Time: 2nd September 2021 – November 2022

Location: Online, Zoom & offline tba

Language: English

Do you already have experience in facilitation or would you like to re-start after a break? Do you want to dedicate some time to explore the facilitation of group processes on a deeper level, practice your facilitation more and get accompanied by an individual learning supervision?

If this sounds like you, then join this 1 ½ year advanced qualification course. You will ground your facilitation experience with more theoretical background, enrich your toolbox, and get inspired by other peers. It will boost your facilitation skills to the next level and will bring you in touch with facilitators and practitioners coming from different contexts and backgrounds.

What will you learn?

Facilitation – the practice:

• You are aware of the role and attitude of a facilitator
• You know theoretical foundations of facilitation, adult learning and humanistic / constructivist pedagogy
• You enriched your toolbox for planning and structuring educational events
• You have a deeper understanding of group learning design with regards to its psychologic and methodologic aspects
• You know a variety of methods that match values and goals of the educational event and can choose properly
• You are capable to prepare and conduct evaluation and reflection sessions in the team and among participants and take them into account
• You can identify causes and symptoms of conflict in facilitators’ team and and among participants and address it constructively
• You have worked on group dynamic phenomena based on cases
• You acknowledge participants’ social, cultural, ethnic, religious, economic, educational, gender etc. backgrounds and you are able to work with diversity in practice

Online – the new normal

• You know the specifics of learning online and know how to design online learning events
• You know how to facilitate online in a participatory and engaging way
• You know a set of online tools that work best for your context
• You practiced your online facilitation
• You know how to adapt online facilitation to different target groups

Learning and democracy – the thematic focus

• You know how to design inclusive and horizontal learning spaces and participatory decision-making techniques
• You can facilitate processes that lead to empowerment by taking self-responsible initiative. You can help learners to develop their own vision, identify their inner motivation and turn into specific civic engagement to contribute to societal change

Self-directed learning – the path: 

• You know how to organize your own learning process effectively using analogue and digital approaches such as feedback, self-assessment tools, peer-learning and learning supervision
• You are aware that a facilitator is in a constant development process and requires being open to the new, learning new trends and joining professional communities
• You are conscious about the challenges and potentials of the world full of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity and find strategies to deal with such a reality as a facilitator 

Target groups and professional proposals – the client:

• You know how to work with different target groups, clients, organizational cultures and how to design and communicate professional offers
• You are able to consciously plan your career as a facilitator, including peer support, joining a community of facilitators, positioning yourself, creation of own portfolio
• You know how to make professional documentations according to the client’s and participants’ needs
• You know market prices for facilitation, the value of your own services and can adapt them to circumstances (e.g. business and non-profit clients, pro-bono work)

Hosting and sustainability – the frame:

• You applied the practice of hosting yourself (well-being) and others as a facilitator
• You know how to create an inviting and sustainable learning space
• You are aware of the three dimensions of sustainability (ecologic, social, economic) and and can prepare the learning environment according to sustainability aspects

How it will work

Advanced facilitation training (2-10 September, blended learning)

In this 1 ½ week blended learning training you will, based on your experience, reflect and explore the position and role of a facilitator, dive into facilitation as a framework of concepts and work on specific group dynamic cases such as dealing with disruptions.

Online facilitation training (February, June, October, blended learning)

In this 10-day blended learning training, combining four live online sessions with asynchronous group work and readings, you will learn about facilitating group processes of co-creation, learning and creativity in a digital space, by creating an enjoyable, inclusive and interactive setting. Through peer-to-peer learning you will connect and exchange with other facilitators and education practitioners on an international level. This training is offered 3 times/year. You can choose which time slot fits you best.

Facilitation practice

Learning by doing! You will practice your facilitation during the facilitator qualification course, self-organized and at your own pace. We recommend 15 days of practice both in online and offline settings (3-4 hours online are equivalent to one day offline).

Learning supervision

You will be matched with an individual learning supervisor supporting you in at least two meetings (in total 6 hours), monitoring your learning goals and your self-assessment. The learning supervisor helps you to reflect on your facilitation practice and discuss practice cases that are open or unclear.

Peer-to-peer learning

You will experience the power of peer learning based on trust in the knowledge, experience and perspectives of your peers. Peer-to-peer learning is a voluntary and self-organized reflection format. In groups of 3-4 people matched in the first module of your course, we will provide you with basic tools for intervision and full freedom to organize your knowledge exchange and reflections.

Mid-term reflection (April 2022, online)

8-10 months after the first module we will design a moderated space in an online format for intermediate reflection on your facilitation learning. The mid-term reflection will be organized in smaller groups and you will be able to choose the most suitable time and option.

Reflective Lab (November 2022, in-person, tba)

With this 5-day training you will complete your facilitator qualification course. It is designed as a case study lab, where the agenda is mostly based on your cases from facilitation and collective reflection on it. In addition, the training will provide space for deeper reflection of facilitation as a framework as well as of facilitation as a role. Among other things, you will explore facilitation and psychology; facilitation and politics; and congruence and resilience of a facilitator.

You will experience:

• a good balance between theory and practice delivered in 4 training modules combined with self-directed learning through readings and small group work
• interactive and enjoyable trainings in online, blended and offline learning formats implemented by experienced facilitators
• purpose-driven and process-oriented training designs
• an individual learning supervision throughout the 1 ½ years of 6 hours
• optional peer-to-peer learning groups
• getting connected in a learning community of future facilitators and practitioners of positive social change

This course is for you if:

• you already participated in a facilitation training or training of trainers and are familiar with theoretical foundations of pedagogy and adult learning and main principles of non-formal education and diversity
• you know how to work in a facilitators’ team in a constructive way
• you have at least one year of facilitation practice or 15 days of facilitation over the last 2 years
• you would like to dedicate around 1 ½ years to deepen your practice, share your experience and knowledge with others and get connected with peers in a learning community

Please note: This qualification course starts on an advanced level. In this course we wish to gather a group of learners with a comparable theoretical and practical experience to provide all learners a suitable and enriching learning experience. After the advanced facilitation training you will join the same training modules as the basic learners. Your peer learning group will be formed out of the advanced facilitation training.

How to apply?

– Application deadline: 16 August, 2021
– Please prepare your facilitator profile in the form of a CV or link to a profile (e.g. Linkedin) showing your facilitation experience.
– Study this self-assessment tool and make your own conclusions.
– Fill in this survey and with that submit your application

Afterwards, we will assess your level of experience to ensure that the advanced learning path fits you. We will get back to you within 7 working days with a response. If you have any questions in the meantime, please approach Marischa. Please note that horizontal school will remain closed between 2 – 15 August, therefore if you apply in that period, we will get back to you only after 16 August.

Registration will be open until the last place is filled. The group will be small to ensure a good quality of learning.
In case the minimum number of 10 participants is not reached, horizontal school reserves the right to cancel the course. In such case the participation fees will be fully reimbursed. For more details, please check our Terms and Conditions.

Our trainings include interactive live sessions on Zoom. Participants are invited to contribute with their own experience, learn from other peers, and transfer learnings into practice. The trainings are designed in a process-orientated way ensuring to fit the needs of the target group, which makes each training unique. Therefore, please keep in mind that your active participation will be needed in order to truly benefit from this training.