Facilitator Maintenance

1
Facilitator Maintenance

• hiring, training, and continuing education of
  your staff

2
Role of Administrator

• What to look for in the hiring process
• How to train current staff
• Staff self-reflection and change

3
Hiring Process

• A bachelor or master level degree is desirable
  but not always necessary for some positions.
  (Medina, 2002 Plaut, 2001)
• Desirable for a manager, coordinator, or director
  position
• Facilitators may not need any degree above
  bachelor

4

• Potential staff should possess important traits
  necessary to success and convey the importance
  of environmental harmony (Priest, 1984).
• While not completely necessary, technical skills
  are helpful.
• A good balance between hard and soft skills
  (Priest, 1984)

5
Training Staff

• Speak to other camps and facilities to find a
  common training curriculum (Priest, 1995)
• In each core competency area, specific
  measurable goals need to be set (Priest, 1995)
• Technical skills
• Soft skills
• Teach problem solving skills as part of our
  training curriculum (Priest, 1988)
• The assessment phase of problem solving
• The analytical phase of problem solving
• The creative phase of problem solving

6
Continuing Education

• Allow staff to learn by doing
• Let staff find out for themselves what works and
  what doesnt work
• Guide leaders in choosing appropriate leadership
  styles in the beginning
• Staff should write a journal entry after each
  time they facilitate a group
• Reflection on facilitation style chosen
• Appropriateness of it and if it worked or not
• What to do different in the future
• Changes planned on making
• Meet weekly to debrief the week and discuss
  changes (Grube, 2002)

7
Advantages

• Have a list of what qualities that are being
  looked for in potential staff
• Gives you a good place to start
• Have a set curriculum that you use with your
  staff
• Preferably, work with local camps and facilities
  to make a common curriculum
• Ongoing training with journaling and one-on-one
  debriefing time weekly will help facilitate
  personal growth with the staff (Grube, 2002)

8
Disadvantages

• If list of qualities are too narrow, may miss
  some potential quality staff
• Some qualities may not be possessed at time of
  hiring but could be developed over time.
• Specific needs may not allow for this
• Everyone learns a little differently. A set
  curriculum may not work for all potential
  facilitators.

9
Summary

• There are many things to look for in a
  potential staff member. Just be sure to not weed
  out great staff because they dont initially
  possess qualities you are looking for. Training
  should be continuous and chosen based on the best
  learning traits for them. Also, encourage staff
  to be reflective in their practice. Conference
  with them regularly to keep in touch and make
  sure they are being the best facilitator they can
  be.

10

• Conley, Laura, Caldarella, Paul, Young, Ellie.
  (2007) Evaluation of a Ropes Course Experience
  for At-Risk Secondary School Students. Journal of
  Experiential Education. 30 (1). 21-35.
• Gass, Michael A., Priest, Simon(2006) The
  Effectiveness of Metaphoric Facilitation Styles
  in Corporate Adventure Training (CAT) Programs.
  Journal of Experiential Education. 29 (1). 78-94
• Hartley, Natalie L., Williams, Daniel R. (year
  unknown). Gender Issues in Outdoor Adventure
  Programming An Outdoor Leadership Model
  Exploring Gender, Personality Soft skills
  Training and Leadership Style of Outdoor Leaders.
  Publication unknown.
• Grube, Danny P, Phipps, Maurice L, Grube, Angela
  Johnson. (2002) Practicing Leader Decision-Making
  Through a Systematic Journal Technique A Single
  Case Analysis. Journal of Experiential Education.
  25 (1). 220-230.
• Hayashi, Aya, Ewert, Alan(2006) Outdoor Leaders
  Emotional Intelligence and Transformational
  Leadership. Journal of Experiential Education. 28
  (3). 222-242.
• Medina, Jacquie(2002) Types of Positions, Job
  Responsibilities, and Training Backgrounds of
  Outdoor/Adventure Leaders. Journal of
  Experiential Education. 24 (3). 150, 10.
• Plaut, Laura. (2001) Degree-granting Programs in
  Adventure Education Added Value?. Journal of
  Experiential Education. 24 (3). 136-140.
• Priest, Simon.(1995) Challenge Course Facilitator
  Competence A Consensus. Journal of Experiential
  Education. 18 (3). 158-160.
• Priest, S. (1987, January). Developing Leaders
  for Camp Adventure Programs. Camping Magazine,
  pp. 24-27.
• Priest, Simon. (1984) Effective Outdoor
  Leadership A Survey. Journal of Experiential
  Education. 7 (3). 34-36.
• Priest, Simon. (Fall 1988) The Role of Judgment,
  Decision Making, and Problem Solving for Outdoor
  Leaders. Journal of Experiential Education.
  19-26.
• Raiola, Ed. (2003) Communication and
  Problem-Solving in Extended Field-Based Outdoor
  Adventure Education Courses. Journal of
  Experiential Education. 26 (1). 50-54.
• Wittmer, Carrie R. (2001) Leadership and
  Gender-Role Congruencey A guide for Wilderness
  and Outdoor Practitioners. Journal of
  Experiential Education. 24 (3). 150, 10.