Context

One of our responsibilities as Professional Learning Partners at Center X is to design and facilitate professional development at our school site and for other educational organizations. This facilitation guide was created while planning a 5-day professional development centered on using questioning and discussion techniques. We had flexibility in choosing the workshops’ structures and instructional strategies to meet the organizers’ desired outcomes.  Without knowing the needs and content areas of participants, we realized the importance of being intentional.

Why – Purpose and Intent

The organization of this facilitation guide allows presenters to be mindful of time and strategies used while aligning with desired cognitive processes. It also frames possible questions that could be asked by the facilitator, or by engaged participants, lending itself to inquiry-based dialogue and discussion.  Additionally, the structure makes instructional strategies and facilitator “moves” transparent to participants and removes exclusive expertise and ownership from the presenter; thus, creating a constructivist learning environment. By preparing a facilitation guide in this style, the likelihood of reaching participant learning goals and outcomes is extremely high.


How – Thinking process that led to the development of this protocol

The development of this guide met the needs of two groups: the facilitators and the participants.  As oftentimes the case in large education conferences, we had minimal knowledge of the participants’ professional development needs; however, we needed to meet the outcomes set by the conference organizers. We were given choice on thinking process and the strategies to meet these outcomes. To meet participants’ needs we wanted to create a guide that would be inquiry and constructivist based to match our own belief system about how people learn. We also wanted to limit facilitator talk and focus more on interaction between participants.

What – Directions for Protocol

1. Start with the learning goals
   
   • What do we want participants to learn during the workshop?
2. Create outcomes.
   
   • What materials and/or tools do we want them to walk away with?
3. Metacognition and the strategies that promote that thinking.
   
   • Decide which strategies and moves lend themselves to the kinds of thinking identified
4. Possible questions to ask and answer
   
   • Knowing that the best thinking comes from inquiry, what questions might we anticipate from participants and what questions might we ask of the group to solicit additional thinking?
5. Underlining theme is pausing, paraphrasing and asking questions
   
   • While not explicit in the facilitator’s guide, pausing, paraphrasing, in addition to questioning, promotes common understanding, trusting relationships, and an openness to cognitive risk taking.
     
     

Reflection

Upon reflecting on the process, we found it helpful that we continue to use this style of preparation when working with various groups. It encourages thinking about every possible aspect of adult learning:  outcomes, cognitive processes, time, responsibility, strategies and moves, and the questions we anticipate for ourselves and for participants. Ample preparation helps us to be present and flexible during the workshop to meet the needs of the group. However, we have adjusted the guide spatially, to better reflect the priorities we hold as leaders of adult learning.

Download

•  Download Facilitation Guide Article and Example (pdf)
  

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