Facilitator Method

The facilitator style is an activity-based style of teaching that encourages self-learning in the
classroom through peer-to-teacher learning. The facilitator style involves teachers asking
students to question rather than simply having the answer given to them.

THE FACILITATOR TEACHING STYLE

The teacher must adopt the role of facilitator, not a content provider.

As a facilitator, the teacher’s job is to support every student to do their best thinking
and practice. As a facilitator, the teacher encourages the full participation of students,
promotes mutual understanding, and cultivates shared responsibility among students.
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.
 Guidelines for Facilitating Learning
Teachers often become facilitators of learning when they realize that giving students
information and solving problems for them does not promote their intellectual growth.
Through facilitation, the teacher becomes a partner with the learner in the process of
acquiring knowledge.

In order for a teacher to become a facilitator of learning, there are some guidelines that
should be followed.

1. First, it is important to know the students and how they learn best. Every student is
different and will have different needs when it comes to learning.

2. Furthermore, creating a positive and supportive learning environment is crucial in order for
students to feel comfortable asking questions and taking risks.

3. It is important to create a classroom environment that encourages exploration. This can be

done by providing a variety of materials for students to explore and by giving them time to
investigate topics on their own.

4. It is also important for teachers to be flexible and adaptable, willing to change their
teaching style as needed in order to best meet the needs of their students.

5. Finally, it is important to be patient and provide feedback that is helpful and constructive.

Here are the 5 characteristics of a good facilitator:

1. Impartiality: Skilled facilitators don’t arrive with a personal agenda or their own
opinions about the topic at hand. Instead, they are objective, unbiased, and experts at
directing groups through decision-making processes.
2. Confidence: Keen ability to skillfully control the room and keep all participants
interested and engaged throughout the meeting.
3. Humility: Separate themselves from the meeting; they know it’s not about them and
relish that fact. They understand that the team is the star of the show and that it’s their
job to help the group shine.
4. Flexibility: Adaptable to any and all change. Whether participants want something
different or the agenda needs to change, facilitators are comfortable course-correcting
as needed during the gathering.
5. Curiosity: Genuinely interested in their client’s problems, product, or challenge and
is excited to learn more about it so they can help guide them to the best possible
outcome(s).
 21 ways a teacher can be a facilitator of learning

1. Establish a Positive Environment

2. By Providing Support and Guidance
3. Encourage Participation
4. Establishing a positive relationship with students
5. Set Clear Expectations
6. Encourage Critical Thinking
7. By providing feedback
8. Use of technology
9. Using Group Work
10. Use Interactive Games
11. Use problem-solving techniques.
12. Use Pacing Techniques
13. Establish trust with your students
14. Create a safe and welcoming environment.
15. Meeting Students’ Needs
16. By providing meaningful and useful resources
17. Be flexible with your teaching methods
18. Use interactive activities
19. Encourage students to take risks and try new things
20. Get to Know Your Students
21. Establish positive reinforcement

Benefits of Facilitating Learning in the Classroom

In order for students to learn, they need effective teachers. A teacher can facilitate learning by
creating a classroom environment in which all students feel welcome and are able to succeed.
In order for this to happen, the teacher must first understand their students.

A good facilitator also establishes rules and procedures at the beginning of the school year
and enforces them consistently. Here are a few benefits to facilitating learning in the
classroom:

1. It allows students to learn in a comfortable, safe environment.

2. It allows students to learn at their own pace.
3. It allows students to learn in a group setting.
4. It allows students to learn more effectively.
5. It allows students to learn from their mistakes.
6. It allows students to learn from others’ mistakes.
7. It allows students to learn from experts.
8. It allows students to learn from different sources.
9. It allows students to learn from different perspectives.
10. It allows students to learn from different media.
 Physical Environment and Play
A well-arranged environment should enhance children’s development through
learning and play. It facilitates classroom management and supports the implementation of
curricular goals and objectives. The way the physical environment is designed and configured
influences how children feel, act, and behave. The physical environment allows growth and
development through activities and materials in defined play areas.

Environment is defined as the physical environment, its surroundings, and a specific

setting. t should be well organized, comfortable, and personable and offer a variety of
manipulates for cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development (Catron & Allen,
2007)

SOME LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

1. Learning centers

Learning centers, also known as learning areas, are a system that is used to arrange a
classroom or organize materials in a classroom. The term learning center has been judged by
many because it has a connotation that learning takes place only in these specific centers

Some of the learning areas that are most common and that you will see in the early
childhood classroom are art, library/listening/writing activities, blocks, dramatic play,
science/discovery activities, and manipulative/mathematics/games.

2. Materials and Equipment

Play materials in the classroom are extremely important for multiple developmental
perspectives such as cognitive, social/emotional, physical, and language. Teachers need to be
cognizant of the age-appropriate play material/equipment and furniture for the classroom.

3. Preparing the Physical Space for Play

Setting Up the Classroom

Research has indicated that the way the classroom is arranged and the way it looks are
significant because they influence children’s and adults’ behavior. Therefore, when setting up
the classroom, teachers should consider the following suggestions:

1. Centers should have multiple uses, not just serve one specific center topic.

2. Have as much natural light in the classroom as possible. Natural light reduces energy use
but, most important, enhances task performance and improves the appearance of an area.
3. Keep noisy and quiet areas separate. Noisy areas such as dramatic play and music should
be located at one end of the room, opposite to the quiet area. This will allow each area to have
its activities in a comfortable location.

A safe environment encourages exploration and play behaviors in young children. Therefore,
a safe environment is very important for teachers of young children and child care centers. In
order not to compromise the learning process of the students the teacher must consider:

 Fire Safety. Fire regulations require that fire extinguishers, as well as smoke and carbon
monoxide detectors, be present and in working condition in all classrooms.
 Sanitation and Bathroom Facilities. Classroom toys and other equipment are required to
be sanitized on a daily basis, as this will reduce germs from spreading around.
 Lighting, Ventilation, and Temperature. Adequate lighting is of the essence in a
classroom. Of course, the most desirable light is natural light coming from windows
and/or glass doors

The Benefits of Play in the Environment

Play is a necessary element of healthy development for children of all ages. Play
influences all areas of development; it offers children the opportunity to learn about the
self, others, and the physical environment. . It encourages aspects of social, emotional,
cognitive, and physical development that cannot be achieved any other way. Children
learn how to interact with peers when engaged in play activities while also building on
important schemas about the real world.

The Multiple Benefits of Play

1. Development of motor skills

2. Sharpening of the senses
3. Expression of emotions—empathy
4. Sharing, turn taking—harmony
5. Ordering, sequencing
6. Delay of gratification
7. Vocabulary growth
8. Increased concentration
9. Flexibility
10. Role taking
11. Expansion of imagination and creativity

Cognitive Development and Play

To show how play functions and develops as a complex, adaptive system as children
grow older, it is helpful to review some of the commonly recognized forms and
developmental sequences of play. Sara Smilansky (1990) provides a model presenting
five basic forms of play:
 1. Functional play or exploratory play. This type of play is a sensorimotor approach in
which a child learns the nature of his or her surroundings. Such examples include
dumping, filling, stacking, water play, and outdoor play.

2. Constructive play describes children combining pieces or entities, such as with

blocks. The purpose of this type of play is to make something and/or work out a
problem.

3. Dramatic play entails pretending. The child pretends to be someone else, for example
the teacher or a fireman. This type of play does not require any social interaction with
other children. See the example provided below.

4. Sociodramatic play is a form of dramatic play with more than one player socially
interacting around a theme and a time trajectory over which the play continues and
evolves. Children enact real-life types of play activities.

5. Games with rules encompass cooperative play, often with winners and losers. These
games are distinguished by child-controlled rules and thus are different from the
competitive games usually called “sports.” Children begin the games with rules stage
at about age 6. Games with rules become more evident as children move from early
into middle childhood. This type of play behavior suggests that children are
understanding the social rules of our culture.

Group 3 reporter 2- C % D

Vaniesa C. Dulat

Adrianne G. Alinsa

Diane A. Alcala

Aivy T. Lumacad

Biby Jine O. Limpag

Chariza Osorno Jumao-as

Mary Rose Eguarte

Meralona A. Guilingan

Rodapearl A. Timtim

Seth Vladimir Deguit