Do/Make/Say/Think

Suggested timing: 35 minutes

Earlier in this module, we shared some tips for learning circle facilitators. With these in mind, break into small groups and take 15 minutes to talk through (or role play) the following scenarios. Each of these scenarios has come up in a real learning circle!

1. After the third week, one learner is still treating you like the teacher. They direct all their questions to you, they don’t speak much to the other learners, and they are not taking much ownership over their own learning. They are genuinely interested in the material, but it’s becoming hard for you to meet their expectations while also looking after the rest of the group.
2. Two learners in your public speaking learning circle keep butting heads, and it’s starting to affect the experience of the other learners. Neither seems more at fault than the other; but their personalities are clashing and they have very different ideas of what they want this learning experience to be like.
3. In the first week of your web design learning circle, one person shows up who did not sign up and does not seem to have the basic computer skills necessary to participate in the learning circle. You want to encourage them to make use of programs at your library, but you feel strongly that this learning circle is not a good fit for them at this time.
4. Even though you thought the first week of the learning circle went really well, when you show up the second week, only about half as many people are there as the prior week, everybody is sitting facing the front of the room, and nobody is talking to one another.
5. In the fifth week of your fiction writing learning circle, you notice that one learner who is usually very outgoing seems extremely upset. They aren’t disrupting the group, per se, but you are worried about them and want to make sure they are ok.
6. By the middle of the second week of your learning circle on learning Spanish, it’s clear that you are dealing with two groups of people who are at very different levels. There are five learners who seem to already have a strong beginner ability, and three learners who are true beginners.
7. During your first meeting, some group members are very excited about the social aspect of the learning circle, while a few others just want to go through the course on their own.
8. (Or come up with your own scenarios – what are you worried will happen?)

When you’re finished, come back together as a full group and discuss your reactions and responses to the scenarios. What facilitation tips did you find most helpful when coming up with responses to these scenarios?

Finally, as a group, come up with a definition of what facilitation means to you.

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