At Kenzen School, our facilitators play a major role in providing a stimulating environment to support children in developing attitudes, skills and ideas essential for fostering a lifetime of critical thinking, comprehension, motivation and meta cognition in them. Every few weeks, we come together to exchanges ideas and reflections on becoming better facilitators. Our recent session focused on co-building our values as facilitators.
Design of the session:
Round 1:
Each facilitator was asked to share at least one strength they were proud of as individuals, without thinking of their role as facilitators. Some said they were punctual, sincere, dedicated and honest. Others said they were creative thinkers and always findings opportunities to add more value. And some said they were great at working in teams and had a strong desire to support children in their growth
Round 2:
Each facilitator was asked to share at least one weakness they wanted to work on improving, as individuals as well as facilitators. Some said they were short tempered and lacked patience, and others said they were not great at maintaining social relations with all age groups.
Based on the level of familiarity, the facilitators were paired in groups of two. Each group was asked to exchange ideas for helping other group members in improving their role as individuals and facilitators. For eg: a facilitator who said she was not too confident about connecting with people, was asked to make more frequent calls with learners and guardians to build a connection with them while also building her own confidence.
Round 3:
The facilitators had an open discussion around their values as facilitators. Not surprisingly, there were patterns between the values, and the weaknesses and strengths they had shared in the previous rounds. For example: facilitators who were great at working in teams and with all age groups were more playful in their way of teaching. Similarly, facilitators who were always looking for opportunities to add more value believed in being connected educators with the external learning environment. And facilitators who had been more open about talking about their weaknesses, shared the importance of reflecting and revising as they grow as facilitators.
Round 4:
The facilitators spent some time on mapping patterns across multiple pages of notes and reflecting on the day-long session. And they concluded the session by deciding on seven collective values that would continue to make them facilitators of child development and growth.
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