This activity can be found in Pretty et al, (1995) - University of ...

HO 08 P1.1Planning Facilitative SessionsHow do people learn?♦ When their schematic knowledge is used.♦ When they are actively involved in creating new knowledge.♦ When they are challenged in a supportive environment.♦ When they see connections between what they already know & do and the new.♦ When they see a purpose for learning; that it is something they can ‘use’.♦ When they enjoy it.Workshops can be like jigsaws where participants explore ideas in a range of topics but areunable to put the pieces together as they have no clear idea of the ‘whole picture’. People learnbest when they see connections: the links from one topic to another, when all the pieces of theworkshop form a coherent picture. For this reason we should ensure that any workshops weplan, whether they last for a few hours or a few days, follow a clear plan where all topics andsessions are clearly linked. We can take a step by step approach to ensure this.First we determine the topic of our workshop, then for each topic we determine our objectivesthat will lead our sessions. We may also develop a series of focus questions that will help usmake a clear link between our sessions. This is particularly useful for participants.Once we have our objectives and focus questions we need to plan the strategy we will use tofacilitate the participants’ learning. This will involve the areas of task, output and feedback.TaskWhat input will be used to engage participants with the ‘content’ area of the lesson?♦ Own knowledge and ideas♦ Ideas presented from an external source, e.g. reading a text, watching a video,listening to a presentation,What task type will we use to ensure that participants are engaged and challenged?We need to design tasks that will challenge participants to create new knowledge, whiledrawing on their previous knowledge. Refer to the range of tasks in HO 06 MTF3.1OutputWhat will the output from the task be?This can be simply a list of ideas or activities, or it can be a something quite detailed such as alesson plan or teaching materials for a lesson.FeedbackWhat is the most appropriate form of feedback to enable participants to share ideas?The style of feedback should vary according to the use to which the ideas will be put. In somecases there may not be any feedback to a session where the feedback ideas will form the inputof the next session. Refer to HO 06 MTF4.1 for a range of feedback activities.92 Jamaica All Age Schools Project: Facilitator Training for School Based Resource Teachers