Facilitation in pedagogy and psychology - principles and rules

Effective instruments of influence and assistance are needed in different areas of the society: at the level of the state, companies, and a single individual. Facilitation is the tool that helps to cope with different goals and tasks, to get out of the crisis and send a person or a group of people to qualitatively new changes.

Facilitation - what is it?

The phenomenon of facilitation covers the sphere of influence as group dynamics, and personal. Facilitation is a non-directional technology of direction and assistance that uses in its arsenal effective psychological, strategic tools and techniques that help a person or a collective to find the best solution to achieve results for the set goals.

The facilitator is who?

Personality of the facilitator is in itself a powerful instrument of influence. The facilitator is a trainer specially trained in effective communication technologies and leading the process of facilitation. The International Association of Facilitators was established in 1989 and includes ≈ 1,300 people from 63 countries - all of these are experts at the highest level, facilitating negotiations and cooperation in various fields. Tony Mann is a leading expert on facilitation, assigns the personality of the facilitator with the following skills:

• he can direct and structure the discussion in the right direction;
• distinguishes successful solutions from seemingly, at first glance, successful, but with hidden "pitfalls" of solutions;
• takes risks, is not afraid to leave the comfort zone to create new technology and adapt it to the current suitable situation;
• knows how to manage different kinds of groups;
• orientates in all formats of conversations and meetings;
• combines various tools and techniques to find solutions;
• quickly responds to the difficulties that have arisen among the participants and launches the process of overcoming;
• has stress resistance ;
• is always open to people and personal changes.

How does facilitation differ from moderation?

There are several different opinions on the processes of facilitation and moderation. Some experts claim that facilitation and moderation - the essence is the same process, explaining that moderation is a word of German origin, describing the same functions as facilitation. Other facilitation experts see these processes as similar, supplementing each other, but with differences:

1. Moderation (to restrain, restrain) is a more rigid technology: structuring takes place in a clear format of conversation, without the possibility of distracting to another topic.
2. Facilitation is a flexible technology that uses moderation as one of the tools. In the process, various auxiliary tools are used for visualization (visualization): Lego designers, collages, drawings. Participants are free to choose topics and can move and interact on different topics in other groups.
3. Moderation can be applied as technology in the format of the meeting: "discussion of the problem", a meeting with the head.
4. Facilitation is suitable for solving conflict situations, adopting new complex integrated solutions, while introducing new technologies.

Social facilitation and inhibition

Two opposite social phenomena, facilitation and inhibition, can be observed simultaneously in a group of people who find themselves in the same situation and seemingly identical conditions. Inhibition implies the deterioration of the activity of a person who has come under the supervision of outside people, in contrast to facilitation, when the presence of observers causes a surge of activity among members of the group engaged in some kind of business. Why this or that effect arises, D. Myers (an American psychologist) has revealed several reasons:

1. Mood - bad causes the effect of inhibition , good strengthens facilitation.
2. Fear of evaluation - the presence of strangers, or those whose opinion is not indifferent can increase the excitement and activity of some participants, but also provoke inhibition of productivity in others.
3. Representatives of the other sex in the audience - women and men can start making mistakes in complex tasks if there are observers of the opposite sex in the audience. In the phenomenon of facilitation, the processes of activity are improving on the contrary.

Social facilitation and laziness

The effect of facilitation in the activity of the collective increases, if a part of the contribution of each participant is recognized and evaluated in the common cause. Social laziness is a phenomenon first studied by the French professor in the field of agroengineering M. Ringelman. The scientist conducted a number of experiments on tug-of-war and lifting heavy weights - came to the conclusion: the more a group of people, the less effort is exerted by each member of the group. There is a relaxation and a decrease in responsibility and motivation - the effect of laziness.

Types of facilitation

Facilitation as a helping method is in demand in many spheres of human activity and is subdivided into species:

1. Social facilitation is the observation and study of people's activities in the presence of outside observers.
2. Psychological facilitation is a technique that emerged from such areas as K. Rogers client-centered psychotherapy and positive psychology. Facilitation in psychology is a transformative process, in which the relationship between man and the world is of primary importance. Skills of facilitation in the work of a psychologist help to determine when to begin the process of change for the individual, to promote development and change the client's view of the world to more useful.
3. Ecofascilation is the interaction and communication of a person with the environment.
4. Sports facilitation - support for teams or individual athletes to improve their effectiveness.
5. Pedagogical facilitation - the disclosure of the child's abilities.

Rules of Facilitation

Facilitation in collective and personal work implies the use of principles that are based on the goals and objectives. General rules of the facilitator:

• the study of the process as opposed to omniscience;
• openness and sincerity to people;
• all participants in the process are equal;
• every opinion is important;
• all people are intelligent, and can effectively solve problems.

Facilitation Techniques

Facilitation tools are numerous and their application depends on the size of the group and the composition of the participants. Basic techniques of facilitation:

1. "Future Search" - the advantage of the method is that it helps to include the whole company in the work up to ordinary employees. It is held in the format of a corporate conference.
2. "Going beyond / Work out" - the technique provides a quick breakthrough of the company, the development of innovations, culture. Assumes - an open dialogue of managers and employees on the goals and objectives. Implementing best practices in practice.
3. "Brainstorming" - there is a collection of all ideas without sorting into "bad" and "good." The goal is to find "fresh", non-standard, but effective solutions.
4. "Polarization of opinion" is a method that helps to determine pessimistic and optimistic forecasting of a situation. The facilitator divides the participants into "optimists" and "pessimists". "Optimists" describe what the company will receive from the introduction of a new technology, "pessimists" predict the expected losses.
5. "Open Space" - allows for a short period of time (1.5 - 2 hours) to collect all available ideas and opinions. Employees are asked a lot of questions on the topics. A huge plus of technology is the sense of involvement of each employee in the processes occurring in the company.

Facilitation in Pedagogy

The effect of social facilitation is clearly manifested in educational institutions. The teacher-facilitator, as the person answers all modern requirements and inquiries of formation - so K.K Rogers considered. The phenomenon of facilitation in the activity of the teacher is expressed in the following points:

• the atmosphere of psychological support of the student;
• interest in the needs and requirements of students;
• skilfully organized educational process;
• understanding the inner world of children;
• ability to openly express their experiences.

Facilitation in business

The phenomenon of social facilitation is actively used by facilitators in holding meetings, conferences, roundtables in companies and corporations. Facilitation in business has positive aspects:

• increasing the effectiveness of employees;
• increasing staff motivation;
• development of intellectual potential of employees;
• creating a safe psychological space;
• introduction of new technologies into business.

Facilitation in sport

The principle of facilitation in sports psychology is based on situations in which the athlete or team is under the supervision of a huge number of people. The goal of the coach is to strengthen and support all the positive changes that will lead the athletes to the best indicators and reduce the risk of inhibition. Facilitation in sports is aimed at:

• learning to play in a team;
• strengthening the team spirit;
• increased motivation and responsibility for the result;
• effective interaction between the coach and athletes.

Facilitation - literature

Facilitation is a technology in demand in the modern world that contains useful tools for psychologists, educators, and company managers. Literature on facilitation:

1. "Interpersonal relations in the facilitation of teaching" K.R. Rogers. Who is the facilitator in pedagogy - a monograph, useful for reading for teachers.
2. "Converting Dialogues" Fl. Funch . Simple, but effective techniques for personal transformation.
3. " General processing modules" Fl. Funch . The book describes the methods that help you run the process of changes from the client.
4. "How to mine gold, working with groups." Facilitation in practice "T. Kaiser . The methods outlined in the guide will help the business coach to bring the group to a new effective level.
5. "Social psychology" D. Myers . Scientific treatise, in an accessible form, explaining social phenomena and phenomena: facilitation, inhibition and sloth.