Specialised Practitioner Training Courses

Specialised Tutor Training Courses
Integrated Specialised Tutor Training
Specialised Community Advocate Training
Specialised Training in Organisational Development  

The Social and Health Education Project has developed a range of Practitioner Training Courses.  These provide advanced training in the specialist application of facilitation skills and are intended especially for those who wish to be able to offer developmental supports in the community.   

Normally, completion of the Generic Facilitation Skills Course (or its equivalent) will be considered an entry requirement for any of the Practitioner Training Courses.  Places on these courses are limited and participants will be interviewed prior to selection.  In allocating places, consideration will be given to trainer-assessments.  

Specialised Tutor Training Courses

The Specialised Tutor Training Courses offered by the Project cover the information content appropriate to different types of community course, along with the required skills for course delivery. 

Specialised Tutor Training courses have so far been developed in the following areas:

• Introduction to Personal Development
• Assertive Communication for Better Relationships
• Managing Stress in Our Daily Lives
• Supporting Family Relationships
• Children and Bullying: A Course for Parents
• Women’s Wellbeing
• Men’s Wellbeing
• Health, Wellbeing and Empowerment for Older People
• Coping with Grief, Loss and Change In Life
• Inter-Cultural Awareness
  

Only some of these courses can be offered each year, the selection being made on the basis of the prevalence of specific problems in the community, the requirements of community course organisers and the interests of prospective community tutors.  

In addition to course work, tutor training involves a supervised apprenticeship in which each trainee co-facilitates a community course with an experienced community tutor.   

Specialised Tutor Training Courses provide participants with an opportunity for the further development of their facilitation skills, as well as of the skills specific to the design and delivery of training courses.   

The aim of the courses is to build the capacity of participants to design and safely deliver effective entry-level training courses in social and health education in community settings.  At the same time as developing their theoretical understanding, participants are expected to be prepared to explore and work on personal issues related to the topic-area of the specific course they are undertaking.   

A variety of training methodologies are used in the delivery of the Specialised Tutor Training Courses, including formal teaching, practice sessions and structured project assignments. 

Some written work is generally required of participants undertaking these courses.[1]  They are required to prepare and present short inputs on relevant material.  They must also design, write-up and facilitate experiential learning sessions.  Participants are asked to record their learning during the course in a personal learning journal.  While this journal is private, at the end of the course participants are required to present to the trainers a Learning Progress Report in which they give an account of their major learnings.  Towards the end of the course-work there is a self-, peer- and trainer-assessment of each participant’s readiness to go on to the apprenticeship component of the course.  Those who proceed to this part of the training are responsible for identifying a group to which they can deliver training.  Project staff then nominate an experienced tutor to work alongside each apprentice.  During their apprenticeships, arrangements are made for apprentices to receive periodic supervision.[2]   

A final trainer-assessment takes place following the apprenticeship component of the course.  Those who successfully complete both the course-work and apprenticeship components of a Specialised Tutor Training become eligible to register as Community Tutors with The Social and Health Education Project and to deliver courses through its Community Training Programme. 

Specialised Tutor Training Courses generally involve between eighty and eighty-five hours of group-work, spread over around twenty weekly sessions, and at least two week-end workshops.  Participants also spend additional time in small learning groups. 

Integrated Specialised Tutor Training Course

In addition to Specialised Tutor Training Courses with a single topic focus, an extended Integrated Specialised Tutor Training programme is available through which participants are prepared for the delivery of a range of community courses, including Introduction to Personal Development, Assertive Communication for Better Relationships and Managing Stress in Our Daily Lives.  This substantial course runs over 15 months and consists of weekly evening sessions of 2½ hours (around 47 sessions in all), as well as 7 weekend workshops (each comprising 2 x 7 hours) and 8 weekend day workshops of 7 hours (Saturdays or Sundays).  Participants are also expected to undertake a total of 44 hours of collaborative study, design and practice work in small groups.  

Specialised Community Advocate Training Course

This training programme was developed to prepare participants for work as volunteers with the Cork Advocacy Service.  The course helps participants to develop the skills needed for determining and addressing the information and service needs of people with disabilities and disadvantaged or vulnerable older people people through personal contact and appropriate interaction with established service providers.  

The course consists of 20 weekly morning sessions of 2½ hours and a short placement experience.  A variety of training methodologies is used during this course, including formal teaching, talks from visiting resource people, experiential exercises and skills practice sessions.  A limited amount of written work is required of participants undertaking this course.[3] 

Specialised Training  in Organisational Development in  Community and Voluntary Groups

The aim of the course is to prepare people with the knowledge, skills and awareness to work in a facilitative way to promote values-based participatory governance and effective programme delivery in community and voluntary sector groups.

SHEP has long been associated with the training and development of resource people in the community, including Community Tutors and Community Advocates. Increasingly over recent years people working in community and voluntary groups have looked to the Project to support them in developing facilitation skills to enhance their effectiveness in their community or organisational settings. In response to these requests, SHEP has developed a course of training, through which people can develop their capacity to play facilitative roles and engage in collaborative leadership in communities and community organisations.

In order to be effective, community and voluntary organisations must be able to:
• Establish a close connection with those in whose interests they seek to work
• Develop a clear understanding of the challenges or problems to be addressed
• Develop a clear understanding of the organisation’s specific role in relation to these challenges
• Develop a clear understanding of the specific roles of other relevant organisations
• Clarify the vision, principles and values that should guide the organisation’s work
• Develop appropriate procedures, processes and systems to ensure that the organisation is effective, that it makes optimal use of its resources, and that its activities are legal
• Develop effective processes of inclusive democratic governance
• Maintain effective collaborative relationships, both within the organisation and relevant external actors.

On this course people who are involved in the community and voluntary sector will come together with people who have undertaken prior SHEP training. Course participants will develop awareness and skills that enhance their capacity to play facilitative roles that support organisations to develop the various capacities mentioned, and that support organisations to reflect more critically on the issues which are relevant to their decisions and practice.

The training course is open to people in the community setting or in voluntary organisations:
• Who can demonstrate a very good level of personal awareness
• Who can demonstrate their commitment to processes of personal and social change
• Who are interested in enhancing their capacity to make a constructive contributions to the sector
• Who are currently working or volunteering in a community or organisation.
• Who have sought permission from their community or organisation to get practice opportunities and to undertake a small course project
• Who have completed a SHEP training course in Generic Facilitation Skills, or who can demonstrate an equivalent level of experience or training in facilitation

What is covered in the course?
The course will combine formal teaching elements with a collaborative, participative and experiential learning design. Key areas covered in the course will be:
• The community and voluntary sector—context, concepts and values
• Understanding development and governance
• Understanding organisational processes and structures
• Facilitative tools, techniques and strategies; (e.g. value clarification, envisioning, stakeholder consultation, planning, decision making, problem solving, needs’ analysis, policy development, leadership, monitoring and evaluation)
• Developing reflective practice

 This course will be assessed using a combination of personal, peer and trainer reviews and set course assignments. A SHEP certificate of achievement will be awarded to those who successfully complete the training. The course involves about 199 hours (September to May).  These are made up of 31 weekly evening sessions (7.30 – 10.00 p.m.) and 10 Saturdays or Sundays (10.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m.). Course participants also form small learning groups which meet regularly and undertake a small project.

The fee for the course is €995. A deposit of €200 is payable on application and the remainder of the fee is payable on acceptance of an offer of a place. A payment plan option is available and can be discussed with the Project’s Financial Administrator. The course will run with a minimum of 11 people and 16 maximum. 

The course will be held at a location in Cork City or Ballincollig, probably on Tuesday nights commencing 8th September 2009. (Weekend dates will be finalised soon).

The closing date for applications is Friday 7th August 2009. If you are interested in the course, please apply as early as possible as course places will be limited to just sixteen. Places on the course will be awarded following a short selection meeting with reference to the eligibility criteria. This meeting with Project training staff will be scheduled with you for a suitable time over the summer.

If you have questions about the course, the application process, or would like an application form, please contact the Geraldine Flanagan, (Programme Administrator) or Liam McCarthy (Senior Training and Development Officer - Organisation Development) on 021-4666180

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

 [2] The cost of supervision sessions is not included in the initial cost of the course. 

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