Facilitation Part 2

In the timbaktu conference there was a workshop on learning which made me ponder more on facilitation. The workshop started with division of the participants in groups and we were asked to write down two things which we have learnt in our life and how did we learn it and what helped us to learn it. It was easy we all wrote down what we had learnt and came up with some common things which helped us learn it. Then the facilitator of the workshop started writing down what each group had to say. During that I noticed that when one participant said a word the facilitator put her own words and completed it and said ‘’ isn’t that what you wanted to say?’’ It was like she had that in mind and she was getting what she wanted from us and the whole process seemed guided.
In the next activity each group was given a different case sheet which related to learning in some way. The example which we got was a classroom setting where the children are doing some fill in the blanks maths sums. What we needed to do was to find where learning was happening, how it was happening and make a note of it on a sheet which was to be put up for everyone to see. We did go through the activity where one of us felt that the example was not complete so coming to such conclusions was not possible..but we still managed to complete the activity and when we went through what the other groups had written about their case studies we realised that all of us had come up with the same thing as that was what the facilitators wanted us to see or understand about learning. It was strange but there was a feeling that we had reached a conclusion what the facilitators wanted from us. Instead of telling us directly they used the cases which was convenient for them and made us think in the way they wanted. It has really made me question as to what is facilitation. Do I actually give freedom for children to think or they do the thinking in such a way that it is convenient for me. Instead of the traditional method of rote or direct teaching I am still teaching but in a way without hurting their self esteem basically in a nicer way :-)