Co – Facilitator Position Description for Community Transitions Center

Mission: Student will develop skills, confidence, and role identity through co-facilitating a class with an advisor at CTC.

Learning Objectives

Co - Facilitator will have the opportunity to:

1. Develop skills in setting boundaries

a. Classes
b. Individuals
c. Professional/personal

2. Develop engagement skills

• acknowledge & encourage each student
• comment on what student is doing effectively
• comment on what student can do to improve
• encourage students to define & clarify their points
• validate main point & invite others into discussion
• educate peers on the importance & use of genuine feedback
• direct peers to talk & give feedback to each other, not facilitators
• if verbally wandering, encourage student to “sum up” their point

3. Improve comfort and ability in public speaking

a. One to one interactions
b. Classes
c. Groups

Procedures

Co - Facilitator will

• pick a class of personal interest
• establish a responsible routine for participation
• self initiate two comments/statements per class
• give feedback directly to the other student, not facilitator
• practice setting limits & boundaries (gently confront & redirect)
• encourage peers to talk & give feedback to each other, not advisors
• will practice use of self, i.e. share peer experience once per class
• learn to use self-disclosure as a “bridge” to engage other students

Skills will be acquired by:

a. Practice in classroom & in one to one settings

b. Discussing use of skills with co-facilitator (pre & post)

c. Observation – external: in class & small group interaction

d. Observation - internal: self-reflection on use of language, comments, boundaries, timing and point of self-disclosure.

Remember, when you give Feedback make it SMART feedback!

Specific: be specific with your comment about what was shared

Measurable: define the point of your feedback & limit your comments to that point

Action-oriented: useful feedback acknowledges what was done &/or suggest further action

Realistic: keep your feedback simple, clear, and real – something achievable

Timely: feedback needs to be regarding a very recent point, comment, or behavior

Example of Useful Questions to encourage student’s participation:

• “Who will read this section?”
• “How is this related to your recovery?”
• “I wonder if others have comments related to this?”
• “I don’t quite understand, can you explain that differently?”
• “I appreciate you sharing that, I’m wondering what others think about it?”
• “I understand your point & I’m wondering if others have had similar experiences?”
• “Sounds like you’ve got something you want to achieve, maybe some of the students have ideas or suggestions about how you can work on it?”

Ways to set limits and redirect:

• “Thanks for sharing that, now let’s hear what others have to say.”
• “I appreciate your points, however for now we have to move on”
• “I know you’ve got lots to say, but we need to give some others time to share their ideas.”

Sometimes we need to be very direct and say something like:

• “I know you have lots to say, but we need to hear from people who don’t get a chance to speak up”
• “We know some people are quick with their comments, but others are not – so we need time
• to hear from others”
• “We have heard from you a couple of times today, so we need to give others the opportunity to talk”
• “We have to move on”