Introduction to Parent and Staff Training

and Principles of Adult Learning

Welcome
Welcome to the first module in this course on Parent and Staff Training.

Watch: Introduction to Parent and Staff Training

Introduction
Module One will focus on an initial description of the mediator model, which is a well-developed model
used when a professional is responsible for bringing about a change in a client through supporting and
training another individual or a ‘mediator’. In our case, the mediator would typically be a parent or a
new staff member to the treatment team, and the client would be an individual with autism in service.
The module will conclude with a discussion on adult learning principles as it will be important for you to
be aware of the unique ways in which adults learn in order to be effective at engaging them in your
training sessions.

As you begin this module, please refer to the timeline and make note of any assessments or important
dates. If you have any questions, ask your instructor.

Modes of Learning
• Lecture Notes
• Online Readings
• Online Discussions
• Self-Quizzes

Learning Outcomes of Parent and Staff Training

By the end of the module you should be able to:

1. Describe why parent and staff training is necessary.

2. Compare and contrast mediators and trainers.
3. Identify and summarize the principles of adult learning.

Key terms
Knowledge – Behavioural tasks associated with knowledge include memory and include such activities
as defining, recalling, listing, recognizing or describing.

Performance – Overall value of work-related behaviors carried out over the course of a set period of
time.

Mediator – Any person responsible for implementing behaviour change procedures.

Trainer – Someone with the knowledge, skills, and experience to effectively evaluate and teach skills in
both the client and mediator(s).

Learning – Change in behaviour brought about by personal experience.

The Need to Share Knowledge and Train Skills

As a student in this program or in your role as a professional implementing Applied Behaviour Analysis
(ABA) strategies for individuals with autism, you will be taught the principles of ABA (knowledge) and
training on how to actually implement ABA to bring about behaviour changes (performance). Both
knowledge and performance of ABA will enable you to work more effectively with individuals diagnosed
with autism and other developmental disabilities.

In this particular course on Parent and Staff Training, you will acquire:

• Knowledge about what it takes to be an effective behaviour analytic trainer

• Performance in training others to use behaviour analytic procedures. Your training performance
will be enhanced through role play assignments and presentations.

As you work in the field of autism and other behaviour analytic therapies such as Intensive Behavioural
Intervention (IBI), and acquire experience and competence, you will more than likely be called upon at
some point to train and/or coach:

1. Parents of children in service

2. Parents of children waiting for service
3. New staff joining your clinical team
4. Team members required to implement new procedures that you have more experience with
5. Other professionals interested in this area of work (e.g., teachers, educational assistants, etc.)

What is a Mediator?
Within our field, a ‘mediator’ is defined as any person responsible for actually implementing behaviour
change procedures directly with the individual with autism.

A mediator is like the ‘middleperson’ who is a bridge between two ‘parties’- the trainer, and the client.

Mediators can include:

Instructor-Therapists working directly with an individual with autism under the supervision and
direction of a Supervising Therapist/Clinical Supervisor.

Family members of the individual with autism.

Other professionals with regular and direct hands-on interactions with the individual (e.g. daycare staff,
educational assistant, group home staff member, etc.).

There can often be multiple mediators working together to bring about behavioral changes in the
individual with autism.
A mediator is someone who will have ‘influence’ over the environment in which the target behaviour
arises or in which a new behaviour needs to be demonstrated (in the home, classroom, daycare setting,
treatment centre, etc.).

An effective team for IBI service delivery is made up of many direct mediators who work to bring about
change in a child.

The clinical team typically starts out with:

Clinical Supervisor, Supervising Therapist, and several Instructor Therapists.

The primary caregivers, and other immediate family members.

And eventually other individuals are included who interact with the child on a regular basis (e.g.,
daycare staff, other relatives).

A trainer is:
Someone with the experience and expertise who can bring about a desired change in the behaviour of
the child.

Someone with the skills, knowledge and techniques to teach other adults to change their behaviours.

Someone who can assess the mediator’s skills and child’s progress as a result of training (and can make
adaptations as necessary).

Simply put, a trainer can be described as a trained person who has:

1. The necessary skills

2. The knowledge
3. Time

to assist a mediator in acquiring the knowledge and skills to carry out ABA procedures as effectively as
possible.

For effective treatment to occur, mediators must proficiently demonstrate:

1. The correct therapeutic technique

2. At the correct time
3. Over an extended period of time

Why do we train mediators?

People who are part of the individual's regular environment may have difficulty teaching the necessary
behaviours required for change.

This lack of behavioral knowledge and skills may also be a “cause” of an individual’s lack of skill
development and their display of inappropriate behaviours.

Thus, with or without training, individuals interacting with the person with autism on a regular basis will
continue to influence the individual’s behaviour.
As such, there are many good reasons to train those in the client’s environment in acquiring ABA skills
and strategies.

These reasons are:

1. Spreads the implementation of ABA techniques and strategies.

ABA therapy is limited in resources and availability; meaning that not every individual with
autism will be included in a specialized service delivering IBI or receive intervention for most of
their waking hours. To meet the greater need, it is important for you to have the skills to train
others in understanding and implementing behavioural techniques.

2. Provides more opportunities for Natural Environment Training (NET) and probability of
generalization across environments and time.

Paid ABA professionals are not part of the client’s natural environment in which challenging
behaviours occur (e.g., home, school), or where new skills needs to be taught.

Thus, the discriminative stimuli are different across environments. If an individual spends the
greatest proportion of his or her time actually outside of a specialized service, the environment
where he/she spends the majority of their time is really where the behavioural interventions
need to occur so that stimulus control can be established in non-clinical settings.

3. More accurate assessment and data collection leads to better analysis and clinical decisions.

In most cases, problematic behaviour occurs less often in the presence of well-trained
behavioural staff. Therefore, it is critical that mediators are trained to complete accurate
assessments and implement necessary intervention(s) to assist in resolving these concerns.

Mediators can be trained to collect data that may be more ‘accurate’ or valid since the
occurrence of behaviours will typically occur when the mediator(s) are present.

Data that is more accurate will typically lead to better analysis and treatment decisions. To
increase the ‘value’ of data reported by mediators, one would collect Inter-Observer Reliability
measures (the level or percentage of agreement / disagreement between more than 1
observers of the same event).

4. Higher implementation consistency rate leading to higher level of generalization and

maintenance.
Mediators can increase maintenance and generalization of the intervention or behaviour change
effects which is essential for long-term behaviour change. Initially an IBI staff member, team, or
setting such as an IBI classroom or centre may bring about a positive change in a child’s
behaviour, but this staff, team or setting will not be in place for the long term. There is a need
to train others to interact as the IBI staff do, to get the same behaviour change and to have any
desired change maintain over time (across people, materials, and settings).

5. Mediator training works.

There is strong empirical evidence that training mediators is effective and efficient in bringing
about an immediate and long lasting behavioural change.
Behaviour analysts are confident in knowing the technology (analysis, techniques) to change a client’s
behaviour, however it is really our knowledge and skills at ‘transferring that technology’ to others
(through mediator training) that is a pivotal skill we must embrace and master to maximize our overall
effectiveness in helping others.

So, given that you are one of a growing, but still limited, number of behaviourally trained professionals,
you will need to know how to effectively train mediators (parents, staff and other professionals).

Principles of Adult Learning

Most staff, parents and other professionals who you will be training are adults.

Adults have a unique way of learning that is different from how children learn and therefore it is up to
you as the trainer to be cognizant of the principles of adult learning in order to be effective at engaging
your learners. There is little sense in having a very powerful technology such as ABA waiting to be
transferred to willing participants and these principles be overlooked.

Learning is defined as a change in behaviour brought about by personal experience. The experience
does not have to be profound, and can be something as simple as reading material such as this.

Malcolm Knowles an American practitioner and theorist of adult education (1970), identified 6 principles
of adult learning, which are outlined below:

1. Adults are motivated and self-directed

Adults are resistant to learning when they feel others are imposing information, ideas or actions
on them (Fidishun, 2000). Your role as trainer is to facilitate the adult's internal motivation to
learn. Using the following strategies can assist an adult towards more self-directed learning.

2. Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences

Adults like to be given the opportunity to use their knowledge gained from life experience, and
apply it to their new learning experiences.

3. Adults are goal oriented

Adults are more willing learners when they experience a need to effectively handle real life tasks
and situations. Your role is to increase the student's awareness of the need for the knowledge or
skill presented.

4. Adults are relevancy oriented

Adult learners want to know the relevance of what they are learning to what they want to
achieve. You can help by asking them to reflect on their learning experiences.

5. Adults are practical

Interacting with clients and real life situations, adults transfer acquired knowledge towards in-
situ environments where they can gain firsthand experience of how principles apply to life and
the work context.

6. Adult learners like to be respected

 There are ways to show respect to adult learners. These include taking interest, acknowledging
the wealth of experiences that the student brings to the learning environment, regarding them
as an equal, and encouraging the expression of ideas, reasoning, and feedback at every
opportunity.

When adults learn, their behaviour can change in three different ways:

The Cognitive Domain (“Head Learning”)

If you are acquiring new information or concepts, then your cognitive (intellectual) behaviour changes. It
involves thinking skills and is essentially abstract in nature.

The Affective Domain (“Heart Learning”)

Your effective bracket (emotional) behaviour changes when you learn new values and attitudes.

The Psychomotor Domain (“Hand Learning”)

Finally, your psychomotor (physical) behaviour changes when you acquire specific “hands-on” skills.

Bloom’s Taxonomy
In 1956, Benjamin Bloom developed a framework for learning that consisted of six major categories:
knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

In this module, a taxonomy is a classification of behavioural outcomes in terms of levels of difficulty in

the learning process. The levels on a taxonomy are cumulative and sequential.

Learning takes place systematically, and will break down if steps in the sequence are missed.

Bloom defines six levels of learning:

Knowledge – This is the first basic level of learning. Here the learner is able to remember material that
has been taught. Behavioural tasks associated with this level tax your memory and includes activities
such as defining, recalling, listing, recognizing or describing.

Comprehension – The second degree of difficulty in learning is the comprehension stage. At this level,
the learner is able to understand or grasp the meaning of what is being communicated and make use of
the idea.

Behavioural tasks at this level include stating concepts in one’s own words, giving examples, illustrating,
inferring, summarizing and interpreting. These actions require content knowledge which has been
acquired at the first level.

Application – At this level the learner should be able to apply ideas, principles, and theories in new,
particular, and concrete situations. Behavioural tasks involve both knowing and comprehension,
including choosing appropriate principles and procedures to change behaviour.

Analysis – At this level the learner is able to break an entity into constituent parts in order to make the
organization and significance of the whole clear.
Breaking down, discriminating, diagramming, detecting, and differentiating are important behavioural
tasks at this level and assume a mastery of the previous levels of knowing, comprehending, and
applying.

Synthesis – The fifth level of learning is synthesis. At this level the learner will be able to put back
together again the various parts of a concept into a unified organization or whole.

Behavioural tasks at this level include creating, writing, designing, combining, organizing, revising, and
planning. To occur, this level of learning must include the first four levels - knowing, comprehending,
analyzing and applying.

Evaluation – In this phase the learner is able to arrive at an overview and judge the value and relative
merits of ideas or procedures by using appropriate criteria.

The learner will be able to compare, judge, appraise, justify, criticize, and contrast series, methods,
procedures, and concepts. This level involves mastery of all the other levels on the taxonomy.

It is not always necessary for the learner to master every level on the taxonomy. This depends on the
task being learned. Often being able to function at the application or analysis level will suffice for the
purpose of your training sessions.

As a trainer, you must also remember that learning occurs within each individual as a continual process
throughout life. People learn at different speeds, so it is natural for them to be anxious or nervous when
faced with a learning situation.

Motivational Factors
Another aspect of adult learning is motivation. At least six factors serve as sources of motivation for
adult learning:

1. Social relationships: to make new friends, to meet a need for associations and friendships.
2. External expectations: to comply with instructions from someone else; to fulfill the expectations
or recommendations of someone with formal authority.
3. Social welfare: to improve ability to serve mankind, prepare for service to the community, and
improve ability to participate in community work.
4. Personal advancement: to achieve higher status in a job, secure professional advancement, and
stay abreast of competitors.
5. Escape/Stimulation: to relieve boredom, provide a break in the routine of home or work, and
provide a contrast to other exacting details of life.
6. Cognitive interest: to learn for the sake of learning, seek knowledge for its own sake, and to
satisfy an inquiring mind.

Unlike children and teenagers, adults have many responsibilities that they must balance against the
demands of learning. Because of these responsibilities, adults have barriers against participating in
learning.

Some of these barriers include lack of time, money, confidence, or interest, lack of information about
opportunities to learn, scheduling problems, "red tape," and problems with childcare and
transportation.
The best way to motivate adult learners is simply to enhance their reasons for enrolling and decrease
the barriers.

Trainers should plan to capitalize on the student's motivation to learn more about behaviour analytic
strategies. A successful strategy includes showing adult learners the relationship between their
participation in your training session and the outcomes for the client, whether that is their child or their
student.

Trainers can motivate mediators in several ways:

Set a feeling or tone for the session. Trainers should try to establish a friendly, open atmosphere that
shows the participants that they will help them learn.

Set an appropriate level of concern. The level of tension must be adjusted to meet the level of
importance of the objective. If the material has a high level of importance, a higher level of
tension/stress should be established in the class. However, people learn best under low to moderate
stress; if the stress is too high, it becomes a barrier to learning.

Set an appropriate level of difficulty. The degree of difficulty should be set high enough to challenge
participants but not so high that they become frustrated by information overload. The instruction
should predict and reward participation, culminating in success.

Summary
In this module we explored

1. How you will be called upon at some time to provide mediator training to parents, new staff,
and even others interested in this field.
2. How you will need to be aware of various methods to effectively train others for them to gain
new knowledge and to perform new behaviours (i.e. engaging in the right performance, at the
right time, at the right frequency, to achieve the right outcome).
3. How literature-reviews have determined why ABA is the preferred treatment for most learners
with ASD.
4. Principles of adult learning according to Malcolm Knowles.
5. Benjamin Bloom's taxonomy of adult learning, which includes 6 levels: knowledge,
comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

End of Module Quiz

1. Match key terms to a description.

Key terms:

i. Performance
ii. Mediator
iii. Knowledge
iv. Learning
v. Trainer

Descriptions:
 A. Behavioural tasks associated with knowledge include memory and include such activities as
defining, recalling, listing, recognizing or describing.
B. Overall value of work-related behaviors carried out over the course of a set period of time.
C. Any person responsible for implementing behaviour change procedures.
D. Someone with the knowledge, skills and experience to effectively evaluate and teach skills in
both the client and mediator(s).
E. Change in behaviour brought about by personal experience.

2. Why do we train mediators? (5 reasons)

3. What are the 6 levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy?
4. Name 3 motivational factors associated with adult learning.

Answers
1. Performance-Overall value of work-related behaviors carried out over the course of a set period of
time.

Mediator - any person responsible for implementing behaviour change procedures.

Knowledge - Behavioural tasks associated with knowledge include memory and include such
activities as defining, recalling, listing, recognizing or describing.

Learning- change in behaviour brought about by personal experience.

Trainer - someone with the knowledge, skills and experience to effectively evaluate and teach skills
in both the client and mediator(s).

2. Spreads the implementation of ABA techniques and strategies.

Provides more opportunities for Natural Environment Training (NET) and probability of
generalization across environments and time.

More accurate assessment and data collection leads to better analysis and clinical decisions.

Higher implementation consistency rate leading to higher level of generalization and maintenance.

Mediator training works.

3. Knowledge

Comprehension

Application

Analysis

Synthesis

Evaluation

4. Social relationships

External expectations
 Social welfare

Personal advancement

Escape/stimulation

Cognitive interest

You have completed Introduction to Parent and Staff Training and Principles of Adult Learning.
Remember to check the timeline before you proceed to the next module to ensure you have completed
any assignments as required. Check with your instructor if you have any questions.