Table 2 The six facilitation principles used in discover learning intervention
Principles | Ways of demonstrating principle during instruction |
|---|---|
Scaffolding vs. Teaching In scaffolding a learning experience, facilitators create space for learners to safely struggle, fail, and learn from experience. This does not mean being absent or only observing the learning process, but rather providing targeting feedback at specific times. This requires providing only essential support and resources. | ○ Provide essential information ○ Balance between success and failure ○ Build questions/encourage using resources ○ Be comfortable with struggle ○ Observe ○ Create an environment that creates positive learning experiences ○ Provide options ○ Start small when providing information ○ Everything is a learning opportunity ○ Easy tasks first, then get harder ○ Students generate ideas and give each other feedback ○ Creating a safe space to try things out ○ Model rewarding/trying ○ Practice ideas |
Learning over education The importance of the active process of learning –gaining knowledge or skill through experience – over the passive process of education – being taught a knowledge or skills. | Learning can mean; ○ Working towards understanding ○ There is no right or wrong ○ More freedom for the learner to explore and make mistakes ○ Do it yourself. ○ Leveraging peer understanding ○ See one do one ○ Provide immediate feedback. ○ Make learning relevant to learners ○ Experiential/hands on learning ○ Opportunity to create ○ Student-driven ○ Adaptative learning |
Non-judgment Learning is often a non-linear process and the learner’s path may not always be clear to the facilitator. The role of the facilitator is to withhold judgment or offering an opinion about the path. Great learning can result from mistakes and failures. | ○ Accepting other people’s realities to be true ○ Being aware of unintended consequences ○ Do not generalize ○ Discourage stereotypes ○ Positive reinforcement ○ Acknowledge all input |
Teamwork and positive group dynamic Every member of a team brings unique skills and perspectives. It is important to create a climate where diverse skills are valued, recognized, and leveraged to help the group succeed. This includes members of the team learning to step up when their skills are most needed and relevant and step back when they are less so. | ○ Use activities to get to know one another ○ Foster cooperation/collaboration among group activities ○ Create common goal/tasks ○ Use unifying factors - Group name, slogan, symbol, identity ○ Common emotional experience ○ Diversity of tasks from different people can stand out ○ Strategies for conflict resolution ○ Mix up groups - bigger, smaller, and different ○ Mediation ○ Offering options ○ Providing more structure |
Disrupting gender norms There are many cultural norms that affect learning. For the Discover Project a goal is to attend to these gender norms which may appear (e.g., girls stating that they are not good at a task; boys taking credit for leadership roles even when they are not the leaders; boys taking credit for girls’ actions or ideas). | ○ Feeling of safety and security, where, when and with whom ○ Anyone can do anything ○ Addressing family responsibilities ○ Consider broader societal context ○ Create equal opportunities for leadership ○ Be mindful of chosen and assigned roles |
Growth mindset over Fixed mindset The project aims to highlight the value of taking risks and the importance of failure in learning. We will use the FAIL framework (Frequent Attempts in Learning). The more the group takes changes and fails, the more they learn. In addition, the project adheres to the approach that every individual has the potential to grow and change – no one has a finite intrinsic capacity or ability in any realm. | Having a growth mindset entails; ○ Work hard when things get tough ○ Being inspired by the accomplishments of others ○ “I can be anything” ○ Your brain is always developing ○ You are always improving ○ When you fail, try harder ○ Effort is an important part of learning ○ Try out lots of things ○ Feedback is an opportunity to learn |