Knowledge Center

The Difference between Training and Education

By Bob Parks

We often get asked, "What is the difference between training and education?" In this video, I explain how education is a specific event such as reading a book or going to a single class, while training moves a skill from being difficult to becoming easy.

00:00 Hi, I'm Bob Parks, President of Strategic Enhancement Group. Many times I get asked about the difference between training and education. Many jobs require interpersonal skills, they require sales skills, or management skills, or customer service skills, or even team participation skills. Employers believe that they have trained someone if they have read a book or gone to a class. The difference, however, is the ability to use the skill. Education transfers knowledge and it's easy to gain knowledge. You can go to school, you can take an online course. Education takes knowledge from the complex to the simple, but training goes way beyond that. Training involves actually doing something. Training moves a skill from being difficult to being easy. Education is an event or a series of events. Training is a coordinated process. It starts with a purpose, why you would do it.

01:10 It involves pre-work, assessing the skills. It involves a training event or a class. It then involves follow-up, which is spaced practice, and then involves coaching. Finally, it involves measuring results. Training is about doing something. It includes education, but it goes way beyond, all the way to being able to do something new, or better, or different. Education is an event or series of events, while training is a coordinated process. It starts with a purpose as to why you might do something, it involves pre-work, the whole idea of assessing your skills, it involves a class or some learning, and then it involves follow-up, which is spaced practice, and ultimately, then coaching. It also involves measuring results. Training is about doing, it includes education, but it goes way beyond education. It involves doing something different or doing something better.

Best of luck and let us know how we can help you achieve more effective training!

Published: September 25, 2015

MEET THE AUTHOR

Bob Parks

Senior Partner

Bob, one of the founders of Strategic Enhancement Group, has over 40 years of experience in business. Prior to starting Strategic Enhancement Group in 1984, he held sales, sales management, senior management and board of directors’ positions with three international companies. Bob earned his B.S. from the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland and his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Executive Program. SEG has consistently been one of Wilson Learning’s top performing and award-winning partners for over two decades. Bob has won both the Crystal Wisdom Award and the Summit Award given by Wilson Learning for outstanding contribution to the culture and growth of Wilson Learning’s agency network. He served as President of the Board of Advisors to Wilson Learning as well as on several charitable organization boards.