Facilitation of a CCEDP course - Reflection Paper

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou (American Poet, b. 1928)

As part of my 'Other Significant PD' category, I am including my recent facilitation of a CCEDP course in Truro this summer. During the week of June 4th to June 8th, myself and six other instructors facilitated the Interactive Listening Course there. The Interactive Listening course is one of the more challenging of the CCEDP courses to facilitate do to its very unique nature and the importance of ensuring a 'soft landing' for all participants after what could be an intense emotional growth experience for some.


What makes the course so challenging is that it aims at convincing the participants that communication (true communication), requires more than simply looking someone in the eye, shaking your head every once in a while, reflecting back, and all the other practices people often think define 'listening well'.

The analogy I gave in one of the story telling circles we had was that of cultures. Some people visit other countries, but they eat at the hotels that serve their own nations food, they only learn enough of the native language to communicate minimal utilitarian things, they never really try to understand the culture or participate in it. These are 'tourists' and by their actions they are never really able to communicate in a meaningful way. But individuals, the people you work with, the people you teach, are also 'cultures'. If you choose to remain a 'tourist' and not invest in any meaningful way in them then communication becomes less meaningful/interactive.

If could summarize the goal of the course, it would be to have people return from a moving experience with an 'true' awareness of this, and hopefully engage in more 'effective' listening with those they come in contact with in their work at NSCC and in their lives. We would want people to go back to work and think things to themselves like "gee, I have worked with this person for four years now and I don't even know the names of their kids". Or, "I think I finally understand why some facilitators have such meaningful learning relationships with students", etc.

What makes the course so challenging (and interesting) to facilitate is trying to create this experience for the participants. It takes commitment to true facilitation because each student team has a very different personality that any other. Those who have taught the course more than once, say that it is never the same twice. You also need to know when to not engage in interventions with the teams (and individuals) as much of the learning comes as a result of the 'storming' phases the teams engage in. It is very hard for a facilitator to do this as it is human nature to want to intervene and 'fix' things. I come from a background that required intensive intervention in team facilitation, so I found it challenging to do this. I was very honored however, when my team told me that "you said very little, but when you did talk, it was always very incisive. It made us stop and think about ourselves for a long time". After saying something like that, I often physically walked away - leaving them to work things out without me to rely on. Learning when to walk away intervene only when it was absolutely necessary, to trust the process, is the greatest skill one can have when facilitating this course and my greatest learning as a participating facilitator.

What I also found very interesting was the use of 'talking circles' at the beginning of each day. It was interesting to see how the attitudes of participants changed from the beginning to the end of the course. Some people seemed to 'get it' at the mid point, but others not until the end of the very last circle. It was truly an amazing thing to watch.

Although there were officially five teams in the course there was in fact a sixth team. The facilitators themselves had an amazing team experience every bit as moving and important to self-development as the students. I must say for the record - what an amazing team of people. David Jellicoe led the group and did an excellent job introducing the course, managing student's expectations, and making the environment one in which 'things could happen'. I admired that he was able to use some of the best practices from the Great Teachers Movement and modify them to fit in so well to this course.


Allowing students one afternoon to have personal and team development time for activities such as going for a team hike (as my team did) was an excellent practice that many students commented well on. Some students toured Truro, went on nature hikes and others visited the Wellness Center. All of these activities were a great way of supported the theme of the course. Personally I went to meditate by a waterfall in Victoria Park when the 'duck incident' happened. I was trying to focus, and I was having trouble - so I kept trying for a long time. It was very quiet and there I was trying to be very serious about my practice, when a really goofy looking duck suddenly poked his head up from a rock that I was staring at and cocked his head. It seemed so funny at the time that I burst out laughing. I guess the message was - don't take life too seriously all the time. I shared this incident with the others in the talking circle that day, and my own team was kind enough to take a picture of the duck (it seems that the second cascade is 'his' territory) during their nature walk that afternoon.

As a team, we too went through the stages of teaming as we tried really hard to ensure just the right environment for this special kind of learning to occur. We all had strong opinions, and I have rarely seen a team seem so invested as that. I just want to say, that learning that took place at our meeting times was a significant growth experience to for me.

Feedback from the students was excellent both on the course and individual facilitators. I want to thank David Jellicoe, and my colleagues and also the students in my team for such a wonderful growth experience. I would love to come back next year if given the opportunity. I would consider it a privilege.

Below are pictures that show the facilitators, and my student team in action.

The facilitation team:


My student team:

Student team ID's:

The team at work:

The team presenting:

One of the 'Talking Circles':

David's duck:

My team doing a nature hike during Wednesday's 'personal and team development time':

Course Details - Understanding Interactive Listening:

Understanding Interactive Listening Through an Issue Based Learning Approach (NS1020) is a week-long course being offered June 4-8, 2007. Classes will be held at the Truro Campus from 9:00am to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday.

This course is available to all employees of NSCC. If you are not enrolled in the CCEDP, but wish to take this course, please discuss the matter with your immediate supervisor.

Understanding Interactive Listening Through an Issue Based Learning Approach (NS1020):

This course will be facilitated utilizing an “issue based,” also known as a “problem based,” learning approach. Issues or problems will form the organizing focus and stimulation for learning. David Jellicoe will be the lead facilitator with individual advisors accompanying the group processes. Learners are invited to draw upon personal and professional experience as a basis for understanding the dynamics of interactive listening. Major foci will include development of problem solving skills, development of self-directed learning skills, development of team skills, application of issue based learning in individual practices and acquisition of an integrated knowledge base, within the context of interactive demonstrations. Evaluation will be through self/peer assessment.

Learning Outcomes:

· Identify and share with the class the variety of situations where reflective listening can facilitate/enhance the learning experience and/or problem solving.
· Identify and discuss with your classmates existing listening, helping, and problem solving skills. · Share your understanding of communication styles through self-assessment and application.
· Discuss with co-learners the role diversity plays in communication dynamics.
· Demonstrate an understanding of issue based learning by participating in a class project.

End