What is Facilitation?

What is Facilitation? The MAKROSAFE approach to class leadership!

The learning experience that MAKROSAFE provides has proven to be one of the best available because they implemented a policy of facilitation. This is a strategy that has witnessed a higher pass rate as facilitation is a great skill to use when dealing with a group of people.

Facilitation refers to the process of designing and running a successful meeting. Facilitation concerns itself with all the tasks needed to run a productive and impartial meeting. It serves the needs of any group who are meeting with a common purpose, whether it be making a decision, solving a problem, or simply exchanging ideas and information. It does not lead the group, nor does it try to distract or to entertain. Specifically on a group of learners that is engaged in experiential learning, it is associated with active learning and concepts of tutelary authority.

MAKROSAFE uses the policy of facilitation to ensure that their classes run smoothly. Lectures are the facilitators and their role in a class is to actively participate and guide the group towards consensus. They do not impose sole control of the learning program but they engage in the learning experience as moderators. However, setting ground rules is a key component of the facilitation process especially for training.

To ensure that the facilitation program is effective, the facilitator should be open to suggestions; listen and not knock down ideas; allowing others space to speak or express themselves and mutually respect every opinion expressed. This strategy ensures that learners are open-minded, free to contribute their views and to ask questions or even share experiences. Facilitators are engaged in the discussion along with learners and this ensures that students feel comfortable in the class room. This is a vital policy that MAKROSAFE has implemented in class leadership, the facilitators do not run the class they just lead learners it in the right direction.

Being on the same level as the students or leading them through facilitation would enable the facilitator to learn the different ways people interact in and this will help him or her try to adapt to the ways of different cultures and organisations. In that aspect, he would be able to identify problems and weak points where more information is required.

For the facilitator to execute his or her duties effectively, he needs to well research and gather adequate learning material and design the group processes to attain the necessary results. Facilitators should monitor and manage the group discussions and encourage participation from all attendees. He should further help participants understand different points of view and foster solutions that incorporate diverse points of views. This would enable him to manage participant behaviour and teach new thinking skills and facilitate structured thinking activities.

MAKROSAFE has identified facilitation as the best skill to implement successful class leadership as learners consider and feel they are part of the learning experience. This makes them to be comfortable and open up and share information. As much as it may seem to benefit the learners, it is also a win situation for the facilitator as he or she will get maximum participation hence this will ease the burden on his shoulders.

We do not own the learning programs, our trainees do hence; we let them learn in an easy way which is as conducive as possible for them. We give them the platform while educating them at the same time.