[diamondpete]

Hi John,

Nice to see you posting again.

I think that you will find education theory addresses this topic. ( the good learner/ the good teacher). Trainers are very much involved with the whole "learning process with their clients, and I think that many of the precepts of curriculum design, managing the learning process and overall curriculum design have interesting parallels.
Linguists (Nunan & Lamb 2001) look at things that I think should be an essential part of "training" (be it language or strength training, etc) and which by extension contribute to an effective program for the client.
1) Learning-centeredness
2) traditional "teaching vs negotiated learning" (high/low structure teaching)
3)Needs analysis (orientation:proficiency or humanistic or specific purpose)
4) goals and objectives..

I think that to be a successful trainer you must be more that a "good trainer"; you need to be able to developed a negotiated program (curriculum if you will) within the constraints of your own ability/knowledge, the client's needs/abilities, the institutional restrictions, and social conventions.

Cheers

Peter