What Is The Facilitator Teaching Style?
The Facilitator teaching style is more a hands-off approaches to teaching. Facilitators allow for students, as individuals, to become more involved than some of the other teaching styles allow for.
There are a number of teaching styles employed that could be combinations of, or individual, styles. Of those, there are typically five that are recognized as the main styles. These are Authority, Demonstrator, Delegator, Facilitator, and Hybrid. “Old School” teachers may find it best to latch on to their one specific style while newer teachers employ a more hybrid approach, allowing for plenty of wiggle teaching room depending on how their class reacts.
The Facilitator teaching style is more a hands-off approaches to teaching. Facilitators allow for students, as individuals, to become more involved than some of the other teaching styles allow for.
THE FACILITATOR TEACHING STYLE
When a teacher decides to use the Facilitator Teaching Style, they are creating a situation for the student to learn by trial-and-error. As the teacher, you facilitate and stimulate the learning process. To do this, a teacher will create an appropriate environment, both intellectually and emotionally, to help students achieve goals. The teacher will also offer an atmosphere of psychological support.
A Facilitator Teaching Style encourages self-learning. A facilitator style teacher allows students to find their own information and answers with minimal guidance, having students do so through their own exploration. While a teacher is more hands-off than hands-on, the teacher will help students formulate goals and/or objectives. They will then create an atmosphere that corresponds with these goals and objectives. An atmosphere that is relaxed enough for the students or individuals to feel comfortable in solving problems.
It is then important that a teacher using this Facilitator Teaching Style to be themselves. They need to be able to express themselves openly by sharing their thoughts and feelings. They should also show full confidence in their students’ abilities and capabilities. You will want to show empathy in that you understand each students’ feelings and experiences.
All of this is very important because you, as a teacher, are putting full trust into the classroom. This teaching style may better work with smaller groups, where there is more room for individuals. There are both pros and cons to using the Facilitator Teaching Style.
FACILITATOR TEACHING STYLE PROS
A facilitator teaching style is a great tool for helping students develop their critical thinking skills. It promotes self-learning while also helping students retain knowledge. This can ultimately lead to a student’s self-actualization.
The Facilitator Teaching Style will teach students to ask questions, which is the hallmark of learning. Whether they question themselves or the teacher is how they will develop skills needed to find answers or solutions to problems through their exploration. This can lead to a greater understanding of the topic at hand.
FACILITATOR TEACHING STYLE CONS
One possible downside is that the Facilitator Teaching Style requires a teacher to be more creative in how they present their material. Getting students to buy into the project is key and how that information is presented to students is paramount to classroom success.
Facilitator teachers will also have to show much more patience. They will need to let students explore. They will need to let students experience failure. Teachers will need to give students the time to find their own answers without pushing them too hard. It’s a balancing act that requires nurturing.
For teachers who enjoy the art of lecture, this style should be avoided. If you are one who loves to lecture facts and then test your student’s knowledge based on memorization, Facilitator Teaching is not a fit for you. This style requires teachers to work more individually with students, so if the classroom is large, that may become a challenge.
WILL IT WORK?
When deciding which teaching style to use, teachers should consider the subject being taught. Some styles are perfect for certain subjects while others simply don’t mix. With the Facilitator Teaching Style, subjects such as science are a nice fit. Here you can give the students a directive and let them run off to find their solution.
Potential facilitator style teachers also need to factor in what they are most comfortable with as a teacher. Sometimes, unfortunately, teaching old dogs new tricks can be tricky. Some old dogs prefer old tricks and have no desire to attempt change.
The ability of educators to base teaching styles on classrooms is becoming more and more important. Students of today have a much shorter attention span than those of yesteryear so keeping the young minds engaged can be a process. A hybrid approach, to include the Facilitator Teaching Style, may eventually be where you end up.
