Providing Learning Opportunities Is Intervening Into Lives

In discussing a research project, a mentor once told me that I should think of research of any kind as an intervention into people’s lives. As I have been reflecting on my personal vision and mission and my reasons for doing this work, I have found myself coming back to that thought. I have now reframed that statement in the context of my professional practice so that I now think of learning and development of any kind as an intervention into people’s lives. Why does this matter? Because I think that so often we miss the mark by thinking of learning and development in events: a one-off training session, a series of workshops to get through, a one-time communication breakdown that a facilitated session will cure.