Facilitator role in FFS By Allah Dad Khan

2. Facilitator
Role IN FFS
By
Allah Dad
Khan

3. Definition of facilitator
Assistant, helper, help, supporter - a person who
contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance
of an effort or purpose; "my invaluable assistant"; "they
hired additional help to finish the work
Or
one that facilitates; especially : one that helps to bring
about an outcome (as learning, productivity, or
communication) by providing indirect or unobtrusive
assistance, guidance, or supervision <the
workshop'sfacilitator kept discussion flowing
smoothly>

4. Who would be a Facilitator?
Each FFS needs a technically competent facilitator to lead
members through the hands-on exercises. There is no lecturing
involved, so the facilitator can be an extension officer or a Farmer
Field School graduate. Extension officers with different
organizational backgrounds, for example government, NGOs
and private companies, have all been involved in FFS. In most
programmes, a key objective is to move towards farmer
facilitators, because they are often better facilitators than outside
extension staff - they know the community and its members,
speak a similar language, arerecognised by members as
colleagues, and know the area well. From a financial perspective,
farmer facilitators require less transport and other financial
support than formal extensionists. They can also operate more
independently (and therefore cheaply), outside formal
hierarchical structures.

6. The role of the facilitator is crucial in an
FFS. In general the facilitator
Organises the Field School;
1. Facilitates the activities associated with the 12 to 16 meetings of the
Field School;
2. Takes care of basic administrative issues;
3. Maintains constructive communications with local government
officials, NGO’s, and other agencies in the area where the FFS is
located.
Organising an FFS requires a facilitator to:
 Determine the site for the FFS and identify study fields (see the section
below, “Implementation Issues”);
 Identify potential participants, usually via a local agriculture group;
 Determine local endemic problems to be treated by the FFS
Conduct preparation meetings.

8. The facilitator is a guide, NOT the leader.
Farmers have a wealth of experience and knowledge
that can be reinforced by providing them with a basic
understanding of the agricultural and environmental
dynamics in their fields.
 Therefore, facilitators listen carefully and build on
local knowledge rather than impose their own ideas
and opinions.
 The role of the facilitator is to guide the discussion,
clarify concepts, fill in missing information and
provide a synthesis of outcomes.

10. Basic administration activities
 Collect and report basic bio-data such as name age, gender,
education, access to land (form of ownership or rental
contract);
 Report results of pre- and post-tests;
 Save weekly results of agro ecosystem analyses;
 Prepare activity plans for each FFS meeting with ensuing
reports per meeting containing comments about
implementation (a useful analysis would be to have the
facilitator describe positive aspects of each activity or what
went well, then the facilitator could identify needed
improvements and how those improvements could be
made), data on attendance, and relevant notes on field
conditions;
 Interview a number of participants prior to the start-up or
the FFS about their pre-FFS farming practises, this data
could be used as baseline data to determine changed
practices

12. Role and Duty of a Farmer Field School
Facilitator
 Technical backstopping , Guide in decision making , Team
leader , Links with external , Facilitator and collaborators ,
Helps the group in achieving their objectives , Helps in
conflict management , Initiates new FFS , Explains the
objectives and FFS process , Should help with observations
and analysis , Should start from simple to complex
endeavors, Keeps discussion lively , Probe to help
participants arrive at appropriate conclusions , Help to
smoothen out domineering cases , Helps participants to
reach an appropriate consensus , Time management , Show
respect to all participants and their opinions , Helps
participants identify opportunities and potentials in their
environment

13. Difference between teaching and Facilitating
Teaching Facilitating
Teacher a subject Matter specialist and
Delivery Expert
Facilitator learner sensing and learning
process expert
Knowledge Transfer from teacher Knowledge gained from learners experience
Focus on Subject Matter Learning process is organized SLE ( Structure
Learning Experience)
Subject Matter is organized into topics Recognizing reflecting and abstracting
Reading , Listening and remembering Experience first , connecting to concept later
Concept first application practice/later Connecting new knowledge with past
experience
More Appropriate for Children
(pedagogy)
More Appropriate for Adults (andragogy)

14. Behavior of Farmer Field School Facilitator
To be a teacher , To be an instructor , Commanding
and arrogant , Not transparent , Non tolerant and
impatient , Lateness , Immoral behaviour, Self pride ,
Carelessness ,Should not assign unclear tasks , Should
not fail to admit where he doesn’t know , Should not
be disorganized , Should not lack self confidence ,
Should not be possessive ,

15. Qualities of a Good Facilitator
He Should be Creative , Flexible , Versatile, Openness,
Understanding of group dynamics, Love of work, Good listener ,
Tactful , Patient , Transparent , Consultative , Tolerant ,
Committed ,Positive, Sense of humor, Grounded , deeply
respectable, Trustworthy , Social , Accessible , Act within
capacities and emotion of the group , Delegates tasks and
responsibilities , Put in special efforts ,Presentable , Audible ,
Confident , Good collaborator, Don’t force participants to his
plans , Sensible , Charismatic, Give timely explanations , Don’t
hide constraints , Show concerns , · Explains situations before
hand , Tolerance for ambiguity, Accepting of others, hold others
with unconditional regard, Authentic, congruent, honest ... e.g.
walks his/her talk, Caring, compassionate,
Conceptual and systemic thinking, Empathetic ,Inspirational.

16. Skill of good facilitator
A good Facilitator must possess the skills of Group
Facilitation Skill, listening Skills , Observation skill,
Presentation Skills, Pacing Skills, Managing group
dynamics , Negotiating skills , Good questioning
techniques , Good observation skills , Feedback Skill,
Writing skills, Summary skills, Intellectual capacity ,
Technological skills , teaching skills, Adult learning
Principle,

17. Golden role of facilitator
Good listener , Respect others opinions-open minded
, Cheerful , Eye contact , Know your audience in
advance (Level) , Should be well prepared (Firmly
grasp the subject) , Dress appropriately , Well
mannered , composed/confident , Be in control of
audience , · Convey acceptance , Time management
(Conscious) , Impartial

18. Improving relationship with participants
 A facilitator must remember the following points when
improving relationship with participants.
 Get to know each other (Establish rapport) , Use of right
language (brief and clear) , Create a conducive environment ,
Encourage full participation ,
 Understand and respect their cultural norms , Display/depict
good morals ,
 Make your mission clear , Avoid gender bias , Adhere to your
promises and programme , Be flexible , Be transparent and
accountable , Accept genuine criticism , Be timely ,
Commitment to the group and the team , Team up with them ,
Being a role model ,
 Know farmers priorities , Deliver quality service ,
Encourage dialogue , Keep abreast with new technologies , Be
professional and rational

19. Technically strong facilitator:
 The Field School is usually initiated by an extension staff member of the
government, farmers’ organization, or NGO. But in all cases the person must
have certain skills.
 Most important is that the person is skilled at growing the crop concerned. In
most countries, the extension staff have never grown crops ‘from seed to seed’
and most often lack confidence.
 For this reason, most IPM programmes have begun with training field staff in
season-long courses which provide basic technical skills for growing and
managing an IPM crop. Some people have called this the “Farmer respect
course” in that field staff come to realise how difficult farming is, and why
farmers do not immediately “adopt” their “extension messages”.
 Facilitation skills and group dynamic/group building methods are also
included in this season to strengthen the education process in the Field
Schools. An uncertain trainer is a poor trainer.
 A confident trainer can say “I don’t know - let’s find out together” much easier
when the inevitable unknown situation is encountered in the field.

20. Facilitation
Skills

21. Facilitation Core Skills:
 1: Introduction to Facilitation, including core beliefs, like adding a second gear, and major
misunderstanding

2: The Five Core Practices, including the importance of neutrality, facilitating now instead of what,
and using the five skills with individuals

3: The Start Sequence, including asserting the process, dealing with resistance, and using parking lots

4: Establishing Norms, including examples of generic group norms, using norms to manage
interactions, and anonymous ways to establish norms

5: Recording Group Ideas, including the rules of wording, the secret wording tip, and flipchart
management tips

6: Conflict Intervention Techniques, including deciding whether or not to intervene, the intervention
wording model, and intervening in private

7: Process Checking, including what is a process check, the four P's, and Pluses and Deltas

8: Conversation Structure, including Non-decision-making conversations, playing ping-pong, and
shift happens!

9: Decision-Making Tools, including the five decision options, consensus building, and multi-voting
10: Ending a Facilitation, including gradients of agreement, overcoming passive consensus blocks, and
meeting wrap-up.
 10:Ending a Facilitation, including gradients of agreement, overcoming passive consensus blocks, and
meeting wrap-up

24. Effective Communication Skills for Facilitators
Communication skills are critical for a facilitator. How you communicate, aside from the
substance of the event, can make a difference in gaining support and moving things along
Efficiently and effectively. Some skill points for communicating include the following:
1. Active listening: Be genuinely interested in other people's thoughts and feelings.
Listen intently. Make eye contact.
2.Summarizing: Use paraphrasing as a method of clarifying. Check your
perceptions with the group. For example: "Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I
think Bob and Carmen's comments summarized our last 10 minutes quite well by
stating...". It is very important to summarize at the end of key parts of the agenda
and at the end of meetings.
3.Focusing attention and pacing: Keep the group on the topic and focused, using
care to limit or reduce repetition. This is one of the facilitator's primary
responsibilities. Stay on track!

25.  4. Recognizing progress: For example: "Nice job! We just brainstormed 36
items in that 4-minute time period."
 5. Waiting or Silence: Remember that sometimes the hardest thing to do is
nothing.
 6. Scanning/Observing: Nurture full participation from the group. Watch
nonverbal cues in the form of body movement, facial expression, and gesture
(may indicate loss of attention, confusion, or discontent)−take a break, change
the pace, change the topic, etc
 7. Inclusion: Make sure everyone has an equal opportunity to participate.
 Encourage those who have been silent to comment. For example, say in a
 humorous way: “I’m being rated by my client on the degree to which I get
 everyone to talk!”
 8.

26. Body Language and Facilitation
 While we generally think of verbal skills as the most important
facilitation skill, the role of nonverbal cues or body language is
also critical to facilitative leadership. In a meeting, these
nonverbal messages are constantly flowing from team member
to facilitator and vice versa.
 The experienced facilitator will be careful not to send out
nonverbal cues or body language that can be interpreted as
negative by the receiving audience. For example, standing up
leaning against a wall with your arms crossed tends to suggest a
closed mind or inattentiveness.
 This type of body language subtly inhibits the free flow of
communication. Facilitators must also be keenly aware of the
nonverbal cues given off by team members with whom they are
working. Such cues can often be important indicators to test the
pulse of the meeting.