Martin's Blog

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Martin's Blog

Articles and latest news. Includes white papers by MTa Learning and academic research on MTa training materials.

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7 posts in this category

Planning: the key to effective facilitation or a recipe for disaster?

Posted by Martin Thompson on Wednesday, 15 February 2012 in Martin's Blog

The lesson of the 5 P’s, ‘Poor Planning Provides Poor Performance’ often resounds around training rooms. It’s not surprising that the importance of effective planning (understanding the context, clarifying the aims and objectives, considering and evaluating alternative approaches, monitoring progress against plans, re-planning etc.) comes to the fore, but as facilitators of learning should we also construct and follow plans?

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Adding value: the facilitator’s objective and criteria for success.

Posted by Martin Thompson on Tuesday, 24 January 2012 in Martin's Blog

Facilitation is an enabling role (see my blog entry) but what should be the facilitator’s objective?

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Changing attitudes and behaviours within an hour

Posted by Martin Thompson on Wednesday, 21 December 2011 in Martin's Blog

Students and staff at Boston Spa School in Leeds all gained significant personal learning from a single lesson.

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Constructive questioning: the most underutilised and undervalued quality in the adult world?

Posted by Martin Thompson on Wednesday, 07 December 2011 in Martin's Blog

Much of my understanding of facilitation has been gleaned from parenting.

As a parent I wanted my children to make ‘best use’ of their potential. I had over 30 more years of experience in this world than them: 30 years of learning to impart, but no experience of parenting. How could I cram my learning into them so they could have a great start I life.

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The biggest personal challenge for facilitators?

Posted by Martin Thompson on Wednesday, 09 November 2011 in Martin's Blog

Facilitating is an enabling role, i.e. it is not an end in itself, but a role taken in a group that helps others to make better use of themselves: their skills, knowledge and abilities.