Podcast Episode: Creating Memorable Learning Experiences For Gen Zs with Min Chia Teoh, The Other School
What does it take to create truly engaging learning experiences? How can we make learning meaningful and impactful for diverse audiences, from Gen Z employees to corporate teams?
Min Chia Teoh, Founder of The Other School, shares her journey of designing transformative learning experiences, drawing on her work with refugee learning centres and her insights into the evolving world of corporate learning. From the power of engagement to the importance of self-discovery, Min delves into 3 key aspects:
Emphasising engagement as the key to meaningful learning and sustainable outcomes
Understanding how learning and self-discovery drive career development
Creating spaces for productive struggle that lead to real growth
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Key Takeaways
If you’re looking for ways to create more engaging learning experiences and help your team grow in a meaningful way, this episode is packed with actionable insights:
1️⃣ Engagement is Crucial for Learning — In the world of Gen Z, engagement is the differentiator in how well knowledge sticks.
2️⃣ Self-Discovery is the First Step in Career Development — To grow, you must first understand yourself and your strengths.
3️⃣ The Power of Productive Struggle — Embrace the challenges that come with learning to unlock real growth.
4️⃣ Leaders Must Do Inner Work — Effective leadership begins with self-awareness and understanding your own values.
5️⃣ Creating Safe, Pressure-filled Environments Fosters Growth — How simulated environments can reveal deeper insights about how we work under pressure.
1️⃣ Engagement is Crucial for Learning
Min highlights the importance of engagement, especially with Gen Z learners. Growing up in a digital age, Gen Zs are constantly bombarded with information, so simply delivering knowledge is no longer enough. Engagement is necessary to make learning stick and truly impact the learner's mindset. Min emphasises that facilitators must create meaningful, interactive experiences that go beyond passive learning. Facilitators need to consider the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual (meaning & purpose) aspects when designing for engagement. She learnt how to do so from an unusual source - volunteering to educate children who are refugees.
2️⃣ Self-Discovery is the First Step in Career Development
Self-awareness is a cornerstone of career development. Min shares how understanding one’s strengths and weaknesses can directly influence career growth. By using games like Career SUPERDRIVE™, learners are able to engage in a low-stakes, relaxed environment and interact in simulated pressured situations. This is where they can discover aspects of their decision-making and communication styles that can help them in their careers. This self-discovery process is not only valuable in career development but also in personal growth.
3️⃣ The Power of Productive Struggle
One of Min’s key insights is the value of productive struggle — the concept of learning through doing, making mistakes, and growing from them. Min explains that learning is not a linear process; it’s messy, full of challenges, and involves real-time feedback in a learn-do cycle. This kind of struggle, especially when it comes to handling high-pressure situations, is a powerful tool for growth. In her work with corporate clients, Min uses and design games to simulate high-pressure environments, revealing how people act under stress and helping them improve their resilience.
4️⃣ Leaders Must Do Inner Work
Leadership is not just about managing others, but about understanding yourself first. Min discusses the importance of inner awareness for leaders. She encourages leaders to understand their own triggers, communication styles, and decision-making processes. By creating a personal operating manual, leaders can share this awareness with their teams, fostering better communication and collaboration. This self-awareness ultimately helps leaders create environments where teams can thrive.
5️⃣ Creating Safe, Pressure-filled Environments Fosters Growth
Min concludes by discussing how to create environments that combine both safety and pressure. She draws a parallel between the learning experiences of refugee children, who often learn in high-stress, unstructured environments, and how adults can grow by facing challenges in a supportive but demanding environment. By designing simulations of high-stakes situations, Min enables individuals to experience and learn from moments that reveal their true selves, helping them grow and apply these insights to their careers.
Tune in for a conversation that challenges traditional learning norms and offers fresh perspectives on how to design learning experiences that lead to real growth.
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Tags:
#EngagementInLearning #CareerDevelopment #SelfDiscovery #ProductiveStruggle #Leadership #GenZ #CorporateLearning #WorkplaceCulture #PersonalGrowth
