As with cooking, facilitation is an art that involves a combination of practice, observation, knowledge of theory and creativity. Effective facilitators act as a good chef does, adding together the important elements in the right amounts at the right time to create a palatable and hopefully meaningful experience. Through careful observation of all of these elements involved in a group’s personality and setting, they intentionally choose and order activities or “ingredients” in order to maximize learning opportunities.

Many educators call this important aspect of facilitation and teaching “sequencing”.
Sequencing involves consciously and thoughtfully presenting activities in a specific order to maximize learning outcomes and maintain the emotional and physical safety of the group. Being thoughtful, observant and intentional in your planning, presentation and evaluation of activities is one of the essential aspects of effective group facilitation teaching, and team building.

There is no one specific “recipe” for sequencing activities or lessons that fits every group. In cooking there is a lot of room for creativity, style and adaptation but there are key rules and fundamental ingredients needed in order for a cake to rise or a sauce to thicken. The same is true for the facilitation of group learning experiences. Approach sequencing as a dynamic process that takes into careful consideration the personality and dynamics of the group, your strengths and style as an educator, participant’s emotional and physical safety, the group’s goals and agenda, available activities and materials, allotted time, and the physical environment.

In cooking the timing and ordering of ingredients is key to the success of many dishes. Ingredients often need to be added in a certain amount, a specific order and cooked for just the right duration for best results. Good facilitators are in tune to the importance of activity choices, and the ordering and timing of experiences. Effective facilitators pay attention to the group development process, and allow time for trust building. It is important to balance the level of the activity and or challenge presented and the participant’s ability to meet the challenge or activity. Leaders need to continually observe their group in order to be sure the activities they select fit the needs and goals of the group and the specific situation.

The time needed for participants to create relationships and build trust is different for every group. When interpersonal connections and sense of community is developed groups will take learning further and get more benefit out of the activities they engage in. Allow time for this happen by choosing activities that build upon each other.

When sequencing learning experiences be sensitive to the time of day and the physical comfort and attention span of group members. Being flexible as a facilitator in dealing with the unexpected is key. Listen to your group and be prepared to change your plan midstream in order to adapt to the ever changing needs of the group and to take advantage of new opportunities for learning that emerge as a group works together.

Careful sequencing maximizes participation by allowing people to engage at a pace that works for them. Experiential group work can be very powerful. If groups are ready to engage in the process great things can occur. Conversely, if a group is not emotionally or physically ready to encounter certain “learning adventures” the experience could be damaging or inhibit growth and learning. An effective educator approaches activities with intention, thoughtfulness, and flexibility—continuously evaluating their group and refining their plan as they need to.

Sequencing Suggestions

• Be ready with a continuum of activities. It is important to have a repertoire of activities that build upon each other. Having activities in your “back pocket” allows you to be ready to deal with changes in direction and learning opportunities that arise in an ever-changing group.
• Be flexible enough to throw out or let go of that well developed plan if the group needs are different than expected.
• “Indicator” activities are helpful. Know some activities that help you read and evaluate the group and introduce challenges incrementally. For example, over the years I have facilitated many challenge/ropes course programs. These involve physical touch and responsibility on the part of the participants to manage “spotting” each other. Before going on to the course and teaching safety systems I facilitate a series of partnered tag activities that involve moving around in a small space, appropriate physical contact, and the need for be aware of those around them. This introduces the idea of appropriate touch and close personal space important to the spotting techniques the group will be learning. It also helps me evaluate whether the group is engaged and ready to take the responsibility of balancing fun with safe focused behavior.
• Let participants know what is expected of them and the type of activities they will be participating in. Informed consent is critical. Let participants/students know what is expected of them and the type of activities in which they will be participating.  Informing the group about the upcoming activities doesn’t have to give away the novelty of your approach.  Think about informed consent as empowering participants with needed information.  If reluctant students make a choice not to participate, they will at least know what opportunities they might be missing.
• Continually observe your group and re-evaluate your plans in order to be sure the activities fit the needs and goals of the group and the specific situation.
• Be sensitive to the time of day and physical environment when presenting activities
• Take time to build relationships and trust between group members
• Be prepared for the unexpected
• Take advantage of teachable moments. Ongoing processing or reflection is key to moving learning forward. Reflective practice is best when it is a dynamic ongoing part of your lessons, not just something you facilitate as a follow up (see previous posts for processing ideas)
• Choose activities that build upon each other
• Be willing to let go of your agenda to meet the needs of the group

Recognize that each group is unique.  Every group has a different personality and participates in activities in a different way.  Even when working with groups with similar characteristics, in the same setting, with the same program goals, I have found that the actual lesson plan changes with each different group in response to that group’s particular personality and needs.  Activities you carefully plan prior to a workshop or group session may be specifically relevant for one group’s personality and needs and not another’s.  This is one of the exciting aspects of group facilitation.

There is great variety in group experience and varying opportunities facilitate learning. With experience, facilitators develop the art of reading their group and adjusting activities in a creative way throughout group process to move learning and change forward. This is the beauty of experiential education, nurturing spontaneity of experience to take advantage of teachable moments. The art is in balancing this spontaneity and creativity with the key ingredients and timing to make it all come together successfully.

Our little village of South Newfane, Vermont and many neighboring towns were hit hard by flooding during Irene. Some of our neighbors lost their homes. Power, phone and Internet were gone for many days and our roads are still being rebuilt. Though the damage to homes and infrastructure and the sorry state of our rivers and roads is hard to take, we are very thankful to be part of such a wonderful community and proud to be living in Vermont.  This kind of event often forces people to reflect on what is truly important in life and neighbors find themselves serving their community in ways they didn’t have “time” for before and relying on those around them. The moments of reflection and of neighbor helping neighbor have been as impressive and uplifting as the storm was devastating.

I experienced one of these positive moments during a “back to school” team-building session with students at Twin Valley Middle School (TVMS) in Whitingham, VT.  I was scheduled to “kick-off” the school year with community building activities the first week of school. When Irene wreaked havoc on our community, school started a week late. When I arrived to work with students after the delayed start it seemed important to reflect on the flood, and the unusual start to the year along with the excitement, anticipation and stress that comes as a normal part of the beginning of middle school. I engaged students in a reflective activity called “Graffiti Wall” that I learned from Kasey Errico an educator who attended my workshop at the Association for Experiential Education conference last spring.

I taped large lengths of butcher paper on the walls. As students entered the classroom I had them choose their favorite color marker. I set up the activity by asking them to imagine that they are graffiti artists and that this is their can of spray paint.  They have been given permission by a store owner to decorate the wall with graffiti to describe their experiences, thoughts, reflections, questions regarding the flood, what it has been like starting school amidst the recovery, the late start to the school year and what it is like to be an 8th grader.  I asked them to use artwork or words and explained that like a real wall of graffiti others can add to or comment on their artwork or musings. I encouraged them to do this silently (probably an unrealistic challenge for middle schoolers, but something that has been helpful when I have facilitated this activity with older groups).

The activity jumpstarted a meaningful reflective discussion. A few students lost their homes and family businesses and many parents are out of work due to the businesses in Wilmington, VT being destroyed by this record flood. One student who lives downtown shared that she had been keeping a list of all the items that floated by her house.

What emerged from the discussion following the graffiti activity was the increased sense of compassion and understanding students have gained through the flood experience. EVERY 8th grade student shared an example of service they had offered the community during the crisis including babysitting at the red cross center so that their parents could help clean out homes and businesses, working at the food bank, shoveling mud from basements, or sheltering neighbors in their homes.

Since Kasey introduced me to this activity last spring I have used the graffiti activity a number of times with positive outcomes. I like the blend of self-reflection and group collaboration. Often people will more readily express their thoughts through artwork than verbal means. It is non-intimidating to those who don’t consider themselves “artists” because they can blend words and images. Group members can choose their level of participation and learn as much from contributing as they do from observing other’s posts. The graffiti becomes an “artifact” of the group’s thoughts and experiences and can jumpstart meaningful dialogue and reflection.

In past posts I have encouraged educators to think of reflective practice as an ongoing part of their programs rather than something that happens at the end as a “debrief”. This is a great example of a reflection activity that can be used at the beginning, middle or end of a group experience.

In past articles I have compared group facilitation and teaching to cooking in the sense that successful educators vary ingredients all the time to keep things interesting or to “spice up” their teaching/group facilitation. In doing so they always keep in mind the key components that make it happen. There is a lot of room for creativity, style and adaptation in cooking but there are key rules and fundamental ingredients needed in order for a cake to rise or a sauce to thicken.

Over the past few months I have been inspired by my experiences facilitating workshops with educators from all over the US and Canada who are committed to enriching the lives of the youth and adults they work with. As I reflect on the feedback from participants in these workshops there were common “ah ha” moments or key learnings that participants took away from these group experiences. These all had to do with the importance of taking time to build a strong foundation of understanding, empathy and trust within groups, empowering learners with choice and control, thoughtfully sequencing activities to maximize learning outcomes and the importance of reflective practice; all key ingredients in recipes for group success. In the next few posts I will share articles on these topics.

Here are some of the “key” ingredients or techniques educators should consider as they build a strong foundation for learning within groups and classrooms:

The experience starts the moment a group enters the room (or even before).

Create a “Hook” to engage participants as they walk in the door. The first few minutes of a class or group session can be a great opportunity to draw learners into a positive learning experience and increase engagement. This can be a way to welcome group members or students into the classroom or meeting space and focus their attention on the tasks at hand. It can help learners transition from the experiences at home, on the commute, or in the hallway that impact learning so that they can be fully present in the learning space. Research on the brain and learning is demonstrating that the first moments of a learning experience are a key opportunity to increase engagement and retention (for more on this subject check out the series on engagement in March and April’s Inspired Educator blog posts).

Start off with style!

Introductory activities set the tone for a program and future group interaction. Think carefully about using appropriate beginning activities that build rapport and trust in incremental ways. Take time for this process. When people are given an opportunity to interact and share with each other step by step they gain comfort with the group process and build the capacity to go more in depth later on.

Make thoughtful choices, beware of the “ice-breaker”.

When choosing “ice breakers” or introductory activities find those that build rapport, camaraderie, connections, shared understanding, commonalities and goals in an enjoyable and non-threatening way. Often icebreakers can do the opposite of what was intended when people are put “on the spot” too early in the group process. When people are asked to perform a task like memorizing names or speaking/standing in front of the whole group before they have built comfort and basic trust they actually might “check out”, become embarrassed, and/or form negative associations with the experience. Try beginning with partnered sharing activities. This gives participants an opportunity to warm up by interacting with just one or two others at a time before sharing with the larger group. Thoughtfully sequence activities to build the capacity of trust and sharing over time.

Choice and control are essential.

People learn best when they perceive a sense of control, they have choice and ownership over their learning experiences. Think about creating opportunities that build this sense of choice and control for participants or students from the very beginning of the program or school year. Empowering learners to set reasonable parameters around their participation creates an atmosphere of healthy trust and will actually increase involvement from reluctant participants. In experiential group work, facilitators often aim to create change by pushing comfort zones and challenging learners. People do learn from challenges, but there can be a fine line between a challenge that helps move learning forward and what the educational philosopher John Dewey (one of the earliest proponents of the philosophy of experiential education) would call a miseducative or potentially damaging experience.

Create opportunities for students/participants to make choices within an experience. Consider techniques such as:

• adding rules to an icebreaker that allow the “it” person a way out or an option to participate at their own pace
• inviting participants to volunteer rather than calling on them to share
• allowing participants to pass during group discussion

This will help participants experience what John Dewey called “perceived internal freedom” and help them buy into the group process.

Creating situations that allow introverted group members some kind of out or aid gives them an opportunity to participate fully and warm up to the group process. They learn to trust that you won’t put them in a situation that is embarrassing or puts them on the spot before they are ready. This technique used during a warm-up game can pay off later in the group process.

By building trust in this way, group members start to share and engage at their own pace and become more willing to push their comfort zones later on when it really matters.

It is important for groups to learn and honor names.

Knowing and using each others names in a respectful way builds trust and positive communication establishing a supportive group environment. A person’s name is very important to them and should be honored with correct pronunciation and proper use. Presenting a series of activities that help participants use and practice names can be very helpful to establishing a strong foundation of trust and understanding. I like to weave name activities and practice into introductory activities in a “natural” way starting with simple partner greetings and sharing before engaging participants in a whole group name activity. I try to avoid contrived name activities that put people in the “on the spot” too early in group process or require them to feel under pressure to memorize. In upcoming posts I will share some of my favorite methods for introducing and reinforcing names in a palatable way.

Establish and reflect on healthy group norms.

Help group members create an environment where they feel responsible for themselves and each other and are willing to speak up when there is a breakdown in communication or an issue that affects the safety or potential experience of the group. It is ideal when the group takes that responsibility rather than the facilitator or teacher. Group norms are the behaviors that exist in every group, good or bad. It can be helpful for groups to formalize agreements about acceptable behaviors to improve their ability to work together. In my experience it helps to not do this on the first day or hour of class or group but rather after they have spent some time together so they get to know about their group dynamics and what they will be encountering together. Norms should be reflected upon and revisited throughout the year or program. (There can still be leader imposed ground rules or expectations put forward on day one, but participants should be increasingly involved in defining group norms as they move forward and encounter challenging situations together as a group).

Reflect and “check in”.

Intentionally making time for the group to reflect, and “check in” with each other is integral to group process, so that experiences can be built upon one another and related to real life and future learning.

Reflection brings learning to life. The educational philosopher John Dewey (1933) who is known as one of the forefathers of experiential education believed that in order to truly learn from experience there must be time for reflection. Reflection creates relevancy and meaning in an experience and helps learners make connections between their educational experiences and real life situations. The practice of reflection itself is one of the most useful human skills in that it develops insight, one of the hardest important tools to teach and learn.

Regular “check-ins” create a forum or opportunity for participants to share what is working, what they need from each other, and for celebrating successes along the way. Reflective practice is best when it is a dynamic ongoing part of your lessons, not just something facilitated at the end of an experience or as a follow up.

Take time up front to build your group.

It takes time to sequence and build healthy trust between participants and teacher/leaders. Time and experience together can build comfort enhancing meaningful group sharing of thoughts, ideas and feelings. This builds the foundation that will allow you to engage learners in more challenging activities, fosters more responsibility and control over their learning and increases their ability to move learning forward. You will find that time spent from the beginning of your program or school year building relationships, ownership and reflective skills pays off later in many ways!

Like any good good cook, remember to experiment and blend your own personality, creativity and style with the chemistry of the group into the recipes for positive group experiences. Mix it up and add a little spice here and there, just don’t forget those key ingredients that hold it all together and help make the full flavor of the group come experience through.

When I work with educators from all backgrounds I often find myself encouraging them to reflect on the idea of  a “student centered ” or  “participant centered” approach to teaching and group facilitation.  In this approach an educator thinks of themselves as a “guide” in the process of learning, discovery and group development rather than as an all-knowing teacher and center of knowledge and direction.  I have come to embrace this idea in my own work and have found it has really improved my practice as an educator.

In the learner centered approach, the educator aims to gradually shift responsibility for the success of the learning experience from him/herself to the participants/students. As learners progress, the teacher or group facilitator fades more and more into the background, allowing participants to take more ownership and control over their learning.

One of the basic tenets of the experiential approach to teaching and group facilitation is allowing people to grow and learn through the process of struggling through problems together. Effective educators maximize the effectiveness by designing ways to give learners control and responsibility for this process.

Sometimes educators have a hard time allowing learners to labor through difficult group problems. Often, when I engage students in problem solving activities in the classroom teachers are itching to jump in and try to solve problems for student participants. When this happens, opportunities for students to gain valuable problem solving skills or take responsibility for the success of the experience are missed.

With that said, there are times when struggling or laboring through the problem becomes too hard, or paralyzing for learners. John Dewey referred to this as a “miseducative*” experience (1938). There is a delicate balance between students or group participants learning from struggling through a challenge or problem and being paralyzed by frustration. This balance has to be discovered and maintained with each teaching situation as it arises. This is what makes teaching and group facilitation an “art”.

In the learner centered approach educators are willing to put forward as many questions as answers and allow participants to learn from problems and conflict without jumping in too early to help or give answers. For interesting reading on this subject see Plato’s Theatetus. In this work, Plato uses the metaphor of the teacher as the “midwife”of ideas. He emphasizes that a midwife acts as a guide and is supportive. She cannot give birth for the mother-to-be; she can only help and encourage. She only intervenes when the situation becomes dangerous or too painful. When learners feel responsible for their learning, they are more empowered to take ownership for future learning, growth, and change.

Principles of Student/ Participant Centered Teaching and Group Facilitation

• Remember that the learner is a participant in learning rather than a receiver of information.
• Create opportunities for students or participants to take leadership and direction and responsibility for decision making within lessons or group experiences.
• As learners progress, you can take less of a leadership role allowing participants to take more responsibility and therefore a stronger sense of personal accomplishment for their successes.
• Effective educators initiate learning and let students/participants take it from there.
• Structure appropriate experiences and lessons, but remain flexible, acting as guide and role model.
• Learners should feel fully valued, respected, and supported.
• A sense of choice and control on the part of the learner is essential.
• In group team-building sessions and classroom discussions I have found that encouraging participants to volunteer rather than calling on them to share- and allowing students to “pass” during group discussions is imperative-especially at first. This empowers them to have control over their learning and practice sharing at their own pace. When participants are given the power to pass, they learn to trust the teacher or group leader and peers at their own pace and often end up offering a great deal to the group once they have built that trust.
• Encourage spontaneous learning; participants may take lessons in many different directions. When possible, “go with the flow” and move with the lessons the group is creating.
• Be prepared for unexpected learning opportunities and welcome teachable moments that arise when lessons go differently than planned.
• Be willing to let go of your agenda to meet the needs of the group. I realize this might seem tough in the age of standardized testing, but within the frameworks of standards or within the goals of a program find ways to weave in opportunities for flexibility – you may appreciate your students or participants finding ways to reach educational goals you hadn’t thought of.
• Be aware that you might have to artfully help them navigate back to the present moment in order to meet the group needs or curricular content.
• Direct questions back to the students or group members. When questions come to you as a teacher or group facilitator try to let students/participants help each other.
• Try activities that do not involve you as the teacher or facilitator by dividing the group into smaller reflection groups. During processing discussions the educator or group leader doesn’t have to hear everything said in the group processing discussion for it to be effective. Sometimes learners will share more in smaller groups without a leader present – trust the learning process!
• Carefully structure your lessons but remain flexible and allow learners to take activities and lessons somewhere different from what you had in mind. Be prepared to learn something new yourself!

*John Dewey used this term to refer to experiences that get in the way of growth or further education. For example, a lesson that is too overwhelming for a student or too frustrating and causes them to dismiss the lesson entirely.

References:

Dewey, John. (1938) Experience and Education. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co.

Stanchfield, Jennifer (2007) Tips and Tools for the Art of Experiential Group Facilitation. OKC, OK: Wood ‘N’ Barnes Publishing Co.

I was working with a 2nd grade classroom in Middleton, Wisconsin, helping a teacher implement community building activities in her classroom.

Early in the session I used the “partner choice/which one” scenario for dividing the class up into teams in preparation for a game of Play dough Pictionary (see November 23rd entry).

I had them imagine they were at the circus and seeking out cotton candy. After waiting in line for the cotton candy they found that there was only one blue and one pink cotton candy left at the stand. The students had to decide who would get which one… One pair of students started arguing rather intensely about who should get the blue. Everyone else was ready to move on.

Instead of intervening directly with the students who were arguing. I decided to get everyone’s attention for a moment and ask a pair of students who had decided to share how they came to their decision to the group. One of the students shared: “Well, we both wanted the pink cotton candy, but I am okay with blue AND I wanted to find out what you are going to have us do with those spots and the play dough, so I let her have the pink one.”  Immediately the undecided pair looked at each other and quickly came to agreement.

At that point the student’s teacher and I took a few minutes to talk about the meaning of “compromise” and why we sometimes let go of our first choice to make things work for the group and ourselves. We moved on to the other cooperative activities we had planned for the day and forgot about the conversation.

That evening the teacher called me to tell me that a few hours after I left the students were lining up for lunch when a squabble erupted about who’s turn it was to lead the line to the cafeteria. Just as she was going to intervene, a little voice from the back of the line said: “You know guys, this is just like the cotton candy. We all just want to get to lunch.” This ended the squabble immediately- without adult intervention.

Sometimes the simple exercises we engage students in have more of an effect than we realize. Over my years working with groups I have noticed that some of the best “successes” in teaching come by accident; or the most profound lessons can come from the seemingly “less important” activities you engage a group in rather than the intense problem- solving lesson you carefully designed for the group.

Think about those “simple” opportunities you can weave into the day to day activities you plan for your group that practice these important life skills…

Reference: Tips & Tools for the Art of Experiential Group Facilitation. Jennifer Stanchfield. 2007: Wood ‘N’ Barnes Publishing.

Advisory group leaders report that they are always looking for new ideas for facilitating advisory sessions with students. Many educators are planning for the remaining few months of school, summer programs and the start of next school year. The Chewonki Foundation in Wiscasset Maine and the Southern Vermont Learning Collaborative in Dummerston, Vermont are each hosting a one day workshop designed for advisory group leaders, counselors, teachers, camp and after school program staff.

This workshop explores activities and experiential approaches that teach and reinforce important social and emotional skills such as positive communication, conflict resolution, decision making, reflection, community awareness, respect, responsibility and problem-solving. Attendees will leave with many practical activities they can use in any size space with simple materials. They will learn helpful facilitation tools and techniques and strategies for creating “buy in” from participants, building a positive environment for learning, and helping students make connections from activities done in advisory group to real life situations. These experiential activities and approaches can be applied to academic, therapeutic and recreational group work and adapted to all age groups.

This workshop is a great resource for any group leader!

• Workshop Tuesday May 11th 9:00-3:00 at the Chewonki Foundation in Wiscasset, Maine is $95.00 including lunch. For more information or to register, contact jen@experientialtools.com

• Workshop Tuesday May 18th 9:00-3:30 at the Southern Vermont Learning Collaborative, Dummerston, VT is $120 including lunch. For more information or to register visit: The Southeast Vermont Learning Collaborative