The Power of a Learning Contract (Leadership, Part 6)
Series: Leadership (Part 6)
Author: Dr. Steven L. Childers
Title: The Power of a Learning Contract
In this session we’re going to be taking a look at Leadership Development Contracts.
So far we’ve taken a look at the Leadership Profile that contains the common leadership marks or competencies normally shared by spiritually mature, effective church leaders.
We’ve also learned about the Leader Assessment component in the Leadership Development Model. Here we learned how not only to do a self-assessment, based on the competencies in the Leader Profile, but also gather the assessments of others so that we can have a more objective and realistic understanding of very specific ways we can develop as a church leader. We referred to this as the 360 Assessment.
Now we come to the third component in the Leadership Development Model called Learning Methods.
Here we are confronted with a very common and very serious problem.
Once a leader understands all the basic Leadership Profile competencies that are needed to be a spiritually mature, effective church leader–and the leader has been effectively assessed in light of that model showing specific competencies that need to be developed, the question then arises:
“How do leaders then go from where they are to where they need to be regarding character, ministry, and knowledge competencies?”
One of the most effective, proven ways to help leaders develop the competencies they most need to develop is through what is called a “Personal Learning Contract.”
What is a Personal Learning Contract?
A personal learning contract is a self-designed plan to help a leader develop competencies necessary to be a mature, effective leader.
It’s been called a self-designed vehicle to move you from where you are now to where you want to be. It’s a guide to help you monitor and direct your learning.
A personal learning contract identifies the answers to Five Key Questions:
1. WHO you are going to learn with and be accountable to? (Mentor/Coach)
2. WHAT competencies are you going to develop? (Character, Ministry, Knowledge Goals) 3. HOW you are going to learn it? (Resources and Adult Learning Method Objectives)
4. WHEN you are going to learn it? (Clearly Defined Timeline with Deadline)
5. HOW you will know that you learned it? (Collected Credible Evaluated Evidence)
And a final question, WHAT will you focus on next? (Evaluation and Lifelong Learning)
There are three primary benefits to using personal learning contracts. The first one is:
1. Leaders Learn
When leaders use learning contracts they learn material more deeply and permanently. One reason why is because they learn it through resources and methods of their own choosing – instead of merely listening to it being taught in a classroom.
As you’ve heard me say in this course before, “The purpose of teaching is to make learning possible.” It is a false premise to believe that if teaching is taking place then learning must be taking place. Educational studies have shown that the tradition lecture model, where students are primarily passive scribes taking notes, is just not an effective way to learn.
But when the same criteria in educational studies is applied to students using personal learning contracts, the findings are normally significantly different. Students normally learn. Why? Because proven Adult Learning Principles and Methods are required in learning contracts.
And one of the primary reasons they truly learn is because they are developing in a specific area where they are aware they need to be developed and they are motivated to be developed in that area.
You’ve also heard me say several times in education, “One size does not fit all.” By this I mean that standardized class curriculum is usually just not very effective because all learners are not starting at the same place.
Every learner has unique strengths and weaknesses. And one of the foundational leadership development principles we saw earlier in this course described the need for the leader to supplement standardized formal instruction with more individualized non-formal instruction.
The use of personal learning contracts, more so than any other type of instructional method, create the conditions for individualized learning.
A second benefit to using personal learning contracts is that…
2. Leaders Learn How to Learn
This way of learning shifts the primary responsibility for learning from the teacher to the student. Learning contracts lead students to become more self-directing and more responsible for their own learning.
And in doing this it’s often like a conversion experience. Students stop being passive and always complaining about their lack of development as leaders, blame shifting. They begin to take personal responsibility for their own development as a leader in a renewed way. It’s like an awakening.
Church leaders often need to have this kind of conversion experience when they stop blaming their school or church or ministry organization for their lack of development as a leader. And they start recognizing that the only reason they’re not truly learning is because they are failing to lead themselves well.
A third benefit to using personal learning contracts is that…
3. Leaders Learn How to Learn for the Rest of Their Lives
As time passes, the unique educational needs of pastors and churches change inevitably.
But many church leaders, especially in the developing world, have no access to education today. And the church leaders who do have access and who can afford education, can usually only afford a brief time of education during the beginning of their ministries.
There is no other vocation or profession, except for pastoral ministry, has such an unparalleled lack of quality control and lifelong, continuing education for its practitioners.
This is why one of the most important things a church leader can learn is how to become a lifelong learner.
Leadership Development Contracts
Here we’re going to be taking a look at leadership development contracts. Specifically, our focus is on how to design a learning contract. Now, the steps to designing a learning contract are based on developing your answers to the earlier questions that were used in this module to describe the basic components of a learning contract. We’ll be surveying six steps that you can see on this personal contract worksheet, which we’ll be looking at in detail later.
Let’s begin with question number one. Who. Who are you going to learn with and be accountable to? This is the question regarding your mentor or your coach, however you might define it. This is the first step. Now, it’s actually not listed in one of the columns, but it involves answering this very important question. Ideally this will be a leader in your local church, someone whom you believe reflects the specific competencies you are seeking to develop. Now, this could be a pastor, an elder, a lay leader.
Now, although it’s not necessary, you may want to consider someone outside of your church with special expertise in the area or areas that you are developing. Please don’t think that because you’re planning to be a pastor, if you are, that you must have a pastor to be your mentor or coach. Sometimes the so-called “most successful” pastors are the worst mentors and coaches. Sometimes they rarely listen to you well, often very quick to tell you what to do. They’re not good listeners. They’re often not good coaches. So know that often times a Godly lay leader can be a much more effective mentor or coach than even an ordained pastor.
Step two. What competencies are you going to develop or learn? Here we’re talking about the character, ministry, and knowledge competencies, or here we’re going to call those competencies that you list on the learning contract your competency goals. This is where you need to draw from the results of your 360 Leadership Profile Assessment that I’m assuming you’ve already taken before watching this video. Now, from your assessment results, select two competencies which you think need further development for the specific season of life and the phase of ministry that you are in now.
Choose one character competency, as you can see on this list. Character competency, here is an example of a report where the respondents: two disagreed that this person was disciplined, one was neutral. So it was just three thinking there was a concern there and three thinking there wasn’t. That would be an example of one. You list one character competency goal from the Leadership Profile Assessment, as I just shared with you, and then list one ministry competency goal from the Leadership Profile Assessment, too. Here would be Ministry Competency Assessment in the area of prayer that three of the four people thought that this was a weak area that needed to be strengthened.
Number three, how to design your learning contract in terms of, how are you going to learn it? This is in reference to resources and adult learning objectives. Now it’s time to break down each competency goal, the character goal and ministry goal, that you set earlier into that first column into specific learning objectives. Now, it could just be one or two with each goal, one or two objectives with each goal, but you break down very specific objectives for each of the goals. You would list your objectives for the character competency goal here as well as the objectives for the ministry competency goal. Notice the asterisk include holistic objectives here if you can, including understanding, affections to cultivate, skills to develop.
Now, notice number three here is to then compile a list of resources that will help you in these areas. This could be a vast array of resources, including people, including groups, support groups, seminars, books, online courses. You have a host of resources that are out there to choose from to strengthen you in this particular area. Finally, you draw from the adult learning principles and methods we covered earlier and list processes or exercises that you believe would have the greatest impact on you in these areas seeking to accomplish these objectives to fulfill the goal, the competency goals. Now, be sure to include active, creative participation experiences through which you learn or relearn key concepts or develop renewed affections and sharpen skills.
Step four, when are you going to learn? This is in reference to a clearly defined timeline and deadline. Here is where you list specific deadlines for all your character competency objectives and specific deadlines for all your ministry competency objectives. This contract is to be for six weeks, including six meetings of 60 to 90 minutes with your mentor or coach, and also during that week giving reports at the cohort meetings during the last weeks of this course.
Here you notice in this column of “when are you going to learn?”, you list the specific deadlines for all your character competency objectives, and then you list your specific deadlines for all your ministry competency objectives.
Step five, how will you know that you learned it? This is in reference to credible evaluated evidence that you will gather to actually show that you have accomplished these objectives to fulfill these goals. You list the types of evidence that will be used to demonstrate that each objective has been met. Notice under this fourth column now, list the types of evidence that will be used to demonstrate that and list how the evidence will be validated and by whom. We’re seeking to remove as much subjectivity from the process as possible and be able to have specific, measurable, achievable objectives that you can verify, and not just you, but specifically your coach or your mentor.
Finally, step six would be what. What will you focus on next? The focus here is on evaluation and lifelong learning. Now, as a part of your assignment for the last week, you will be submitting a summary where you will list the positive results of completing this learning contract, as you can notice in the last column here. You will list ways that this learning contract experience could be improved. For a really practical ending of this process, you will be listing practical ways that you are planning to be a lifelong learner including next steps.