Yesterday I had a conversation with a colleague. We are both supervisors, and we had both been looking at the supervisor training programs currently offered in Ontario — albeit for different reasons.
When we compared notes, we discovered that we agreed on one thing: many of the programs we found were not very practical.
Most courses focus heavily on theory, regulations, and technique — and those are all important elements of a good training program. But very few seemed to offer practical, experiential learning — the kind of learning that helps people actually develop confidence in doing the work.
At one point, my colleague said something along the lines of: “It’s not how I learn.”
That comment led me to ask a broader question:
What actually makes a training program effective?
In my experience, any good professional training needs to address three essential concerns:
1. Providing essential knowledge
This includes learning about relevant laws and regulations, as well as history, context, theory, and philosophy relevant to the work.
2. Developing practical skills
Students need to be given practical tools and have opportunities to practice the work they will actually be doing.
3. Building confidence and self-awareness
Learning a profession is not just about knowledge and technique. It also requires developing the internal certainty that allows someone to step into a new role.
Together, these three components help build both competence and self-understanding, allowing new practitioners to begin their work safely while continuing to grow.
Translated into a supervisor training course, this means creating a balance of:
- personal study and inner reflection
- group discussion and exchange
- observation and practice
This also connects with different learning styles. Some people learn best by reading and reflecting quietly. Others understand material best by discussing it with colleagues. Still others learn most deeply by practicing and receiving feedback. In this format, all of them will find something to deepen their learning.
Of course, creating such a balance is not always easy. Supervisor training covers a wide range of topics, and time is limited to 30 hours. And online learning — while offering many advantages — can make experiential work more challenging to organize.
So how can it be done?
Working with professional texts allows participants who learn best through reading and reflection to absorb key concepts and ensures that the necessary information is covered.
Group discussions, in larger and smaller groups, allow participants to explore ideas together and connect new knowledge with their own personal and professional experiences.
And practical exercises — whether through demonstrations, role-plays, or supervised practice — provide opportunities for participants to experience supervision dynamics directly. These exercises also allow the trainer to offer specific, individualized feedback, which can be one of the most valuable parts of the learning process.
This kind of balanced learning environment is what I experienced when I attended my own supervisor training in 2015. It was a rich combination of reading, discussion, reflection, and practical work, which expanded my understanding of supervision tremendously, even though I had been practicing it for 10 years already.
And it is the approach I have tried to recreate in the supervisor training program I will be offering this June (I will share more details about that training in the coming weeks).
In the end, whether someone is learning to be a therapist, a supervisor, a baker, or a store clerk, confidence in a new role comes largely from experience in doing the work.
And for that, nothing replaces the opportunity to practice.
Photo by Riccardo Annandale on Unsplash