A lovely reflection on what makes a professional learning experience good:
This is such an astute question and your response makes it all the better. I really appreciate your list of what makes professional learning “good”, especially your thoughts on Learner-centered activities. I find that it is only when the learners are the ones engaging one another does a professional learning session venture into the arena of “good.”
But, this is so rare that it almost seems an anomaly for me. Even in the sessions that I facilitate, there is this tendency to look at me as the only “expert in the room.” I generally focus on ping-ponging back and forth between group discussion/work and whole class discussion, but there is still that lingering focus on the front of the room.
How have you found ways to curb this tendency? How have you been able to find the right balance so that facilitators actually facilitate and not hold the audience hostage before they can move on to the next part of the session/content?
