Synopses & Reviews
Praise for Facilitating Group Learning
"In this engaging and accessible book, George Lakey draws on a lifetime's experience to provide a highly practical resource to anyone seeking to understand and respond to the complexities of group work. The book will be invaluable to anyone trying to effect social change through groups while striving to stay simultaneously sane and employed."Stephen D. Brookfield, Distinguished University Professor, University of St. Thomas
"I've been working with forms of direct education for many decades, and I found new ideas and inspirations in every chapter. For anyone involved in teaching, training, sharing skills, or leading groups, this book is an invaluable resource!"Starhawk, author, The Earth Path, Dreaming the Dark, and Webs of Power
"George Lakey has inspired our union to engage in education in a way that challenges us to redefine social justice and equality in new and exciting ways. This book helps us to continue our journey to touch the souls of union members."Denis Lemelin, national president, Canadian Union of Postal Workers
"Facilitating Group Learning will ease the way of all who venture into the white waters of facilitation. George clarifies the most basic, complex, and nagging challenges of facilitation, while honoring the realities of individual and social power dynamics and providing real-life examples from the path of continued growth and mastery. A rare gift!"Niyonu D. Spann, founding president, TRV Consulting and Beyond Diversity 101
"This book is a must-read for people who teach adults of any age, no matter what the subject, and care about doing it in ways that yield deep and abiding learning. Wonderfully well-written and rich with psychological and spiritual insights as well as practical strategies, it represents the fruits of a lifetime of transformational teaching and learning by one of the foremost adult educators of our time."Parker J. Palmer, author, The Courage to Teach, Let Your Life Speak, and The Heart of Higher Education
Synopsis
This book defines principles and techniques for teaching adults in groups and includes illustrative stories from the experiences of the author. It deals with issues of diversity, as well as authenticity and emotions in group learning. This book describes how to design effective learning experiences, and how to facilitate these learning experiences, and brings all the elements of the author’s approach together. It also includes material on sustaining the educator, working with social movements, and an effective toolkit. This book is resource for facilitators of adults in group learning situations.
Synopsis
From the acclaimed coauthor of A Manual for Direct Action comes Facilitating Group Learning, an essential resource designed to help educators, trainers, workshop leaders, and anyone who assists groups to learn. George Lakey presents the core principles and proven techniques of direct education, an approach he developed for effectively teaching adults in groups. To illustrate how it works in action, Lakey includes a wealth of compelling stories from his vast experience facilitating groups in a variety of situations.
Direct education cuts through the pretense and needless complications that can distance learners from subject matter. It removes false expectations (for example, that kinesthetic learners will strongly benefit from slide presentations) and false assumptions (for example, that a group is simply the sum of the individuals). This approach focuses the encounter between teacher and group; it replaces scattered attentionof a teacher preoccupied with curriculum and participants preoccupied with distractionswith gathered attention.
Unlike other books on group facilitation, the author emphasizes critical issues related to diversity, as well as authenticity and emotions. Step by step this groundbreaking book describes how to design effective learning experiences and shows what it takes to facilitate them. Ultimately, it brings all the elements of the author's direct education approach together.
Facilitating Group Learning also contains material on sustaining the educator, addresses working with social movements, and includes the Training for Change toolkit of group learning techniques.
About the Author
George Lakey is visiting professor and research fellow for the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility at Swarthmore College and cofounder of the nonprofit Training for Change. He is the author or coauthor of eight books including Grassroots and Nonprofit Leadership and A Manual for Direct Action.
Table of Contents
About the Author.
Acknowledgments.
1. Introduction: Direct Education for Adult Learning Groups.
Part I: The Learning Group and the Individual.
2. The Role of the Individual and the Group in Direct Education.
3. Harnessing the Power of Intention.
4. Strengthening the Container: Subgroups Join the Mix.
5. The Secret Life of Groups.
Part II: Diversity, Difference, and Emotions in Group Learning.
6. Acknowledging Difference to Accelerate Learning.
7. Diversity and Conflict Styles.
8. Social Class and Diversity.
9. Authenticity, Emotion, and Learning.
Part III: Designing Learning Experiences.
10. Structures for Organizing the Content.
11. Building on What the Learners Know.
12. The Art of Timing in Adding New Knowledge.
13. Sequencing for Maximum Impact.
14. Accountability in Direct Education.
15. Emergent Design: Facilitating the Here and Now.
Part IV: Facilitation.
16. Setting the Tone and Building Safety.
17. Edgy Interventions to Accelerate Learning.
18. The Power of Framing.
19. Sensitivity in Cross-Cultural Issues.
20. The Drama of Transformational Work.
21. Conclusion: Bringing It All Together.
Resources.
Appendix A: The Sustainable Educator: Advocacy, Modesty, and Diversity of Gifts.
Appendix B: The Sustainable Educator: Resilience and Revolution.
Appendix C: For Further Reading.
Appendix D: Tools and Resources for Direct Education.
References.
Index.