6.10. Facilitation of learning

Objectives

This exercise is designed to deepen your understanding of different roles in guiding and educating others, including facilitation, coaching, teaching, and mentoring. You will engage in reflective and analytical tasks to define a facilitator, distinguish between various guiding roles, identify your core values in youth work facilitation, and assess your current skills while planning for improvement. 

Instructions

Task 1: 

Reflect on what you believe the role of a facilitator entails. Consider your experiences and understanding, and write your definition.

Task 2: 

Read the descriptions provided for Facilitator, Coach, Teacher, and Mentor. Match each role with its corresponding description based on your understanding.

Roles:

  • Facilitator
  • Coach
  • Teacher
  • Mentor

Roles descriptions to match:

  • Creates a safe, impartial environment for groups, serving as process leader during meetings/ events, ensuring goal achievement. Typically, short-term engagements.
  • Guides individuals and groups to reach goals by unlocking thought-provoking processes. They stay impartial, serving as process experts. Often one-on-one or team-based for specific situations.
  • Shares knowledge, offers guidance and nurtures skills in learners. They provide expertise and advice. Typically, long-term for specific topics.
  • Shares expertise, guides, and is a model. Relationships are usually long-term and one-to-one focused on development through conversations and experiences.

Task 3: 

Think about your core values in youth work facilitation. What principles guide you? List at least three main values that are central to your facilitation approach.

Task 4: 

Create a two-column journal. In the first column, list the skills you already possess as a facilitator. In the second column, note the skills you aim to improve.

Develop a brief learning plan outlining steps or strategies you can undertake to enhance these skills. This might include specific training, self-study, mentorship, or practical experiences.

Submission Guidelines

Once completed, compile your responses for all four tasks into a single document. Your submission should be clearly organized, with each task labelled and answered in order. Ensure your writing is reflective and insightful, particularly for your definition of a facilitator and your core values in youth work. For your skills journal and learning plan, be specific and actionable in your approach.