Facilitator Teaching Approach

     I have been studying the different approaches to teaching lately  and wanted to  reflect on what I feel a facilitator teaching approach is. A facilitator is one who helps the students own the learning process by becoming a learner as well. The teacher as a facilitator will need to develop a rapport with the student and how better to do that than become a student of learning as well. As a positive role model for the students in the classroom, the teacher will need to model what learning is all about. I feel that often it is necessary for the teacher to learn right along with the students. We cannot always know everything but as a facilitator it is important to have as extensive knowledge as possible. We must be constantly learning new things to keep up with our students.  We can give the students more empowerment  as we direct them in exploring more about the subjects at hand.
     A facilitator teacher must be able to  ask questions and focus on the philosophy that true learning can only take place when the student is able to discover the answers for himself. If the teacher can ask open-ended questions in such a way as to guide students to think more creatively and critically to find the answers for themselves, then that is a successful teaching approach. One must seek and involve the students opinions as this will also open the door for more brainstorming and in-depth discussions. The student's life experiences should always be taken into account and a great facilitator will realize that life experience's value to the student. A facilitator is warm, compassionate, intelligent, skilled in interpersonal communication, and treats everyone with respect while demanding it in return.
     A classroom using the facilitator approach would be one in where everyone's opinion was valued and listened to with respect. Learning would be directed more by the students and what they wanted to know more about. However, the teacher would still have ultimate say in what is directly studied. The teacher would provide the materials necessary for learning as well as imputing a reflection on his/her own principles on the class. The classroom might be more free flowing than that of an executive approach, but it can also include some of both approaches to benefit the learning of the students. It is often necessary to have some structure and rules in order to promote the creative life experiences that can be the drive behind the facilitator approach.
     This approach can be easy to implement into a classroom when students are working on group projects involving learning new material such as careers and development. They can use their life experiences to help other students with their project development. For example, one student might share knowledge of working in a nursing home with another student looking at becoming a nurse. Then that student can expand on that knowledge with extended research. This is not something that teacher would have known anything about without researching also. Some drawbacks to the facilitator approach is that it needs to be more free-flowing than a normal structured routine of an executive approach. It is more student directed so it will often be more unorganized, messy, and loud.
     Overall, the facilitator approach seems to be one that would easily fit into a classroom level of middle school or high school age students. It would be harder to implement into a kindergarten classroom where more organization and structure is needed to keep so many little children on task and receiving appropriate learning instruction time.