Henley e-Practitioner Course - 3.1 Group facilitation
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3.1 Group facilitation Introducing the facilitation model | Introducing the group | Increasing the buy-in | Picking the best medium | Hands on hands off? | Facilitator as frog | Conclusion I’m going to share some ideas with you from my experience as a facilitator. I started to work in the area of e-learning in 1994, with the advent of Lotus Notes to the College, and have been fascinated by it ever since. I have undertaken some research in the area and published a number of papers (see References section). I have also been a student, following a Networked Learning (Master's) Programme with Sheffield University. My keywords for this presentation are multi-cultural, blended, and corporate. You will also recognise my emphasis on process as we go through the presentation. Although it has a corporate focus, I believe the principals of this presentation are applicable to all Henley programmes, not just those within the Tailored Qualification area. My objectives for this session are to help you: (a) to ground group facilitation in some academic theory and, (b) to develop your own pedagogical approach to facilitation. Introducing the facilitation model Let us begin with a six-step model that has been adapted from one which reflects research in the UK’s Open University (OU). The model has been adjusted and extended because (a) the OU's focus is for students who do not meet face to face and (b) because the model does not take into account the specific corporate needs of the learners. For most corporate programmes, the transfer of learning to the workplace is the main reason for the training.
Models, as you know, carry 'health warnings' - they are by definition simplistic. In the case of this model there is the danger of believing there are 'standardised learners'. One benefit of e-learning is the ability to tailor the learning events to individual needs. What this model demonstrates is the progression - with an emphasis on the review and transfer of learning to the workplace (Step 6). We will examine the initial stages. Steps 1 and 2 are about access, motivation and socialisation. With a face-to-face start to the programme these steps happen simultaneously; however, let us start by explaining Step 1. With a new group you will be making some assessment of the group as a whole and the individuals within it. You need to recognise the learners' individual styles and their technical competence. You have to recognise also that the learner who is used to 'Information Transfer' may well feel uncomfortable with this learner-centric pedagogy that we use with elearning. This is where 'unlearning' may be needed.
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Henley e-Practitioner Course - 3.1 Group facilitation
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It may be worth sharing the course director's (or your own) model of learning for the programme with the learners, to help the orientation. Here is an old favourite, which you may recognise, which fits e-learning well. Kolb's Learning Cycle was refined by Honey & Mumford within the context of management learning, so it is particularly relevant to this approach to learning.
As a facilitator, at this stage, you have three main roles:
to help create a context and clarify outcomes to act as a 'social host' until the group gets going to manage uncertainties in a productive way
One important function of a facilitator is to try and get the group to recognise the importance of the process issues of working together, since they can quickly lose themselves in task focus. One commentator who had much to say on this subject was the late Reg Revans, who promoted Action Learning. His approach was that the facilitator is there to get things going in a subtle manner; not to run the group. We will return to this aspect later, as appropriate intervention is key to being a good facilitator.
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Henley e-Practitioner Course - 3.1 Group facilitation
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It is time to meet a group! Your group is very international. If it is really as international as this, it will be difficult to find a time for synchronous meetings. In some ways, the more diverse the group the better, since the learning potential is enormous. Lewis's (1996) speech and thought icebergs show the balance between different national stereotypes (Speech above the waterline and Thought below). Group members sometimes need some encouragement to recognise and value the 'low speech' group members (Finnish and Japanese in this example). Establishing a set of group protocols and values can sometimes help groups work through this and capitalise on diversity. In this period as the facilitator, you will start to build relationships, manage expectations and encourage involvement.
<top>
Introducing the group It is probably easier to explain this further if we look more closely at the group members' attitudes and behaviour. Of course, any resemblance with a real group is purely coincidental! As part of your private assessment of individuals in 'your' group you will be noting their attitude to e-learning. On the x axis this slide shows the degree to which a learner 'buys into' the approach. On the y axis is the level of influence the individual has in the group. I well remember a group where the most influential person was a vice-president who had a strong personality (he had started life as a lumberjack). Unfortunately for the facilitator, he didn't value e-learning. He's the 'Disrupter' in the top left quadrant. The other descriptions are self-explanatory (and admittedly simplistic). The big question is, as a facilitator, what do you do with this group?
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Henley e-Practitioner Course - 3.1 Group facilitation
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<top> Increasing the buy-in If you have the time, then the ideal is to move the Disrupter further to the right. If time is at a premium, then you may have to use your position of power, or draw on your years of interpersonal skills to isolate him or her quickly. There is no right or easy answer but you've got to find a way to 'stop the rot'. Promoting the champion at the same time can obviously help.
<top> Picking the best medium Which media are the group going to work with? It may be that this has already been decided by the Course Director. There are other points to note, for example whether the technology you use is synchronous or asynchronous. A definition of asychronous and synchronous technology will be given later in this course, but here are some simple distinctions at
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Henley e-Practitioner Course - 3.1 Group facilitation
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this stage. Asynchronous technology covers email, texting, bulletin boards and threaded discussions. Synchronous technology covers web, audio and video conferencing, chat rooms and face-to-face meetings. Some media tend towards the asynchronous while others are more synchronous. The important point, (which is relevant to your group, even if they have had no choice of media) is which to use, when.
The challenge is knowing when to use a specific technology. Different technologies support different types of interactions; these interactions change depending on the situation. Asynchronous technologies are more pertinent to low context situations, such as exchanging information, recording, reporting and project implementation. Synchronous technologies suit high context situations, where complex issues are involved, or conflict handling, team building and project planning are the objectives.
During the third stage, the information exchange period, the facilitator has a number of behaviours that can be adopted depending on circumstances. Fundamentally, a facilitator is there to offer support, stimulating learning and development. As well as managing the sponsor, you should be available to the learners, which means checking their understanding, listening and observing and also asking questions. An important part of the role is the ability to make connections and overcome blocks. A key point at this stage is deciding when and how much to intervene.
<top> Hands on - hands off? Intervention is going to be dependent on all sorts of factors. For example, if you have a sponsor breathing down your neck you may be encouraged to be more proactive than your style might incline. The important point is to be conscious of the purpose of any intervention and to reconcile it with the learning outcomes. With most learning groups, one desirable outcome is to move the group (and individual) from dependent to interdependent learning. The group may be quite dependent on you initially, regarding you as a focal point and the position of the red arrow shows that the group's influence is much less than yours. Your aim should be to move the arrow to the right as soon as possible, recognising that at critical times it may need to move back to the left for short periods.
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Henley e-Practitioner Course - 3.1 Group facilitation
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By Step 4 the group should be in the process of knowledge construction. Step 4 is largely self-explanatory and the group is 'performing' (to use Bruce Tuckman's 1965 Forming Storming Norming Performing Model*).
*Click here to find out more about this model The technology is not 'getting in the way', since the process issues are enabling rather than disabling, and knowledge is being shared and developed. Learning should be taking place which will be transferred to the workplace in Step 6.
Step 5 may be an opportunity for the facilitator and the group to review and reflect on what has happened and what has been learned. It is time for you as a facilitator to reflect on your own practice. Be aware though, of the drawbacks of tutor evaluation forms (or 'happy sheets') in this respect. The learner may not necessarily give you high marks for doing a good job as a facilitator. There may be better feedback from sharing best practice with a fellow facilitator. Whilst the learner's opinion has to be considered, it is possible that happy sheets can lead a facilitator into doing what the learner wants, as opposed to what the learner needs.
Let us end this session by focusing on the role of the e-facilitator. Here is a definition of the facilitator's role from Robson & Beary (1995). Note the reference to change with all the challenges that this implies. '[Facilitators are] agents of change who, depending on their level of skill, and on the way they are deployed, work on helping individuals, groups and organisations as a whole to develop and improve performance.'
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Henley e-Practitioner Course - 3.1 Group facilitation
Between the learner and the tutor, there should be interaction, reflection and adaption (of views and actions) taking place. This is captured in the 'conversational' model on the right of your screen.
Diana Laurillard's model fits teaching as a whole. From the e-facilitator's perspective note particularly the adaption of views and actions as an output that can be facilitated by an agent of change.
<top> Facilitator as frog
A useful analogy to help new e-facilitators understand their role is of the facilitator as a frog.
Imagine a learning environment. The learner, accompanied by their tame 'mouse', sits under a tree on an island in the sunshine. In the water a large fish swims lazily around. It is possible to push the learner under water and the fish can jump out of the water. But these are not the environments either are designed for nor happy in. Both will feel disoriented. The new e-learner may well feel like a fish out of water. The animal that is happy to be above or below water is the frog; so the frog can facilitate in an unfamiliar environment. The facilitator (frog) has the responsibility to recognise the difficulties of those in an unfamiliar environment, and to facilitate the conversation.
<top> Conclusion So remember: (a) you are not a directive expert but a facilitator of student-centred learning (b) a learning group will only be effective if there is mutual trust amongst the group's participants (including the facilitator) (c) do not under-estimate the importance of socialisation as part of the formative learning experience (d) learn when and how to use the media and the implications of facilitating each type (e) recognise and manage learners' uncertainties in a subtle and productive manner (f) listen carefully, help stimulate interaction and reflection. Help the learner find and apply knowledge for individual, group and organisational benefit Remember you are a frog! When you have reviewed this presentation close the browser window to return to the course.
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