Two Ways Learning Happens
Learning can happen in two very different ways.
1. The Deductive Model (The Seminar)
In the deductive model, the teacher delivers information and the learner receives it.
It’s efficient, organized, and great for building foundational knowledge.
But if we stay here too long, learning can become one-sided:
The learner listens but doesn’t engage.
The teacher speaks but doesn’t connect.
2. The Inductive Model (The Game)
In the inductive model, learners discover truth through experience.
They experiment, reflect, and make meaning for themselves.
Here, the teacher becomes more like a facilitator or referee—guiding the process rather than controlling it. It’s less predictable, sometimes a bit messy, but this is how real learning takes root:
through personal insight
through shared discovery
through lived experience
Why Both Styles Matter
Deductive learning gives us the mug—the structure that holds knowledge.
Inductive learning fills it with coffee—the lived experience that brings understanding to life.
Without the mug, learning spills everywhere.
Without the coffee, it’s empty.
Effective teaching blends the two: starting with clarity and content, then opening space for reflection, dialogue, and practice.
Learning as a Relational Process
This shift from seminar to game mirrors how relational learning happens.
Instead of correcting, we reflect.
Instead of explaining, we listen.
When we practice reflective presence—responding with genuineness, respect, empathy, and warmth—we create safety for discovery. Learners find their own insights, and those insights last because they were experienced, not just received.
As You Move Forward
As you move into the exercises that follow, keep this image in mind:
When we move from handing someone the mug to helping them taste the coffee,
we stop teaching for information and start teaching for transformation.