Training Objectives
Training of trainers may have two distinct objectives:
- imparting knowledge of voting operations procedures;
- developing training presentation skills.
Where external, professional trainers are used, there will be a requirement for them to be thoroughly familiar with the technical and administrative content and formats of the training sessions for which they are responsible.
Where non-professional trainers are being used for voting operations staff training, as they may well be in cascade-style structures (see Training Methodology), or in any systems where more senior voting station officials have training responsibilities for their staff, training will be very much more effective if those with training roles also receive training on how to train others. Even in environments where school teachers or other educators are appointed as senior voting station officials, and used in voting station official training roles, there is still a necessity for some training skills development program. The skills required for adult training are different to those used for school teaching. (For further discussion of potential training delivery responsibilities, see Training Delivery Responsibilities.)
Training environments for training of trainers should:
Procedural Training
The technical content of training sessions for trainers will be taken from that for the appropriate voting operations staff. It is important that where external professional trainers are used, they have sufficient knowledge of voting operations technical issues to answer participants' questions (for further details on relevant procedural issues, see Training Session Content). The alternative, the use of technical advisers from the electoral management body at all training sessions, will be usually difficult to integrate with other demands on technical specialists' time during the same period.
Training in Training Skills
Training is an acquired skill. Ability to do a task is not any indication of the ability to transfer these skills to others. Where non-professional trainers are being used to train voting operations staff--for example, local voting operations managers being used to train voting station managers, who in turn train their voting station officials--it is essential that they receive some training on effective training session presentation skills and use of training materials.
The intensity of this training will depend on the complexity of sessions that these staff will be expected to present. However, a comprehensive trainer training program would cover the following issues, in addition to covering procedural aspects of voting:
- understanding the human learning and skills acquisition processes;
- development of a skills/competency training approach, as distinct from an education approach;
- directing trainees towards competency objectives;
- setting up an effective training environment--venue, breaks, recognising attention spans, consultation with trainees;
- equitable treatment of each individual trainee;
- time management to achieve training session timetable objectives;
- effective frameworking, revision, and summarising of information provided;
- imparting values and quality expectations, as well as procedural information;
- directing question and answer sessions and group exercises towards group learning and practical skill demonstration;
- equitable and practical methods of assessing each trainee's competency in performing the required tasks;
- self-evaluation of the trainer's performance.
Assessment of Trainers
Acquisition of these skills by trainers needs to be tested. Implementation of mock training exercises during the training session will assist with this. Ideally this would be followed up by close supervision of the initial training session undertaken by each trainer. This may not always be feasible. Many trainers, in a cascade system particularly, may only present one session. However, some form of quality control does need to be implemented, if only by attendance of monitors from the electoral management body or training program managers at a sample of the sessions conducted by newly-trained presenters.
