Examples of Facilitator Guides
Exploring Facilitator Guides and Best Practices
I’ve been contemplating all of the differences between the many examples of facilitator guides the internet has revealed to me lately. I need to write one for this case study I have been working on and I am, as usual, overwhelmed with all of the information out there.
Working approximately 50–54 hours a week as an elementary art teacher and then using almost all of my free time on reading, watching tutorials, trying to learn software and working on design and creativity leaves little space in my head. I often feel like I am consuming so much information and wearing myself out at my regular job to the point of exhastion, that I am really only taking in about 10% of what I am attempting to learn. And therefore taking much longer to feel like I have made any progress in transitioning into this design world. I regularly bump my head on that curve of learning where you feel like you aren’t actually capable of learning whatever it is you’re trying to learn. Autodidactic problems I suppose. Looking through all of the facilitator guides feels quite similar.
Getting my masters degree while being a full time teacher felt similar, but this feels even worse. I can’t decide if I hate the feeling or not. I feel so driven to learn this industry but I am building PowerPoints and working on Adobe Illustrator in my dreams at night. Which is actually a nice change from my strange and nightmare-ish dreams I normally have. I read something the other day about using the practice of learning new information or knowledge as a coping method for stress. Have I subconsciously been doing that? I can’t help but think of Bill Gates and his Diet Coke drinking, staying up all night reading and learning sessions. I want to be that, but I don’t think I am made that way. I wonder what Bill Gate’s processing speed is? I wonder what mine is…
Reading through Leslie Ciboroski’s article above made me consider things I hadn’t thought of yet. Apparently there is a divide in the popular styles of Facilitator Guides — some people like vague guides with some suggestions on activities. Other people like guides that are full of detail and consider them essential to facilitating a training. Some view facilitator scripts as overkill leaving no room for creativity and the natural ability of a facilitator to shine. Big key takeaway, most facilitator guides are also the presentation document, which seems odd to me. With a professional educator background, I would think of course you would need a facilitator guide (aka a lesson plan) to accompany the presentation (aka visuals/activities that makeup a lesson). Using one for both seems lazy and highly ineffective. The importance of training the trainer stood out to me as well. What should you invest in more — creating the facilitator guide or training the trainer on the facilitator guide? Maybe it isn’t so much of a which is more important but more of a don’t forget about the importance of the quality of training the trainer will get.
More best practices to consider:
- Include visuals of the presentation of the facilitator guide. Link the content to the visual!
- Create a space for facilitators to share experiences (just like PLCs in the education world).
- Update the guides regularly. Actually use the feedback from the trainers to change and improve the facilitator guides.
More information to read through: