Training of Roma Health Mediators in Reproductive Health

Note: It is important that all participants have the opportunity to participate in the facilitation of
a group educational session. It is essential for them to practice their skills in a learning
environment where they can receive positive and constructive feedback which will help them to
improve their skills.
• If there are 10-14 participants in the workshop, it may be most appropriate to conduct all
presentations in one large group so that the “group” is large enough to reflect the
situations in which they will conduct group sessions in the community. In this case, the
members of each small group will need to decide how to co-facilitate their session,
making sure that:
o They are NOT both in front of the group, talking at the same time
o Each one has an opportunity to practice her skills
• If the group is large (16-18 participants), it may be most appropriate to conduct the
presentations in two groups. In this case, participants will prepare their sessions in pairs.
Then, for the facilitation of their sessions, the large group will be divided into two groups
so that one person from each pair will be in one group and the other person will be in the
second group. This will:
o Enable everyone to have the opportunity to practice facilitating a session (and to
receive feedback)
o Enable all participants to have sole responsibility for leading a session (reflecting the
reality in their communities as well as the fact that only one person should talk with,
and respond to, the group at a time).
o Provide an efficient use of time and greater learning for participants. Participating in
the facilitation of 8-9 sessions, one after the other, is tedious. After several
presentations, trainers and participants get tired and cease to focus on the quality of
the sessions and giving feedback to the facilitators of the sessions. In this case,
participant learning is minimal and the activity loses its value.
One trainer should go with each group in order to monitor the timing of the presentations
/sessions, and facilitate the feedback at the end of the presentations/sessions.
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RFHI/JSI Romania Training of RHMs in Reproductive Health Session 16: Preparation of group education sessions