Understanding facilitation

Communication is a process of exchange of information,ideas,feelings,thoughts  etc. where in there is a sender and a receiver.

Facilitation is to ease a process and making learning process interesting.

In facilitative approach,  communication plays an effective role as it is the only way to get maximum participation from everyone.

There are two types of communication. They are verbal and Nonverbal communication. Facilitator needs to be very active in observation as well as listening. Especially when learners do not speak, a facilitator’s role is to observe those learner’s and probe to respond. 

Both trainer and learner play an equal right in facilitation. Facilitator guides the process, motivates and encourages learners, identifies learner's potential and brings out the hidden talents. 

Communication is not only giving lecture and giving instructions but more of extracting information from learner's and collating facilitator's and learners' thoughts together in order to make learning creative and produce something out of their thoughts. It is making use of resources within and get something productive out of it. Therefore facilitator needs to be an effective listener and observant. Also understanding the learners is very important.

In first concept video about teaching approach, Teacher should know learners needs and expectation and interest. After that she or he makes planning for session that how they use content with own experience. Facilitation should play out in balance manner  between content and their needs that make equally understand the content meaningful. He or she always try to adopt different method and resources to meet their requirements.  

More over video shows that Facilitator should not judge their students to be weak or strong. They should look them equal and give work as per their skills and built strong relationship equation. Teachers should take class in two way communication.

    

The second video is of IIFAC (International Institute for Facilitation and change). It shows that facilitator should play three roles.  First an architect’s in planning stage; facilitator needs to collect information from group outcome base. He or she designs result base agenda on reality basis and should be flexible. Second role is pilot; as a being pilot facilitator should be prepared for group journey.  he or she need to ensure all require material and handouts in class room, also he gives brief agenda to learners and explain ground rule. Facilitators explain  the students their main goal or destination and give open chance to speak and questioning during session. Now facilitator play guide role third part,  as a guide facilitator lead the group and provide constant study present and should be alert and resource able for any challenges and make appropriate decision, more over he or she helps the group when they are in despair, a doubt, a panic or a disagreement.

The third video shows Josef w. seifert six steps.  Miss Sarah social is project leader and she leads project meeting with six steps for three participation. To start with first step Sarah explain purpose and procedure of the meeting and how much time it takes to achieve goal.  Second steps Sarah give opportunity to discuss proposed topic and prepared for the outcome. She allows the group to select topic on the priority basis.  Forth step is handling. Sarah leads methodical leadership. She collects ideas. In fifth step Sarah give task for their skills and hard work. She makes sure that everyone get involved and actual task will be implemented and get target base solution. In six step conclusion that she gave all hardworking participate to chance to reflect the meeting.

Q-      How communication is different in a facilitative approach?  

     There are 2 types  of communication verbal & non verbal communication t involve the use of words, phrases, and gestures that indicate attention and the wish that the person would continue speaking.

Facilitative supervisors use the following communication techniques:

·         Active listening

·         Body language

                            • Verbal and nonverbal encouragement

                           • Appropriate questioning techniques (using open-ended questions)

                          • Paraphrasing and clarification

Active listening is listening to another person in a way that communicates understanding,

empathy, and interest:

Ask open ended question

blog entry of SCALS-01

First of all I like to say a big thanks to master coach to show us this video. I relay like this video. Because many time we also have some student like rowdy class. But showing this video I understand that there is many advantage of students centered learning class like it is about ownership of learning. Students are responsible for their own learning and are active in it. What matters is the interaction between students and teachers. The teacher discovers and engages the students’ levels of understanding, and engages the students in instruction and activities that challenge and develop their understanding. Student-centered classrooms are big on collaboration there is also open-ended questions that force learners to reflect and synthesize what they have learned.
And I think there is free atmosphere where students can do anything. There is free space where no one has judging them, where they can learn with their own interest. So that we can called this video student centered learning. And To create such a classroom culture, the art of self-reflection needs to be consciously cultivated and encouraged. If a student is able to regulate his/her own behaviors through self-reflection, then it would automatically have a positive impact on classroom discipline. Moreover, any conflict situation could be resolved through a process of self-reflection; and with the desire to resolve issues peacefully. Being compassionate, mindful, understanding, and reflective are ways in which adults can foster a classroom environment that will be conducive to effective and enjoyable learning. Facilitator must plan very carefully to ensure that all students participate in high-interest educational activities that are personally relevant.

Know Your Teaching Style.

after filling the Grasha - Riechmann teaching style survey...
i knew my teaching style..
i get more score in facilitator.
who
Emphasizes personal nature of teaching-learning relationship; asks questions, explores options with learners; focuses on learner responsibility, independence, and initiative..

Personal flexibility; Focus on learner needs and goals; openness to alternatives and options.
But sometime it.
Time consuming; sometimes more direct approach is needed; can make learner uncomfortable.
still i am ok with that..

i get some good points in other also..
in Expert,Formal Authority,Personal Model, Delegator.
those are my different teaching style...

Understanding Facilitation....

In my point of view communication are major two types.
one is verbal communication and second is non verbal communication.
communication is made by speech, body language and by tone of our speech.
by our behavior some persons understand us.

communication is essential part of our facilitation approach.
you always known by your communication style among your society and students always see you.

all facilitators are different communication style.
two way communication is always effective.
without communication we cant survive in this world.

But facilitative approach is some kind of difference.
we have to keep balance in communication and try to do effective facilitation to our learners.
communication is made by speech and by our body language.
but facilitation is made by introduction, gathering, selecting, handling, planing and conclusion.
this approach try to encourage the students to learn from themselves and from their real life experiences.
to face the challenges and problems the will face in future.
good facilitation approach are made by three stage.
like we are architects.
we prepare a design and agenda then our role change like we are becoming a pilot for our groups journey.
he must be alert and in any condition he has the responsibility to land the plane safe.
bring the group on earth with the sense of closure and gratitude for a safe and productive journey.
then we have to play a role of Guide.
we need to lead the group steady presence, capable of helping the group work through its moments of panic, doubt and disagreements.
this skills are obtained through our inner work and lots of practice with groups.
in some ways students and teachers are equal rights.
but there are different responsibility of teachers and students...

Introduction to SCALS

Facilitation style is an outcome of a few things. 

• 1.     An understanding of the student needs with respect to their age, interests, social background, etc.;
• 2.     Our experiences of being a learner and social background, as facilitators;
• 3.     Insights about one’s own belief systems and values and its linkage to the aspirations;

It is the combination of all the above-mentioned factors that makes up the teaching philosophy. 

What lies under all these exercises?  Why are we focusing on understanding these aspects of facilitation?

One can believe that the common thread that lies beneath all these is the will to help a learner become better than before; an attempt to create a learning environment that is open to allow individual learners to find one’s own space, learn the skills to become competent and face the real world situations effectively.

At the same time there is an urge to become a better facilitator; identify means through which each of us could develop further and scale newer heights in terms of facilitation practice.

To take facilitation to the next step, we are going to be focusing on some hands on strategies of putting student centered learning to practice.   This module is called Student Centered Active Learning Strategies or SCALS in short.  We will be focusing on what it means to be student centered in terms of classroom interaction as well as planning of our sessions.  We will understand facilitation as a continuum between teacher-centered learning and student-centered learning.   There will be activities created around strategies that will help us implement student centered learning in our classrooms and create a lesson plan that will demonstrate the understanding of the same.

To summarise some of the key activities you would engage in –

1. a)    Understand the TCL-SCL continuum
2. b)   Get deeper understanding of SCL as a methodology
3. c)    Learn and use a few of the strategies that are based on Student Centered Learning
4. d)   Demonstrate a student centered class through a small video
5. e)    Get a larger picture of what blended learning is and how you can use it in your own way

We hope that this module will help you gather some tangible tools that can be used with your students.

Good luck with the module.

The MasterCoach Team.