Developing Facilitation Skills through interactive activities,

Facilitating Growth through Awareness

Facilitation involves three key elements: self-awareness, awareness of others, and understanding one’s identity in terms of beliefs and attitudes. To cultivate these skills, I employ an array of activities in my Facilitation Skills workshops aimed at fostering self-discovery and developing interpersonal connections within groups.

Columbian hypnosis

One activity to develop awareness of self and others is the Columbian hypnosis.

Procedure

One participant (hypnotiser) holds her hand palm forward, fingers upright, anything between 20 and 40 centimetres away from the face of another, who is then as if hypnotised and must keep his face constantly the same distance from the hand of the hypnotiser, hairline level with her fingertips, chin more or less level with the base of her palm. Wherever the hypnotiser moves their hand the hypnotiser’s face must follow. See a demonstration in this video:???????

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Columbian Hypnosis

The reflection after this activity can include the following question prompts:

Participants’ Evaluation

This activity, designed to explore leadership and trust, sparked interest among several participants. One admired the focus on awareness and leadership, while another found the reflective prompts particularly valuable. However, some participants felt it might be challenging to incorporate into a language class, though they acknowledged its power for deeper self-exploration and group connection.

Interactive Activities

Other interactive activities I use are aimed at stimulating group cohesion, enhancing communication, and prompting reflection:

Cat and Mouse Tag

• Cat and Mouse Tag: An energizing game fostering group coherence and communication. It triggers reflection on being chased or chasing in one’s life.

Participants’ Evaluation

This high-energy game was a favorite for its ability to engage learners through movement. Participants found that it combined physical activity with language use, allowing students to learn vocabulary in real-time situations like running and tagging. However, one participant acknowledged the need to ensure inclusivity and prevent some students from feeling left out. Another highlighted its potential to raise energy levels and strengthen interpersonal connections within groups. He appreciated the reflections it could inspire, including discussions about life's metaphorical chases.

• Map on the Floor

An activity fostering self-disclosure, building rapport, and trust within a group by sharing personal information.

Procedure

The facilitator asks people to imagine there is a large world map on the floor and identifies where he is standing on the map and what is north, south, east west. The facilitator asks participants to stand in their birth place (or favourite place) and talk to the people near them.

Reflection questions can include:

? How do you feel about your birth place?

? Where do you feel most at home?

? Where does your family come from?

? How has where you were born influenced your life journey?

Participants’ Evaluation

The most popular activity by far, Map on the Floor, was praised for fostering self-disclosure, group dynamics, and rapport-building. One participant noted that it serves as an effective language learning tool, as students use the target language naturally while sharing personal stories. Another participant (teaching online) appreciated the activity's flexibility and suggested adapting it to virtual whiteboards and breakout rooms, encouraging her students to explore roles outside their cultural norms. Many participants valued the activity for its versatility and its ability to elicit personal engagement, though some expressed concerns about introverted students feeling uncomfortable.

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• Wink Game and Everyone Who…:

Activities enhancing eye contact, concentration, and group movement, encouraging active participation and reflection on group dynamics.

Procedure

Everyone stands (or sits) in a circle with one participant in the middle. Participants in the circle choose someone and wink at them. The wink is a signal to change places. They need to change places quickly so that the person in the middle does not take their place. Reflection on this activity can include questions such as: How did you feel in the middle? Who was in the middle most often? Why? Were you active or passive in the game? Who did you wink at?

Everyone who….change places.

An extension to the wink game but this time the person in the middle gives an instruction to invite people to change places by using a semi-fixed structure such as: ?‘Anyone who is wearing a watch change places’ or ‘move if you like tea’ or ‘anyone who can play the piano - move!’ When participants are moving around, the person in the middle has to find an empty spot so someone else will be in the middle to give a new instruction..

Activity: “I’d like to invite X…..

A further less physical extension is to have an empty space in the circle. The participant who has the empty space on their right, will invite another participant to the empty space giving a reason. They can use phrases like ‘I’d like to invite X to come here, because …’, ‘ can you …’, ‘would you …’ etc.

Participants’ Evaluation

Several participants highlighted the fun and energetic aspects of the Wink Game. One participant appreciated its potential to energize tired learners, especially when sessions get long or grammar-heavy. The physical engagement combined with the focus required to spot the "wink" injects an element of playfulness into the classroom. Another participant found it to be an exciting physical activity, although she pointed out it could get stressfulmfor the pareson in the middle due to the fast-paced nature of the game.

Exploration and Invitation

In the face-to-face workshops in July, we explore facilitation skills in teaching contexts, experiment with drama activities transferable to classrooms, and delve into the essence of being an ELT teacher. You can explore more insights on facilitation skills and drama in ELT through articles, lesson plans, and videos on my blog and YouTube channel.

Your Path to Growth

I invite you to join us on this enlightening journey of self-discovery and professional development. Embrace the transformative power of embodied pedagogy and immerse yourself in the realm of performative skills to elevate your teaching prowess.

As one of the participants from last year’s workshop attested:

Let’s embark together on this transformative expedition of self-discovery and pedagogical growth!

Register here: