Stephen Brookfield, a scholar in adult education stated that the facilitation of learning should be an important, exhilarating, and profound activity for both learners and facilitator.
The facilitator works with his/her audience so as to enable and empower the group by keeping each learner involved and keeping the learning process active. Effective facilitation encourages people to share ideas, resources and opinions and to be simultaneously critical and constructive so as to reach established goals. A good facilitator plays a different role at different stages of the training. He/she can be a training designer, manager, educator, moderator, learner, and evaluator. Each role requires a different set of competencies. Foremost, the facilitator has to be aware of his/her teaching style and to adapt it to the needs of the audience. Several exercises during my M.Ed program helped me reflect on my journey as a facilitator: |
- The Philosophy of Adult Education Inventory (PAEI): It is an assessment instrument designed to help adult educators identify a personal philosophy of education and compare it with prevailing philosophies of adult education. This tool helps identify personal key teaching methods, people, practices, and programs that are representative of the educator.
- The Effective Adult Learning Facilitator: This exercise consists of defining core competency, rationale, assumptions, and criteria of a facilitator.
- Parker Palmer, The Courage to Teach, is a book on his reflections as an educator and his emphasis on the importance on making the connections between the facilitator, the student and the subject. [Reflections on The Courage to Teach]
I am guided in my own work by the principles set forth by American educational theorist, David Kolb.
He believes that effective learning occurs when a person progresses through a cycle of four stages: of (1) having a concrete experience followed by (2) observation of and reflection on that experience which leads to (3) the formation of abstract concepts (analysis) and generalizations (conclusions) which are then (4) used to test hypothesis in future situations, resulting in new experiences. Several education theorists believe that knowledge is created through the transformation of experience into realization. |
Dewey said, "We do not learn from experience...we learn from reflecting on experience." The facilitator is hugely influential in helping people improve the activity of learning and in designing better processes in education and development.
As I develop courses, I make sure reflection happen during the process by introducing exercises like group project, role plays, games, structured class discussions, etc. [Experience & Learning - Prezi]
As I develop courses, I make sure reflection happen during the process by introducing exercises like group project, role plays, games, structured class discussions, etc. [Experience & Learning - Prezi]