Facilitating for Learning

One of the most important shifts in schools in the last two decades has been the growing emphasis on collaboration among teachers and other educators. Whether you are a teacher facilitating a group for the first time or an experienced facilitator seeking to further develop your skills, this book is for you. Organized to be both an exploration of the role of facilitating and a handbook of strategies, this resource is designed for use in a range of contexts, including faculty and department meetings, professional learning communities, grade-level teams, and inquiry groups. A perfect companion to the authors’ bestseller, The Facilitator’s Book of Questions, Facilitating for Learning extends the scope of that work by examining the facilitator’s responsibilities for supporting a group’s learning during all parts of a meeting, between meetings, and within the larger school context and culture. It is an essential resource for teachers, administrators, coaches, and teacher educators.

Book Features:

• Contrasts facilitating for learning with other professional development roles, including staff development, coaching, and supervision.
• Outlines the basic responsibilities and tasks of facilitating teacher learning groups, including “moves” the facilitator might employ.
• Considers challenges related to school culture and leadership, group interactions, and time constraints.
• Provides resources to help facilitators develop their skills, including tools and references to other works on facilitation.

David Allen is an assistant professor at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York. Tina Blythe is an adjunct lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and an international education consultant.

"The way in which Allen and Blythe frame professional learning is refreshing: deeply learner-centered and collaborative. They are outspoken in retreating from traditional models of professional learning that are expert-driven and answer-focused. Their alternative is both practical and holistic in being question-driven and authentically collaborative."

—Adult Education Quarterly

“I have had the good fortune to watch both David and Tina facilitate learning groups and have learned from the power of their modeling…I am delighted that they have gathered their wisdom here in this volume to share with others eager to embark on the journey and experience the joys of facilitating learning with colleagues.”
—From the Foreword by Ron Ritchhart, senior research associate, Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education

"Facilitating for Learning is a practice-based resource loaded with ideas, strategies, and tools designed to maximize opportunities to promote professional learning, team-based thinking, and collaborative problem solving. This book provides teacher leaders, instructional coaches, principals, and others who engage with teachers a well-curated set of tools and resources designed to promote educators’ engagement in and ownership for purposeful conversations in a variety of school settings. Allen and Blythe's approach to professional learning affirms the importance of establishing a “culture of thinking for teachers," and provides clear guidance on the use of tools needed to successfully engage teachers and others in collaborative learning processes within their schools.
—Larry Leverett, executive director, Panasonic Foundation

Table of Contents

Foreword: The "Wants" of Professional Learning by Ron Ritchhart

Acknowledgments

PART I: FACILITATING FOR LEARNING

Chapter 1. Introduction
   Why a New Book on Facilitation?
   What Kind of Group Learning?
   Who Will Facilitate?
   How Do Teachers Become Facilitators?
   How Is This Book Organized?
   How Does This Book Relate to The Facilitator's Book of Questions?
   A Note About Terminology

Chapter 2. Facilitating for Learning
   Developing a Different Story of Professional Learning
   A Tale of Two Stances: Task Completion and Learning
   Defining Facilitating for Learning 
   The Facilitator's Orientation
   Facilitation and Other Roles

PART II: FACILITATING TEACHER LEARNING GROUPS: THE BASICS

Chapter 3. Preparing for the Meeting
   Identify Goals
   Shape the Agenda
   Prepare Space and Materials

Chapter 4. Opening the Meeting
   Facilitate Transition and Connection
   Review Goals and Agenda
   Establish or Review Norms
   Establish or Review Roles or Functions

Chapter 5. Working Through the Meeting
   Cultivate "Bi-Focal" Vision
   Help the Group Manage Time
   Help the Group Monitor Process and Progress Toward Its Goals
   Help the Group Address More Complex Situations

Chapter 6. Closing the Meeting
   Invite the Group to Express Appreciation
   Help the Group Reflect on the Content of the Meeting 
   Help the Group Reflect on the Process of the Meeting 
   Help the Group Identify Next Steps for Its Learning and Work
   Gather Documentation Artifacts from the Meeting
   Restore the Space (if Necessary)

Chapter 7. Following Up on the Meeting
   Continue to Gather Documentation Artifacts
   Review Documentation Artifacts
   Check in Informally with Participants
   Communicate Formally with Participants and Other Stakeholders

PART III: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

Chapter 8. Managing Productive Group Interactions
   Differences in Individuals' Points of View
   Differences in How Individuals Engage in Meetings
   Differences in How Individuals Experience a Group's Autonomy

Chapter 9. Repurposing Meetings for Learning
   Analyzing Student Achievement Data
   Aligning Curriculum and Instruction with Standards
   Grading or Scoring Student Work
   Discussing Individual Students and Their Learning

Chapter 10. Managing Challenges of School Context and Culture
   Challenges Related to Time
   Challenges Related to School Culture
   Challenges Related to School Leadership

Chapter 11. Voices of Experience
   Attention
   Analogies and Metaphors
   Satisfaction

Appendix: Resources

References

Index

About the Authors