Facilitation

Facilitation Facilitation is the

"lecture-replacement" process many online and classroom instructors use to foster learning.

What is Facilitation

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What is Facilitation

What is Facilitation

The core component of the word ' facile', means to make a process easy or smooth.

Unlike the educator and teacher, a facilitator need not be a content expert.

A facilitator is focussed on the process of learning and assisting the individual or group to recognise, plan and achieve their desired outcomes.

What is Facilitation Facilitation is more than simply

teaching the student and promoting knowledge transfer. It may be considered a: . . . pedagogical term that applies to

student-centred approaches to teaching as opposed to teacher-driven-the teacher's role moving from expert to one of facilitation -'sage on the stage' to 'guide on the side'. (Kempe 2001, cited here

What is Facilitation

The approach taken to delivery of the learning outcomes;

The individual(s) involved; The context of the learning; The type of knowledge being transferred; The role of technology in learning (Bowles,

2005:12);

There are five fundamental variables that will shape facilitation:

Advanced Facilitation

to Support Learning

Advanced Facilitation

The concept of learning continues to evolve dynamically.

The simple belief that people are 'empty vessels' that need to be filled with knowledge has eroded rapidly as technology and society change.

Advanced Facilitation

From a psychologist's viewpoint learning is fundamentally about changing behaviours or the individual while also underpinning organisational and societal change processes (Smith, 2003).

In this sense learning is linked to how societies, organsations and people change.

Advanced Facilitation

Investigating how facilitation can be used by an individual at an advanced level;

The environment within which facilitation is occurring is changing.

The substance of the theory explaining facilitation is also shifting and changing

Examining advanced facilitation techniques places us into a paradoxical position.

Role of the Facilitator to encourage and facilitate the

process whereby learners learn.

This simple statement may be achieved through an enormous array of techniques (tools) and processes (practices and methods).

Role of the Facilitator

Traditional paradigms on the role of teaching seemed to have relied on methods and methodology that place the teacher at the centre of the learning process.

Role of the Facilitator

The concept of facilitation has been viewed much like the role of instructor, knowledge expert and assessor: as just another subset of the teacher's control and dominance of the learning process.

Role of the Facilitator

Advanced facilitation is about the facilitator having a distinct set of competencies and roles.

This is not to say a teacher cannot be a facilitator: it means people other than teachers may also be facilitators of learning.

Role of the Facilitator

The concept of facilitator of learning has at its heart the acknowledgment that learning is participative and may be self-directed.

Adult learners have the capacity to adapt learning to their needs. They can make choices and decisions on their own learning process.

Role of the Facilitator

Ultimately, they can also take the responsibility for initiating learning and engaging that can occur across learning within multiple environments (i.e. home, work, life).

Approaches to Learning

Behaviourist; Cognitive; Humanistic; Social/situational.

It is worthwhile to reflect on four of the core learning theories. These are:

Activity 1

Revisit the theory of learning and teaching (i.e. see websites such as Theory into Practice or Learning and Instructional Theory links.

Examine and write a short critique on theories presented by Skinner, Argyris, Lave, and at least two others.

Try to ensure that the optional ones you choose are from areas with which you are unfamiliar or select ones you believe can contribute to your current practice.

Activity 1

Detail which theory you feel most comfortable with and why.

Detail which theory is the most useful in extending your current facilitation practice.

Orientation

Orientation is about connecting the learner with the learning process. Orientation critically relates to the facilitator being able to provide adequate information for the learner to confidently enter into a learning process.

Orientation

Completion requirements; Contextual information on what the

course is about and where it may link to further learning and work;

Personal commitments; How interaction and any communication

will occur with the learner; Clear statements on learning outcomes;

This may include information on:

Orientation Unambiguous statement on the

requirements for assessment; The extent and means by which the

learning or assessment can be controlled or contextualised to the learner's needs and preferences;

Accurate descriptions of the learning and facilitation approach to be used by the educator;

How student support and communication with educators will occur; for example, email, online chat, face to face;

Orientation Timelines and nominal duration for

all aspects and dimensions to the course; and

Assistance with enrolment or special requirements.

Orientation

The following four aspects should be considered when undertaking facilitation

Orientation

Control - For learners and facilitators the most intimidating issue in learning can be the confusion created over uncertain processes or unclear outcomes resulting from options presented.

Alignment - Orientation of effort requires alignment in which the individual learners agree on and affirm a basic direction. Alignment may involve every learner or a particular group of participants.

Orientation

Attunement - Beyond individual alignment to a direction and learning purpose it is also important that facilitation build involvement of all learners. This requires team building to ensure that everyone knows how their individual effort will contribute to the collective effort required to move in a particular direction.

Orientation

Commitment -Commitment is typified by individuals converging towards agreed outcomes while individually they may hold outcomes they consider appropriate.

Co-orientation

Co-orientation is about connecting the learner with other learners and their individual purpose.

Co-orientation

The co-orientation stage is where the facilitator needs to build trust and commitment not just to the learning process and outcomes, but also to the communication between learners and each other, and with the facilitator.

McFadzean and McKenzie (2002:474) claim facilitators must set the foundations for learning by being attentive to five matters:

Co-orientation

The learning tasks, the processes and structure of the learning process;

The development of the team; The team's dynamics; The emotions and feelings; and Trust of the participants.

Co-orientation Culture -Learning is a social activity. It is

not simply a mechanistic function that can be switched on and off. Every human action involves learning because individuals adapt as they transact with people, with technology and with their environment.

Co-orientation

Accessibility -Learning has to be accessible to the individual seeking access.

Contextualisation -The learning function cannot simply be oriented by a facilitator, with the learner 'switched on' and knowledge transferred on the relevant topic.

Co-orientation Personalisation -Accepting that people

are different, and that we can cater for differences in learning styles and learning needs, it seems reasonable that catering for a high degree of personalisation is an effective way of advancing both the competency and the overall ability of an individual to learn.

Engagement

Engagement is about connecting the learner with the knowledge and the process of learning.

Collaboration -Collaboration is a basic activity in human society. While purpose and the attributes of each individual involved may vary, collaboration reinforces not only learning outcomes but also a sense of shared interest.

Engagement

Timeliness -Timeliness impacts both the learner and the facilitator.

Integration - Integration is an important ingredient in the facilitation of learning in the modern world. Integration is about creating seamless learning processes that address:

Engagement

How an individual's prior learning is built upon in current learning processes;

Vocational learning that is relevant and related to real workplace needs and practices;

Reporting of learning that is visible and accessible to the learner at all times and to those people the learner may wish to give access;

Learning tools and means for communication with the facilitator that leverage technology the learner can access and use with existing skills sets;

Learning not locked into a time or place; and Individuals able to communicate and collaborate

simply and easily (integration between electronic and traditional face-to-face modes of delivery).

Engagement

Relevance -Learning is dynamic. One of the unquestionable advantages of the good facilitator is their ability to make learning relevant.

Measurement

Measurement is about connecting the learner with outcomes.

Reflection - Deep learning usually requires an individual to be prepared to accept and give feedback, to empathise with others and to consciously reflect on their own progress. Reflection is an important process that can actually encourage:

Measurement Thinking and thereby reinforce

knowledge beyond the superficial level at which learning content may reside;

Learners with reflective learning styles;

Group reflection through discussions, learning diaries, brainstorming and group work;

Self-reflection through purposely constructed learning activities.

Measurement

Assessment -Often the assessment of educational outcomes occurs through the examination or 'regurgitation' of materials and information provided during class activities and lectures.

Monitoring -Monitoring learning is becoming more complex. Not that it has ever been easy, but the growth in distributed learning (anywhere, anytime, just-in-time learning) accentuates the importance of understanding individual differences …

Measurement

Recognition - Individual motivation to learn is often tied to the recognition obtained.

Qualifications, professional status and improved career opportunities are often more meaningful outcomes of a learning process than the learning itself.

Improvement

Improvement is about connecting the learner with future opportunities. This includes the pathways created into further learning and work.

Evaluate -From a facilitation point of view, evaluation can assist in determining discontinuity between:

Improvement The learner's needs and preferences and

the facilitation techniques or process; The individual context and the facilitation

techniques or process; The different needs and preferences of

individuals collaborating in a learning process and the facilitation techniques or process;

The outcomes expected to satisfactorily complete the learning and the individual's readiness or actual capacity to engage in the learning process.

Improvement

Renew -If learning is dynamic, then facilitation strategies must be able to be revised and redesigned to meet future contingencies and needs.

Report -How outcomes are to be reported needs to be known and built into both facilitation and the data collection points within the learning process.

Improvement

Review -Implementing any improvement requires review and management. Suggesting changes is different to actually possessing the processes to ensure that future facilitation approaches and strategies continuously improve.

Reading 1

Bowles, M (ed.) (April 2003), 'Individual elearning variables', Chapter 8, The Investigative Research Report into Elearning, Unitas & Commonwealth Bank, Unitas Knowledge Centre: Sydney. Used and reproduced with kind permission of Unitas Company, University of Tasmania , www.unitas.com.au .

Executive Briefing

Activity 2

Reading 1 is quite dense and lengthy.

However, it provides a backdrop to wider discussions and issues occurring later in this topic area.

Rather than reading it in a piecemeal approach, reading the entire book can help link some important concepts.

Activity 2

Establish how learning styles, multiple intelligences and emotional intelligence may influence a learner's ability to learn.

Consider how an educator may alter learning facilitation techniques to best encourage 'sensemaking' for the learner (especially given the variables noted in question 1 above).

Reflect on how self-efficacy may influence both formal and informal vocational learning.

Activity 2 In a constructivist sense examine how a

facilitator who is not a positive role model may affect the learning process. For instance consider the impact if the facilitator is not expert in the area of instruction, does not actively encourage or role model active learning, or is simply not interested in the learners as individuals.

What is metacognition? How could different forms of knowledge actually influence facilitation techniques or processes?

Reflect on ways cultural differences may influence facilitation approaches.