In high school I had a teacher called Mrs Howard. She was a fantastic teacher, who I followed like a moth to a flame. Every subject she taught, I excelled at. Even geography, a subject which I previously and subsequently have shown very little passion for. The following year I had a geography teacher so timid that she wept when the class clicked their pens in unison in a (successful) attempt to unhinge her. This year I was bottom of the class, even despite a half-hearted
attempt to cheat on the tests. (Note to all – don’t include me on your trivia teams if geography is a
likely question as I won’t be an asset).
Possibly this was when the USSR caused havoc with map makers the world over, but it is more likely that nothing particularly significant occurred on the geographical front year to year. The difference was obviously a great teacher. A great teacher captures your attention, inspires you to learn, and keeps you engaged along the process. A great facilitator does well to steal from the teacher’s toolbox:
“Good Moooooorning Mrs Cordeiro”: We start the day by sitting in front of the group, gently establishing who leads the discussion. Interaction is welcome and in fact essential but the teacher / facilitator is in charge of moderating the process and helping to guide the
“You – in the corner!” : A bully can throw everybody off in both a classroom and a workshop environment. Obviously the power of a facilitator to send someone to the principal is limited, but we can try to keep their effect under control by limiting their airtime, partnering them with strong people in group work, and directing discussions away from their line of thinking.
“Everybody on the mat now please!”: One which the timid geography teacher had yet to learn but crowd control is a key element of both roles. For a group to do their best work, a facilitator must keep people focused, manage their energy, rotate them through group exercise, keep the activities well paced and engaging, tell them where to be and when.
Show and Tell: Using stimulus is a great facilitator trick. Getting people to bring items from home starts the brain on course before the workshop and provides a great icebreaker. Using stimulus during the workshop helps to engage, break monotony and tap into different channels.
“Now I know my ABCs, Won't You Come and Play with Me?”: It’s no coincidence that the alphabet is learnt in a song. Getting participants to sing, to draw or to move helps to tap into those different channels to find new perspectives on a problem or activate memory in a different way and also keeps energy levels raised.
So as you can see, facilitators do well to peer into children’s classrooms and see what they can learn. Mrs Howard also understood the versatility of the teacher’s toolbox – she used the tools in her toolkit all the way to the local council, where she became mayor. Clearly I wasn't the only person who she inspired!