Facilitation Skills

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Facilitation Skills

• Nature Bound Workshop Series

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What is facilitation?

• Techniques that are used to augment the qualities
  of the adventure experience based on an accurate
  assessment of the participants needs
• The act or state of being made easier
• The process of moving a group or individual
  toward a desired outcome
• Etc etc. etc.

In a nutshell ...
Facilitation is all of the above definitions
but well use facilitation to mean to expose an
individual or a group to a challenge, in a
controlled situation, in order to bring about
some type of change. Who has the control?
You do! As facilitators you are the expert.
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The Learning Gradient
The more involved a participant can be the more
likely that person is to not only experience the
adventure, but to also reflect, question and
apply.
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The Teaching Environment

• As the Trip Leader, you are responsible for the
  environment into which you are bringing your
  participants. This is helpful, because depending
  on the participants experience, you can design
  the environment to fit your needs.
• Things we control
• The environment we choose the location for
  learning
• Group size
• Learning objectives and the way in which these
  objectives are met
• Materials provided
• what else do we control
• Things we cannot control
• Weather/Temperature
• Attitudes
• Participants experience
• The unexpected
• what else do we not control

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• Experiential Learning
• Experience
• What are we experiencing? Where are we? Why are
  we there?
• Reflection
• What did the experience mean to me? What did it
  mean to the group? What did I learn about myself
  or my group members?
• Application
• What do I do with my new knowledge? How can I
  apply what Ive learned about teambuilding/adversi
  ty/etc to my reality? How can I use this to
  impact others?

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Phases of Experiential Learning

• Pre-Experience deals with the choices made
  prior to the experience
• Why
• What
• How
• Who
• Where
• When
• Experience deals with all of the choices made
  during the experience
• Introduction
• Pace
• Direction
• Resting
• Redoing
• Post-Experience deals with all of the choices
  made after the experience
• Reflection
• Evaluation
• Integration
• Feedback
• Follow-up

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Different Teaching Styles

• Dictated Style
• The Trip Leader has total responsibility from
  planning the trip, through trip implementation,
  to trip evaluation. This style is useful when
  risk management is the most important aspect
  most commonly used in the area of teaching safety
  skills.
• Prescribed Style
• The Trip Leader maintains control over the
  planning and the actual experience, however the
  participants are responsible for the
  post-experience (the reflection and evaluation).
  This style is useful for teaching skill
  acquisition and application.
• Directed Style
• The Trip Leader is responsible for the
  pre-experience and the post-experience, however
  he/she leaves the actual experience and the
  decision-making to the participants. This style
  is useful when the participant needs/desires the
  freedom to make choices.

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Different Teaching Styles

• Consulted Style
• The Trip Leader is responsible only for the
  pre-experience planning. The participants make
  all of the decisions during the experience as
  well as leading the reflection and feedback.
  This style is effective when risk-management is
  not a major concern the Trip Leader does not
  provide feedback because the environment and the
  decision provides the feedback.
• Interpreted Style
• The Trip Leader is responsible only for the
  post-experience. The participants are in charge
  of the trip planning and implementation, while
  the Trip Leader encourages reflection and leads
  the feedback process. This style is appropriate
  when the intent is to encourage the participants
  to be free thinking and self-reliant.
• Automated Style
• The Trip Leader takes a complete hands-off
  approach and merely observes ensuring the safety
  of the group. This style is appropriate for
  groups who have mastered a specific skill or
  action.

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Challenge by Choice

• Perhaps the most useful phrase in challenge
  course and adventure programming. This empowers
  the participant by informing them that they, not
  the group or the Trip Leader, determine the
  degree of challenge, risk and competence with
  which they will engage in the activity.
• This puts the goal setting in the hands of the
  participant. This is allowing the participants
  to be challenged by an opportunity, but to be
  challenged in a way that is measured and fit for
  him/her specifically.
• Challenge by Choice offers
• A chance to try a potentially difficult or
  frightening challenge in a supportive atmosphere
• The opportunity to back off when performance
  pressures or self-doubt become too strong
• A chance to try difficult tasks and to recognize
  that the attempt is more significant than the
  performance
• Respect for individual ideas and choices

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Ways to Facilitate

• Letting the Experience Speak for Itself
  Learning by Doing
• Speaking for the Experience Learning by Telling
• Debriefing the Experience Learning through
  Reflection
• Directly front-loading the Experience Direction
  with Reflection
• Framing the Experience Reinforcing the
  Experience

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