Leadinggroups

Leading!Groups Framing, Presenting, Collaborating, and Facilitating ® ira ia The Road To Learning w w w . m i r a v i a . c o m Laura Lipton & Bruce Wellman, Co-Directors About the Developers Laura Lipton, Ed.D is Co-Director (with Bruce Wellman) of MiraVia LLC, a resource and development organization specializing in learning and learner-focused approaches to educational practice. She works with schools and school districts to build capacity for growth; designing and conducting workshops on learner-centered instruction, integrated curriculum and authentic assessment. She facilitates organizational adaptivity and learning through training and development in shared leadership, action research, group dialogue and cognitive coaching. Laura pursues personal growth opportunities through her study and research in the fields of organizational culture and change and cognitive science. She is author and co-author of numerous publications related to organizational and professional development, learning-focused schools and classrooms and literacy development. Her publications include: Data-Driven Dialogue: A Facilitator’s Guide to Collaborative Inquiry; Mentoring Matters: A Practical Guide to Learning-Focused Relationships; More Than 50 Ways to Learner- centered Literacy; Supporting the Learning Organization: A Model for Congruent System-wide Renewal; Shifting Rules, Shifting Roles: Transforming the Work Environment to Support Learning; Organizational Learning: The Essential Journey and Pathways to Understanding: Patterns & Practices in the Learning-Focused Classroom. Laura can be contacted at: 3 Lost Acre Trail • Sherman, CT • 06784 P. 860-354-4543 • F. 860-354-6740 • e-mail: [email protected] Bruce Wellman, M.Ed. is Co-Director of MiraVia LLC. He consults with school systems, professional groups and agencies throughout the United States and Canada, presenting workshops and courses for teachers and administrators on learning-focused classrooms, learning-focused supervision, presentation skills and facilitating collaborative groups. Mr. Wellman has served as a classroom teacher, curriculum coordinator, and staff developer in the Oberlin, Ohio and Concord, Massachusetts public schools. He holds a B.A. degree from Antioch College and M.Ed. from Lesley College. He is the author and co-author of numerous publications related to organizational development, professional development, group development, and learning-focused classrooms. His publications include: Data- Driven Dialogue: A Facilitator’s Guide to Collaborative Inquiry; Mentoring Matters: A Practical Guide to Learning-Focused Relationships; The Adaptive School: A Sourcebook for Developing Collaborative Groups; Teacher Talk That Makes a Difference; Shifting Rules, Shifting Roles: Transforming the Work Environment to Support Learning; and Pathways to Understanding: Patterns and Practices in the Learning-Focused Classroom. Bruce can be contacted at: 229 Colyer Road • Guilford, VT • 05301 P. 802-257-4892 • F. 802-257-2403 • e-mail: [email protected] All materials in this handbook not specifically identified as being reprinted from another source are copyright ©2006 by MiraVia, LLC. You have permission to make copies for your own classroom use. You may not distribute, copy, or otherwise reproduce any portion of these materials for sale or for commercial use without written permission. We are greatful for the friendship and guidance of master presenter, Dr. Robert Garmston for his teaching and idea development in this arena. We are most appreciative of his contributions to our thinking and to these materials. 2 • MiraVia, LLC www.miravia.com • Outcomes As a participant in this workshop you will: Learn principles and formats for designing effective group work; Expand your repertoire of strategies for energizing groups and supporting information processing; Refine your toolkit of verbal and nonverbal skills and moves; Increase your confidence when framing, presenting, collaborating and facilitating. • MiraVia, LLC www.miravia.com • 3 Four Box Synectics __________________________ is like _____________________ because ........... 4 • MiraVia, LLC www.miravia.com • Hopes Fears • MiraVia, LLC www.miravia.com • 5 A Continuum Framing Presenting Skillful leaders consciously take a framing stance when they Presenters teach and transform group members by enriching name task outcomes, timelines, constraints, and expectations and extending their knowledge, skills and attitudes. for both the work and the ways of working. How these Successful presentations are outcome driven not activity messages are delivered is as important as the content of the driven. Clarity of outcomes and success criteria for message. Often, the process is the content, as group achieving these outcomes are the most important element in members attempt to parse the nonverbal communcations of planning a speech, seminar or workshop. the leader to discern the leader’s emotions about and commitment to the information being delivered. A rich repertoire of instructional strategies informs the choices available to the presenter. Matching repertoire to By anchoring a space in the room away from the main clear outcomes through continuous assessment of goal working or facilitating space, the leader can “get the message achievement supports flexibility in-the-moment and over off to the side” (Grinder, 1997). This nonverbal message can time. By designing presentations as a learning experiences then be supported by graphics positioned in that spot such as for other adults, skillful presenters focus more energy on the timelines, project success criteria and group norms. These learning and the learners, less energy on the content alone “messages” remain in the room in the framing space, and less energy on themselves as speakers. allowing the leader to then shift stances by physically shifting position to a presenting, collaborating, or facilitating Knowledge of adult learning and how to productively engage space. group members is as important as the content itself. In fact, content has no meaning in and of itself. Learners, Voice tone matters greatly. Framing statements need to be individually and collectively create meaning from a delivered in a credible voice that is carefully modulated to presentation. By structuring and scaffolding learning convey the sense of expectations and possibilities for a experiences for group members, skilled presenters help them particuluar group and its work that day. transform information into ideas and ideas into actions. FRAME PRESENT COLLABORATE FACILITATE Information and analysis 6 • MiraVia, LLC www.miravia.com • of Interaction Collaborating Facilitating To collaborate means to work together. In this stance, the To facilitate means to “make easier”. Facilitators conduct group leader and group members co-develop information, sessions and meetings in which the purposes might include, ideas and approaches to problems. Mindful group leaders dialogue, discussion, information processing, planning, also use this stance as an opportunity to model the ways in problem-solving and decision making. Facilitators direct the which professional colleagues interact as a standard for procedures used during a session by choreographing the professional practice. This stance signals trust and respect energy within the group and maintaining a focus on one for group members and a belief in their capabilities as process and one content at a time. thinkers and as professionals. A flexible array of nonverbal and verbal tools supports Room arrangements and where the group leader is positioned facilitators in their work. While many of these overlap with relative to other group members indicates when this is the the tools of presenting and collaborating, they take on added operative stance. By sitting side-by-side, focused on importance within this stance as skilled facilitators maintain common information, problems or issues, the group leader group energy and focus on ideas and information and not on physically and symbolically joins the group as an equal. themselves. Pronoun use is important. By using phrases like “Let’s think about....,” “Let’s generate....,” or “How might we....?”, Facilitators and group members negotiate a tacit contract leaders invite participation and remove themselves from the during each session in which they interact. During this spotlight. negotiation group members determine whether or not they will give facilitators full permission to organize and Group leaders need to carefully monitor their actions when orchestrate their activities. Permission to facilitate is not occupying this stance. Their own enthusiasm and interest in derived by role. The emotional state of the group, the time the topic or issue at hand may override the intention to co- of day, and the topics before the group are some of the create ideas and possibilities. False collaboration may build variables that might influence a group’s decisions. Group resentment or become a disguised presentation. member engagement, cooperation and willingness to take emotional and cognitive risks are the major manifestations of their agreement to follow the lead of facilitators. • MiraVia, LLC www.miravia.com • 7 Five Orientations Group leaders typically operate from one or more of the following positions during a session with adult groups (Bedrosian, 1987). These orientations also influence the ways in which leaders collaborate and facilitate. 1. Boss. This orientation is based on positional authority in which speakers support their ideas by framing

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