprenticeship.
Learning by doing is not only effective, however, in the incipient stages of a professional career, when it is necessary to experience the reality of the job to begin to understand the basics, companies are using this modality to capacitate professionals of all experience levels. It’s these “flying hours”, rather than academic qualifications or company awards, which allow a professional of any discipline to achieve excellence.
One of the latest exponents of this system of capacitation in employment in Spain is the Dual FP, a modality which combines classwork with intensive immersion in the company, where the student can consolidate knowledge acquired by putting it into practice. In-company time represents at least 25% of the program and covers between 500 and 800 hours overall, while the intensive part consists of between 800 and 1,200 hours.
The digital transformation we experience in all aspects of life is becoming a determining factor in the expansion of this methodology of apprenticeship. The vertiginous rhythm of the technological (r)evolution, contagious in all markets and activity sectors, does not let up on either companies or their employees, who must adapt very fast to permanent changes. “Experimenting on the cheap” does not have a place in this new era of technological explosion, corporate disruption and constant innovation. What is being demanded now is “true experimentation”, controlled risk and tolerance for error as the direct route for learning. “Err quickly, fail fast and fail cheap” is the axiom used in business, a philosophy of corporate life that has its fundamental pillar in the letter “a” – as in “a” for apprenticeship and “a” for action.
It’s not about “learning to work while working”, but learning as a work philosophy
It’s not about “learning to work while working”, but learning as a work philosophy. “Agile” methodologies are those that have embraced this way of working with most enthusiasm, based on trial-by-error as the fast route to innovation. This formula invites team members to iterate continuously as part of their development, without referring to a rigid roadmap. They advance by improving versions, throwing out elements, incorporating others, testing ceilings, etc. And always in close collaboration with colleagues, customers, external suppliers, the academic world and even competitors if necessary.
Learning by doing not only allows the professional to accelerate knowledge transfer in the workplace and convert hard skills into behavioral habits, it also helps in acquiring and consolidating the soft skills that are very difficult to learn in a classroom. Skills like teamwork, resilience, problem-solving, organizational capacity, creativity, leadership and tolerance of pressure, which can only be developed by experiencing them under real conditions, with all the healthy excitement of knowing that the roar of thunder and crackle of torrential rain we hear approaching are not simulations, they really do have to be dealt with in the here and now.
Ramón Oliver is a journalist specialising in employment, economics and sustainability, topics he has covered for outlets such as El País, El Economista, OK Diario and Capital Humano. He currently contributes to Vozpópuli, La Vanguardia and Ethic Magazine, and is the editor of the specialist website MetaEmpleo.