Reading

The least involving form of learning is reading. When reading, participants are inclined to be in a reactive mode, receiving information passively and experiencing vicariously through the ideas of others. In the essays that comprise Part I of each handbook, we have provided readers with a way to make the experience of reading more proactive. By providing questions from time to time about ideas covered by the reading, we provoke readers to ask, "So what?" We want them to focus on situations in their own experiences as councillors similar to the ones described in the reading and to consider how what they have read might be applicable to certain aspects of their councillor role performance.

There are at least two ways that reading the essays can be used to promote councillor learning. In some instances, you might suggest the use of essay material as a substitute for participation in workshop training. For some councillors, reading about them may be as far as they are willing to go in exploring new role behaviours. For councillors who are ready to take part in workshop training, the essays can be promoted as pre-readings to provide these councillors with a conceptual framework and heighten their interest in a more intense, prolonged involvement with the subject.