O'Brien: Transfer-of-knowledge teaching methods are successful

My team successfully taught recent graduates how to independently manage a telecom network in three years in many foreign countries. I called it the “Pilot/CoPilot Knowledge Transfer Program.” In the USA, the process of becoming an office-qualified technician took five years of apprenticeship. In all these developing nations, the operation centers met or exceeded all international telecom performance criteria.

Realizing that reading is the lowest form of transferring knowledge, we used a combined method of classroom training and sitting next to an experienced operation manager for 18 months. At the end of that time, the student became the pilot, and the experienced manager became the co-pilot. Utilizing a method of visual and hands-on training (first- and second-best methods of transferring knowledge), we monitored errors along this path and used positive retraining methods.

We had over a 95% success rate, and it’s a model in this industry. Our education systems must evolve to transfer-of-knowledge programming and perhaps learn from countries that have elevated their students through successful teaching methods (i.e., Japan).

Respectfully, I believe that, in part, the teacher unions and the boards of education are roadblocks to successful teaching methodologies (the past 40 years proves that). To them, it is about control, money and progressive methods that are clearly out of touch with reality and not working.

Last word: We did not allow personal cellphones during training periods.

Tom O’Brien

Ocean View

Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.