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Training Guidelines for SAA FG Module 3 1

Module Summary This module provides an overview of the key skills facilitators will need to successfully lead the SAA process. The contents of this module address the role of the facilitator in the SAA process, promoting a shift from “passing information,” or “delivering a message” to facilitation methods that catalyze critical reflection, dialogue, analysis and action. The module includes hands‐on practice with these techniques and tools, including asking open‐ended questions and probing. This approach to facilitation may be different from the way staff and community facilitators have worked in the past, and projects will need to provide ongoing support to SAA facilitators so they can build and strengthen their skills. NOTE: Following this session participants will co‐facilitate activities during the remaining sessions. Total Module Time: 2 hours and 35 minutes for presentation, and an additional 50 minutes for participant facilitation practice Learning Objectives By the end of this module, participants will be able to:

Describe the key skills required to facilitate SAA

Practice and refine SAA facilitation skills including: o Creating a welcoming and respectful space for learning and dialogue o Posing questions that prompt reflection and questioning o Respectfully managing different points of view o Preparing for and managing difficult or sensitive topics

Discuss the importance of building our own and our community partners’ skills through ongoing reflection and mentoring

Co‐facilitate and lead activities in the following sessions Facilitation/training methods: lecture / presentation, pair discussion and group activities. Session Flow

Topic Time Allocation

Supporting Tools & Materials Slides

1 Introduction, Learning Objectives 5 minutes Slides, LCD projector 1‐2

2 Exercise: Trust Game 15 minutes Slides, LCD projector, scrap paper 3

3 Overview: Facilitation Skills for SAA (Activity and Discussion)

50 minutes Slides, LCD projector, flipchart, markers, copies of Handout 3.1

4‐10

4 Practice Skills: Divergent Opinions (Exercise)

25 minutes Slides, LCD projector, notecards, flipchart, markers, Tools “Buzz Groups” and “Thought Shower”

11

5 Practice Skills: Probing Questioning (Activity)

15 minutes Slides, LCD projector 12

Facilitation Skills for Social Analysis and Action Module 3 Facilitator Guide


6 Practice Skills: Entrenched Beliefs (Exercise and Activity)

25 minutes Slides, LCD projector, notecards, flipchart, markers, Tools “But Why” and “Chain of Effects”

13

7 Building Facilitation Skills of Community Partners

5 minutes Slides, LCD projector 14

8 Discussion: Building Skills for Facilitation

10 minutes Slides, LCD projector, flipchart 15

9 Key Points 5 minutes Slides, LCD projector 16

10 Practice Facilitating 50 minutes Slides, LCD projector, notecards, flipchart, markers, copies of Handout 3.2

17

Advanced Preparation for Facilitator for Module 3

Review slides and annotated notes in advance.

Review carefully the activities in slides 3, 8, 11, 12 and 13.

Make enough copies for each participant of Handout 3.1: Core Facilitation Skills for SAA and Handout 3.2: Participant Facilitation Assignments.

Participants will receive their facilitation practice assignments today, so make copies of tools available to them to select from so that they can prepare.

Caution: This module alone is not sufficient to build foundational skills in facilitation. For less experienced facilitators, consider additional training and mentoring on core facilitation skills.

Key of Symbols and Colors Blue color: Theme color for Module 3

Activity Other Resources

Tool Country Office Examples

Handout Additional Points Orange text in annotated notes: What to do; instructions to facilitator

Black text in annotated notes: What to say; information for presentation


Slides and Session Content

Slide 1

Introduce Module 3 to participants. Tell them that this Module will take approximately 2 hours and 35 minutes for presentation and an additional 50 minutes for participant facilitation practice.

Slide 2 Review learning objectives with participants:

During this session we are going to practice essential skills for effectively facilitating the SAA process, including:

o Creating a welcoming and respectful space for learning and dialogue

o Posing questions that prompt reflection and questioning

o Respectfully managing different points of view

o Preparing for and managing difficult or sensitive topics

Since in many communities SAA dialogues are facilitated by community partners, it is our job to train and support them to be effective facilitators. This requires ongoing training, reflection and mentoring. Throughout this module you should be thinking about how your learning can be applied to the capacity building of community partners who will be facilitating dialogues.

By the end of this session, participants will have practiced skills and techniques for facilitating SAA and then will co‐facilitate and lead activities in the following sessions.


Slide 3

Tell the group you are going to begin this session with an exercise.

Refer to Tool: “Trust Game.” (Total activity time: 15 minutes). Tools Together Now, #99

Before beginning this exercise inform participants: This is an exercise to help everyone understand issues of trust and confidentiality. The point is not to share your own secrets, but if you are uncomfortable participating, you may sit out and observe.

Slide 4 Explain further:

Trust is an important first step in creating a space for critical reflection and dialogue.

Creating a welcoming and respectful space is the central step in facilitating SAA, which we will discuss later.

We have to trust each other in order to be able to talk about sensitive issues. Also, the community members you work with will have to trust you in order to be open to the SAA process of reflection and dialogue.

Hopefully, through each SAA session or activity you, and the community members you work with, will become one step closer to trusting each other to talk about and challenge complex social norms.



The goal of facilitation is not to proselytize or promote certain attitudes, norms and behaviors, but rather to facilitate a process of CRD. Our job as facilitators is to:

Create welcoming and respectful spaces for people to reflect and dialogue on sensitive and taboo subjects;

Respectfully question and challenge norms, social rules, and beliefs that shape how we think and act and;

Encourage the envisioning of new alternatives to harmful norms and practices

Further, facilitating SAA enables practical learning and is not about simply teaching information.


As mentioned, creating welcoming and respectful spaces is key to facilitating SAA. To accomplish this, there are some key strategies to employ:

Take time to establish rapport and trust with the community groups you will be working with, as we know, trust is critical.

Be aware of who is invited to participate in the session. For instance, community members may not be comfortable discussing certain issues if leadership or persons of power are in the room. In some situations, women may not be comfortable if men are in the room.

The same consideration should be given to the location you pick – an open space outside where people pass by may not offer the best privacy. Holding a meeting in a place that is difficult to get to or where one feels unsafe will impede the SAA process.


When conducting an SAA session or activity: o Set and gently enforce session norms. For example: respect for all opinions, allowing everyone to

talk, not interrupting someone when they are talking. o Prepare structured activities to enable productive discussions about sensitive subjects (don’t

“wing it”). We will cover many SAA activities throughout this training to add to your toolbox.

Start with simple, and gradually build up to more complex subjects – if you start with the toughest and most sensitive topics you may lose your group.

Ask participants to share any other ideas ‐ What are some other concrete things that we can do to help create a respectful and productive learning environment? Close with this thought: Remember, the SAA process is not always easy and it takes time, especially given that in some of the contexts where we work these topics are very sensitive. Part of creating a welcoming and respectful space as a facilitator is to recognize that everyone is at different places in the process and some participants may have a difficult time talking about these issues or need more time to feel comfortable openly discussing and questioning such sensitive topics. Don’t worry, this is normal and part of the SAA process! And creating a space for reflection is an opportunity to support each other in that process.


Some of the facilitation skills we will explore in a bit are specific to SAA and are supplementary to general good core facilitation skills. First, let’s talk about some core facilitation skills, such as:

Demonstrating active listening which includes being aware of your body language, keeping eye contact, and para‐phrasing or repeating back what someone said to ensure everyone understood their point.

Using open‐ended questions to generate dialogue instead of closed or leading questions – For example:


o Closed questions, only leaves respondent with a yes or no answer: Do you like chocolate? o Leading questions, leads respondent to answer a certain way: You like chocolate don’t you? OR

perhaps more relevant to our scenario – You use condoms don’t you? o Open questions: let the respondent answer more freely and allows for their voice: What types of

food do you like? What do you think about using family planning?

Inviting everyone to contribute, ensure no one voice or group is dominating. You can do this by asking Does anyone have a different point of view? Does everyone agree?

Encouraging quieter people to contribute. For those who do not speak up, depending on the situation you can call on them directly or gauge when it may appear they have something to share and encourage them to do so. Be sure to thank them for sharing and note how important their point was, as this will help to encourage their continued participation.

Don’t ever tell anyone their opinion is incorrect or discourage a person’s point of view.

Never interrupt someone.

Encouraging interaction and exchange among participants. For instance, when someone has shared an opinion or thought ask if anyone else in the room has a reaction or ask what they think about what the person has just said. Always give the original speaker an opportunity to respond to any reactions to or comments given on what they had shared. This encourages back‐and‐forth exchange among participants. It will be your responsibility as the facilitator to keep the exchange respectful and inclusive.

Slide 8 Activity: 15 minute Role Play:

Before this session, ask 4 participants to quickly prepare a role play, where one of them “acts” as a facilitator and the other 3 act as participants. Ask the person who is acting as the facilitator to demonstrate “bad facilitation skills”, such as:

Asking short, yes or no questions

Turning their back to the group

Interrupting people

Telling people that they are wrong, and correcting their opinions

Not allowing participants time to think about their answers‐ rushing them


Slide 9 After the Role Play:

Thank the role play participants for their performance ‐ it is never easy to demonstrate “doing the wrong thing” in front of a group! Then, ask the group to list out what was not effective in the facilitation, and list on a flipchart titled “Bad Facilitation”. Add the following ideas if they do not come up: • Used closed end questions/didn’t invite

participants to share their ideas • Interrupted • Corrected the participants • Told the participants they were wrong etc. • Was rude/disrespectful

Then ask the group, what the facilitator could have done differently or better? Write these down on flipchart titled “Good Facilitation.” Add the following ideas if they do not come up: • Make eye contact • Ask open‐ended questions • Use silence/allow participants time to think and respond • Inviting body language • Active listening • Engaging quiet people • Use examples, was respectful • Uses clear language and terminology Finally, ask the group if there are any facilitation skills that are different for their context that we have not yet discussed as part of the core or SAA‐specific skills. Provide the participants with Handout 3.1 and explain that the handout covers the key points of this session and can be used as a reference later.

Handout 3.1: Facilitation Skills for SAA



In addition to the critical role of creating a welcoming space and the core facilitation skills we just discussed, as SAA facilitators, we also need to be prepared with skills and a range of tools to manage challenging situations and keep community conversations moving forward when:

Participants disagree with each other or have divergent opinions or;

Tension or conflict arises, such as when discussing strongly‐held or deeply entrenched beliefs

A skilled SAA facilitator also keeps asking why, respectfully, to help participants uncover the underlying challenges shaping their current realities – so that they can start to challenge and envision alternatives. This technique can also be used to keep conversations moving when confronted with conflict or tension.

Close with this explanation of where the session is going next: We will now explore techniques and tools for managing divergent opinions and conflict and tension over entrenched beliefs, as well as, how to ask probing questions.


Different points of view can be hard to manage…but they can create very important opportunities to learn and question beliefs and norms! We are going to practice facilitating and managing divergent opinions using the following scenario.


Scenario: Imagine you are facilitating a dialogue about young people and family planning. Several participants are expressing different beliefs. There are also many people in the group who are not speaking and you want to invite them to share their ideas. The slide demonstrates a potential exchange between two participants and a suggested response that a facilitator may use to address the divergent opinions. Ask a participant to read the exchange on the slide.

“Buzz Groups” or “Thought shower” ‐ Time: 15 minutes Break into 2‐4 groups, ask groups to use either the “Buzz Groups” and/or “Thought Shower” activities to create space to surface and listen to divergent opinions.

“Thought shower” ‐ Way to create space for divergent opinions; using unfinished sentences: “When women have sex 2‐3 days after giving birth…” Tools Together Now, #57

“Buzz Groups”‐ Way to brainstorm about very sensitive topics, helps ensure quieter voices and that many different perspectives are heard, shows the diversity of opinions in a group. Tools Together Now, #37

Alternative activity: “Four Corners/Values Clarification” ‐ Starts with an opportunity for honest and anonymous self‐reflection, then asks participants to think about and represent other people’s points of view. An anonymous way to create space for divergent opinions and practicing understanding other points of view. See Module 2 for a handout for this activity.

Allow participants 10 minutes to complete the exercise, then report back for 5 minutes:

What was your experience?

How do you think quieter participants would feel about these activities?

How would these activities feel to participants who are usually very outspoken?

Can you think of some times when you might use these activities?

Concluding thought: If you can’t resolve the conflict you can change the topic and maybe return to it later, when you feel more prepared. Just tell the group you need to respect time.


We can also use open‐ended questioning techniques like probing and asking why to invite people to share their ideas and prompt deeper reflection and thinking. This technique is also helpful for exploring the consequences of a norm or belief. As an SAA facilitator you can select specific activities that are aimed at catalyzing questioning, such as But Why, which we will explore next with Entrenched Beliefs.


Examples of probing questions: o Can you tell me more about that? o Can you tell me what happened next? o Why do you think that happened? o Who is affected when that happens and how? o What are some of the consequences of that belief/action/norm?

Now we are going to take a few minutes to practice questioning. Activity: Practice Questioning in Pairs; 10 minutes, 5 minutes with each partner

Turn to your left.

Think of a challenging situation in your life‐ something that you are concerned about or you want to change. For example, “I want to quit smoking”.

Now, your partner is not going to give you advice. Instead they are going to ask you questions to try to learn more about your situation, like those on the slide or others you can think of. Remember to use open ended questions!


Let’s imagine that you are facilitating a discussion and the group has a very strongly held belief. You want to create an opportunity for them to step back and critically examine this belief. What can you do? First, even if you strongly disagree with the belief and you feel it is harmful to the community, resist the urge to “correct the group”. Remember, the role of the SAA facilitator is to create opportunities for people to explore their values and norms and come up with their own solutions and ideas about new ways to see and do things.

Instead, create a learning opportunity to:

Hear about all the different opinions in the group

Explore the root causes of the social norm or practice you are discussing. Recommended exercise: But why? Keep the Best, Change the Rest, Tool A3

Discuss the consequences of adhering to a norm or practice, including which groups are most affected/adversely affected, by asking: What are some of the consequences of that belief? Who is affected by that belief and how? Are there some groups that are negatively affected by this belief/practice? Recommended exercise: Chain of Effects, Keep the Best, Change the Rest, Tool A4


We are now going to practice facilitating and managing tension resulting from entrenched beliefs using the following scenario. Scenario: “Young people should not use family planning. Health providers should turn young people away from clinics when they seek family planning.”

Activity: Divide participants into 2 groups and ask each group to practice facilitating one of the activities above (“But Why” and “Chain of Effects”). Give each group a handout with instructions and

ask them to complete the activity, addressing the scenario on the slide. Give each group 20 minutes to practice their activity. Circulate around the room to provide help as needed. After the activity, bring the whole group back together to reflect; ask participants what they thought about the exercise and what they learned.


Remember that in many settings, our role is to train and support community‐based facilitators to lead the SAA process. Hopefully, you have been thinking about how the skills and techniques you have learned in this session can also be used to build the facilitation capacity and skills of community partners. For instance, you will need to create structured learning opportunities to help them practice their facilitation skills and learn how to use SAA tools.

A critical part of this is helping community‐based facilitators to build skills in managing the challenging situations they will encounter as they facilitate SAA dialogues, such as divergent opinions and entrenched beliefs. You will also need to provide ongoing mentoring and constructive feedback to support and help them continuously improve as SAA facilitators.



Being a good facilitator takes practice. It does not come naturally for most of us. As such, it is important to continue practicing your facilitation skills and garnering feedback. Now take a few minutes to think about these questions and how you can practice and enhance your facilitation skills, as well as, those of your partners. Give pairs 10 minutes to discuss. Then ask participants to share their ideas, write them down on flipchart.

Conclude with this thought: Now that you have the skills and techniques for facilitating SAA activities, each of you will co‐facilitate or lead the remaining activities in Module 4 and 5. Pass out the instructions for the remaining activities you will use in Module 4 and 5 and tell the group their homework is to prepare for facilitating those activities. If there are more participants than there are activities have participants co‐facilitate.

Slide 16 Summarize the module using the key points

on the slide.


Slide 17

Handout 3.2: Participant Facilitation Assignments

Give participants the handout and discuss the facilitation practice activity. Total Activity Time: 50 minutes

Presentation Notes: Use a creative method to divide people into groups and then distribute the SAA tools and resources (e.g. Tools Together Now) so all the groups can choose and prepare an activity.

Circulate around and make sure groups have all the support and resources they need to prepare.

Be sure to review the guidelines for giving and receiving feedback and answer any questions people have before practicing begins.

End of Module 3

Other Resources

Tools Together Now, # 92 through 97: “Good / bad facilitation,” “Active listening,” “Open questions,” “Probing”

Wegs, Christina, Katherine Turner and Betsy Randall‐David. 2003. Effective training in reproductive health: Course design and delivery. Reference Manual. Chapel Hill, NC, Ipas.

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