Generic Facilitation Skills Course

The Generic Facilitation Skills Course provides an opportunity for participants to develop awareness of the principles of effective group facilitation, as well as basic competence in the skills necessary to facilitate group processes.   

The aim of the Generic Facilitation Skills Course is to allow participants to gain experience of playing the facilitator role and to develop in them a capacity to operate effectively and safely as generic group facilitators.  At the same time as developing skills, participants are helped to identify and work on personal factors which serve as obstacles to their being ‘present’ to other people in the role of facilitator. 

As a ‘generic’ course, this training is intended to serve as a foundation for a range of specialist facilitation applications, such as the delivery of personal development courses, the provision of advocacy support and the mentoring of organisations in the community and voluntary sector.       

Normally, completion of the Foundation Programme (or its equivalent) will be considered an entry requirement for the Generic Facilitation Skills Course.  Applicants are encouraged to be clear that, in taking part in any trainings in the Facilitation Training Programme, they are expressing a commitment to the support of others in their development and growth.[1]      

A variety of training methodologies are used during this course, including formal teaching, experiential exercises, practice sessions, personal development workshops and collaborative learning in small working groups. 

Some written work is generally required of participants undertaking this course and they are asked to record their learning during the course in a personal learning journal.[2]  Ongoing self-, peer- and trainer-assessment takes place during the course.  Those who successfully complete the course become eligible to apply for a place on any of the Project’s Specialised Training Courses.

The course consists of weekly evening sessions of 2½ hours between January and December (around 31 sessions in all), as well as 7 weekend day workshops of 7 hours (Saturdays or Sundays).  Over the course of the year, participants will also be expected to undertake a total of 16 hours’ collaborative learning in small groups. 

[1] Those who prefer to take more time to work on their own growth and development may apply for a place on the year-long Continuing Personal Development Course which is offered as a supplementary element of the Foundation Training  Programme.

[2] Special arrangements will be sensitively put in place for participants who experience literacy difficulties.