A facilitator is a person who helps a group of people to work together better, understand their common objectives, and plan how to achieve these objectives, during meetings or discussions. In doing so, the facilitator remains "neutral", meaning they do not take a particular position in the discussion. [1] Some facilitator tools will try to assist the group in achieving a consensus on any disagreements that preexist or emerge in the meeting so that it has a solid basis for future action.
There are a variety of definitions for facilitator:
The concept of authority (of the facilitator) is one which can cause confusion. John Heron espouses three alternates (initially in the educational context) as being:
Business facilitators work in business, and other formal organizations but facilitators may also work with a variety of other groups and communities. It is a tenet of facilitation that the facilitator will not lead the group towards the answer that they think is best even if they possess an opinion on the facilitation subject. The facilitator's role is to make it easier for the group to arrive at its own answer, decision, or deliverable.
This can and does give rise to organizational conflict between hierarchical management and theories and practice of empowerment. Facilitators often have to navigate between the two, especially where overt statements about empowerment are not being borne out by organizational behaviors. [6]
Conflict resolution facilitators are used in peace and reconciliation processes both during and after a conflict. They support constructive and democratic dialogue between groups with diverse and usually diametrically opposite positions. Conflict resolution facilitators must be impartial to the conflicting groups (or societies) and must adhere to the rules of democratic dialogue. They may not take sides or express personal opinions. Their role is to support groups develop shared vision for the future, learn to listen to each other, and understand and appreciate the feelings, experiences and positions of the opposing side.
Educators in dialogic learning and other peer instruction approaches often serve as facilitators. According to one common definition, an educational facilitator has the same level of knowledge about both education and the subject matter as a teacher, but works with the goal of having students take as much responsibility for their own learning as possible. [7] Instructors at Shimer College, for example, are often referred to as facilitators due to their role in provoking learning by facilitating a conversation among students about the text rather than instructing the students directly. [8] In language teaching, teachers may shift to a facilitative role to increase student ownership of the learning process. [9] Effective facilitation requires self-monitoring and careful attention to the details of interaction as well as the content of the material. [10]
Facilitators can help participants in small and medium-sized groups to work through a meeting agenda. The facilitator is often appointed in place of what would once have been a chairperson's role. Along with other officers, the facilitator is appointed at the group's annual general meeting to fill the role for the year ahead. Groups that have adopted this model include prayer groups, men's groups, writing groups and other community organisations.
Training facilitators are used in adult education. These facilitators are not always subject experts, and attempt to draw on the existing knowledge of the participant(s), and to then facilitate access to training where gaps in knowledge are identified and agreed on. Training facilitators focus on the foundations of adult education: establish existing knowledge, build on it and keep it relevant. The role is different from a trainer with subject expertise. Such a person will take a more leading role and take a group through an agenda designed to transmit a body of knowledge or a set of skills to be acquired. (See tutelary authority above.)
Wraparound facilitators are facilitators in the social services community. The term "wraparound" refers to the broad, holistic approach used by the facilitators, taking into account a range of factors. They originally served disabled teens who were transitioning into adulthood. Now they include facilitators serving children between the ages of 0–3 years who are in need of services. Outside the meetings, the facilitator organizes meetings, engages team members and conducts follow through. During meetings the facilitator leads and manages the team by keeping the participants on track and encourages a strength-based discussion addressing the child's needs. The facilitator encourages equal participation among team members.
Many skills are required to be a good facilitator. The basic skills of a facilitator are about following good meeting practices: timekeeping, following an agreed-upon agenda, and keeping a clear record. The higher-order skills involve watching the group and its individuals in light of group dynamics. In addition, facilitators also need a variety of listening skills including ability to paraphrase; stack a conversation; draw people out; balance participation; and make space for more reticent group members (Kaner, et al., 1996). It is critical to the facilitator's role to have the knowledge and skill to be able to intervene in a way that adds to the group's creativity rather than taking away from it.
A successful facilitator embodies respect for others and a watchful awareness of the many layers of reality in a human group.
In the event that a consensus cannot be reached then the facilitator would assist the group in understanding the differences that divide it.
Facilitators also require good understanding of processes – how to enable group decision-making, structuring agendas for appropriate results, problem-solving, etc.
The International Association of Facilitators (IAF) was founded in 1994 to promote and support facilitation as a profession. [11] The IAF maintains the Certified Professional Facilitator program. The competencies of a Certified Professional Facilitator can be found on the IAF website. [12] These core competencies are: (1) Create collaborative client relationships; (2) Plan appropriate group processes; (3) Create and sustain a participatory environment; (4) Guide group to appropriate and useful outcomes; (5) Build and maintain professional knowledge and; (6) Model positive professional attitude.
The International Institute for Facilitation (INIFAC) was founded in 2003 to maintain and promote a program of certification for facilitation, the Certified Master Facilitator program. [13] The competencies of a Certified Master Facilitator can be found on the INIFAC website. [14]
The term large-group awareness training (LGAT) refers to activities - usually offered by groups with links to the human potential movement - which claim to increase self-awareness and to bring about desirable transformations in individuals' personal lives. LGATs are unconventional; they often take place over several days, and may compromise participants' mental wellbeing.
Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. It can mean any form of learning adults engage in beyond traditional schooling, encompassing basic literacy to personal fulfillment as a lifelong learner, and to ensure the fulfillment of an individual.
Organization development (OD) is the study and implementation of practices, systems, and techniques that affect organizational change. The goal of which is to modify a group's/organization's performance and/or culture. The organizational changes are typically initiated by the group's stakeholders. OD emerged from human relations studies in the 1930s, during which psychologists realized that organizational structures and processes influence worker behavior and motivation.
Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and professional growth of a mentee. Most traditional mentorships involve having senior employees mentor more junior employees, but mentors do not necessarily have to be more senior than the people they mentor. What matters is that mentors have experience that others can learn from.
Facilitation in business, organizational development (OD) and consensus decision-making refers to the process of designing and running a meeting according to a previously agreed set of requirements.
Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered pedagogy in which students learn about a subject through the experience of solving an open-ended problem found in trigger material. The PBL process does not focus on problem solving with a defined solution, but it allows for the development of other desirable skills and attributes. This includes knowledge acquisition, enhanced group collaboration and communication.
An electronic portfolio is a collection of electronic evidence assembled and managed by a user, usually but not only on the Web.
Chris Argyris was an American business theorist and professor at Yale School of Management and Harvard Business School. Argyris, like Richard Beckhard, Edgar Schein and Warren Bennis, is known as a co-founder of organization development, and known for seminal work on learning organizations.
Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. It can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed on a voluntary basis and may be compulsory. While individual benefits may be realized, they may be performed for a variety of reasons, including citizenship requirements, alternatives to criminal justice sanctions, school or class requirements, and requisites to obtain certain benefits.
In human resource development, induction training introduces new employees to their new profession or job role, within an organisation. As a form of systematic training, induction training familiarises and assists new employees with their employer, workforce and job design. The scale of induction training varies between organisations, with smaller firms typically conducting induction in the early months of employment, in comparison to larger corporations who dedicate greater time and resources to its completion.
Employability refers to the attributes of a person that make that person able to gain and maintain employment.
Organizational storytelling is a concept in management and organization studies. It recognises the special place of narration in human communication, making narration "the foundation of discursive thought and the possibility of acting in common." This follows the narrative paradigm, a view of human communication based on the conception of persons as homo narrans.
Recognition of prior learning (RPL), prior learning assessment (PLA), or prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR) describes a process used by regulatory bodies, adult learning centres, career development practitioners, military organizations, human resources professionals, employers, training institutions, colleges and universities around the world to evaluate skills and knowledge acquired outside the classroom for the purpose of recognizing competence against a given set of standards, competencies, or learning outcomes. RPL is practiced in many countries for a variety of purposes, for example an individual's standing in a profession, trades qualifications, academic achievement, recruitment, performance management, career and succession planning.
Graphic facilitation is the use of a combination of graphics such as diagrams, pictures, symbols, and writing to lead people toward a goal in meetings, seminars, workshops and conferences. The graphics are usually drawn by hand, by a person called a graphic facilitator, who may create the graphics in real time during the event and may work alone or together with another person called a facilitator who aids the discussion.
Michael Gurian is an American author and social philosopher. He works as a marriage and family counselor and corporate consultant. He has published twenty-eight books, several of which were New York Times bestseller list bestsellers. He is considered, along with Leonard Sax, as one of the major proponents of the post-modern "single-sex academic classes" movement.
The International Accreditation Forum, Inc. (IAF) is the worldwide association of conformity assessment accreditation bodies and other bodies interested in conformity assessment in the fields of management systems, products, services, personnel, processes, validation and verification and other similar programs of conformity assessment. Its primary function is to develop a single worldwide program of conformity assessment which reduces risk for businesses and their customers by assuring them that accredited certificates and validation and verification statements may be relied upon.
Assessment in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments is a subject of interest to educators and researchers. The assessment tools utilized in computer-supported collaborative learning settings are used to measure groups' knowledge learning processes, the quality of groups' products and individuals' collaborative learning skills.
Chickering's Theory of Identity Development, as articulated by Arthur W. Chickering explains the process of identity development. The theory was created specifically to examine the identity development process of students in higher education, but it has been used in other areas as well.
Global citizenship education (GCED) is a form of civic learning that involves students' active participation in projects that address global issues of a social, political, economic, or environmental nature. The two main elements of GCE are 'global consciousness'; the moral or ethical aspect of global issues, and 'global competencies', or skills meant to enable learners to participate in changing and developing the world. The promotion of GCE was a response by governments and NGOs to the emergence of supranational institution, regional economic blocs, and the development of information and communications technologies. These have all resulted in the emergence of a more globally oriented and collaborative approach to education. GCE addresses themes such as peace and human rights, intercultural understanding, citizenship education, respect for diversity and tolerance, and inclusiveness.
21st century skills comprise skills, abilities, and learning dispositions that have been identified as being required for success in 21st century society and workplaces by educators, business leaders, academics, and governmental agencies. This is part of a growing international movement focusing on the skills required for students to master in preparation for success in a rapidly changing, digital society. Many of these skills are also associated with deeper learning, which is based on mastering skills such as analytic reasoning, complex problem solving, and teamwork. These skills differ from traditional academic skills in that they are not primarily content knowledge-based.
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