Copyright Alexandra Wirth 2018

The Facilitator

Again and again I think about whether we are talking about a facilitator, a moderator or a tutor. ONL 181 talks about a facilitator and a co-facilitator. I teach teachers in the PBL according to the 7-step method. I carried out the steps in Blog 3. We use the term tutor but I will speak of facilitator throughout this reflection.

I have always asked myself how to define a facilitator. What is his task and what are his goals in working with the students?

I found two definitions in the literature that gave me an answer.

«A facilitator is a person who helps the students to work together. The facilitator is not a teacher; he or she is not “teaching” in the meaning “transferring information”, rather a person who can start intellectual processes by asking the right questions. The facilitator is not a bank of answers, rather a source of questions to help the students start thinking or start working in the right direction.» (Hylin 2010, S. 57)

«A facilitator, on the other hand, is a process manager first, a content resource second. Facilitators use their knowledge of how people learn to create an active environment that embraces participants’ prior knowledge and unique learning style. They engage the participant in taking charge of their learning. When they facilitate, they appear as a “guide by the side” encouraging the sharing of knowledge by and with an active participant.» (Wilder & Holwegner o.J., S.1)

It becomes clear that the facilitator is not a teacher in the classical sense who transfers information. Both definitions speak of process control and that he promotes this process by asking questions.

The prior knowledge of the students plays a major role in this process. Each student should show their previous knowledge and sharing should take place. In order to expand their knowledge, they should take responsibility for their learning and actively participate in knowledge development. I would call taking responsibility in self-regulated learning.

And it is precisely in this process that the facilitator plays a major role.

Hmelo-Silver, C. E. & Barrows (2006) put it in a nutshell by formulating 4 Performance goals for facilitator:

1. To keep all the students active in the learning process.
2. To keep the learning process on track.
3. To make the students’ thoughts and their depth of understanding apparent.
4. To encourage students to become self-reliant for direction and information.

In this way I distance myself as a facilitator from the pure mediator of specialist knowledge and concentrate on supporting the learning process.

 

 

Hmelo-Silver, C. E. & Barrows, H. S. (2006). Goals and Strategies of a Problem-based Learning Facilitator. chmelosi@indiana. In: Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning. Volume 1 | Issue 1 Article 4 edu. Published online: 5-22-2006.

Hylin U. (2010). Interprofessional Education. Aspects on learning together on an interprofessional training ward. Thesis for doctoral degree (PhD) Karolinska Institutet. [elektronische Version]. Abgerufen unter: https://openarchive.ki.se/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10616/38978/thesis.pdf?sequence=1 [30.08.2018]

Wilder, B. & Holwegner, T.D. (o.J.). What is the difference between an instructor and a Facilitator? Life Cycle Engineering. [elektronische Version]. Abgerufen unter: https://www.lce.com/What-is-the-Difference-between-an-Instructor-and-a-Facilitator-1294.html [30.08.2018]