This week’s post was written by Chantal Hoff. Chantal is an epidemiologist by training, who works as an evaluator and Senior Consultant at Data+Soul Research. You can learn more about Chantal on LinkedIn and about Data+Soul Research on their website.
How it started: Enthusiasm for evaluation.
At the end of my first year of my first job working as an evaluator, my supervisor was cleaning out her desk. She found her notes from when she interviewed me – “Chantal is VERY enthusiastic about evaluation.”
It’s true! I am very enthusiastic about evaluation.
You see, after getting my start in academic research spaces, the appeal of evaluation immediately stood out to me. I was frustrated and disenchanted by participating in research projects that were published in journals behind paywalls and never shared back with the communities they were supposed to serve. I was thrilled to find a field that prioritized the questions that communities were asking and generated findings that could immediately be used to improve programs or services, shift ways of thinking, and shine a light on uncomfortable truths.
But, enthusiasm is not always enough.
To me, the value of evaluation was so clear that I was genuinely surprised when I worked with teams who didn’t seem to see the value of evaluation. Sure, they knew the evaluator could help them write their grant reports. But otherwise, couldn’t I just leave them alone to do their important work?
It wasn’t on them to just go along with what I was saying about the importance of evaluation. It was my responsibility to earn their trust and to make the case for evaluation. I realized pretty quickly that a summative evaluation report shared back months after the program ended wouldn’t cut it; I had to show them how they could use and learn from the data they were gathering every week to improve program design and implementation.
Enter: Adult Learning.
I took exactly one evaluation class in grad school. So, while I was familiar with approaches like “utilization focused evaluation,” I was largely on my own to figure out how to apply it to my current setting.
I started experimenting – trusting teammates to articulate evaluation questions using their experiences on the ground, using team meetings to build awareness and knowledge around key evaluation concepts, and recognizing skepticism and pushback as valuable insights rooted in experience. I listened closely to their problems and pain points, recognized the many (many!) insights and experiences they were bringing into the work, and, whenever possible, connected the dots to show how evaluation could be a resource for their work.
Little did I know that many of these ideas and concepts were part of something bigger, something that even had a name! Adult learning.
So, what is Adult Learning?
Adult learning theory, or “andragogy,” is the “art and science of adult learning” (as opposed to child learning, “pedagogy”). While Malcolm Knowles is credited with popularizing the idea in the 1970s, a quick search will reveal many adult learning frameworks with different numbers of principles and origins.
While there’s no one specific source or list that I follow, here are a few adult learning principles that continue to resonate with me:
1. Adults bring their backgrounds, experiences, and prior knowledge into learning spaces.
They are not blank slates. Invite them to share their knowledge and create ways for them to build on existing knowledge.
2. Adults are often motivated to learn because they have problems they want to solve.
Listen closely for problems and pain points; if you don’t know, ask! Tailor learning opportunities to help learners solve problems that are relevant to them.
3. Be clear about the “why.”
Nothing is worse than sitting in a sensemaking session or training and wondering, why am I here? Be clear and direct about the purpose behind activities. If the why isn’t clear to you, consider, “should I still be doing this?”
4. Practice makes permanent.
Adults need to practice skills and apply knowledge in order to internalize and integrate learning.
Even better, these principles complement many other frameworks and approaches that our team uses in our daily evaluation work, including utilization-focused evaluation, culturally responsive and equitable evaluation, human-centered design, and appreciative inquiry.
How do I apply it to my work?
I’ve now had a few roles at a few different organizations since my first evaluation job. In 2022, I made the transition from internal evaluation roles in non-profit organizations to working as a consultant for a small firm that supports non-profits, grantmaking institutions, community-based organizations, and municipalities. Adult learning is now an official part of my job description.
Here are a few examples of how it shows up:
1. Evaluation technical assistance and coaching.
I support non-profit clients and grantees to design and implement their own evaluations. In kickoff calls, you’ll hear me ask questions like:
- What prior experience do you have with evaluation?
- What’s already working for you? What data systems and learning practices do you already have in place?
- What are you stuck on? What’s a question that keeps coming up for you? How can evaluation help?
2. Reporting and sensemaking.
When writing reports, I ground myself in what problem our client is trying to solve and what decisions they need to make about it. I tailor the headings and executive summary to tell a brief, compelling story focused on use, while using links to make it easy to navigate to pages with more detail.
In sensemaking sessions, I open with an invitation to share what hopes and burning questions folks would like to explore together. I connect the report findings and visuals to these hopes and questions, and create ample space for folks to process findings and identify shifts or next steps for their work.
3. Workshops and trainings for fellow evaluators.
I had the privilege of co-facilitating a pre-conference workshop at AEA this year; it’s part of a larger training series for evaluators and researchers that Data+Soul Research is rolling out this year. While sharing content and ideas is great, most aha moments come when folks get to put things into practice – whether through individual reflection, sharing in pairs or groups, or using resources to try new practices out with their own teams.
How is adult learning showing up in your practice? I’d love to hear in the comments below!