8/10/2019 1. Facilitation Theory

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/1-facilitation-theory 1/4

Facilitation Theory

General

Facilitation theory, sometimes also called facilitative teaching, is a humanistapproach to learning, developed during 1980s by an infuential Americanpsychologist Carl Rogers and other contributors and is best described in hisown words

!We know … that the initiation of such learning rests not upon the teachingskills of the leader, not upon his scholarly knowledge of the eld, not upon hiscurricular planning, not upon his use of audio-visual aids, not upon the programmed learning he utilizes, not upon his lectures and presentations, not upon an abundance of books, although each of these might at one time or another be utilized as an important resource. No, the facilitation of signicant 

learning rests upon certain attitudinal ualities which e!ist in the personalrelationship between the facilitator and the learner."1

!We cannot teach another person directly; we can only facilitate hislearning."#

What is facilitation theory?Rogers$ %rst signi%cant area o& interest was psychology and psychotherapywhere since 19'0s he started to apply a client-centered therapy   whichpromotes trying to help or counsel the client viewing the problem through his

eyes( )n the second hal& o& the 19*0s he started to promote a similar approach&or learning and the educational process( +is starting belie&s were that peopleare by nature good and healthy and that every living creature strives to do best&rom his eistence -the actualizing tendency .(

)n his wor/s, Rogers addresses two /inds o& learning  introduced by earliertheorists'

rote learning, re&erring to meaningless memoriation o& &acts, and

experiential learning  in everyday li&e, which has meaning and personalrelevance( )t is the result o& a natural curiosity, and a recognied importance o& 

the learned material, o&ten ac2uired through doing, or at least &acilitated bystudent$s active participation in the learning process, and o&ten sel&3initiated(4till, this /ind o& /nowledge is di5cult to communicate to another(

Rogers$ theory there&ore sees the teacher as the /ey role in the process o& learning, but not as a wal/ing tetboo/ transmitting its contents, but as thefacilitator of learning( 6he &acilitation here occurs through the teacher$sattitudes in his personal relationship with the students( Rogers suggests threeattitudinal 2ualities necessary &or &acilitative practice -both in counseling andeducation.( 6hese so called core conditions are71 Rogers, C( Freedom to earn( 19*9(# Rogers, C( n becoming a person( :oston +oughton ;i<in( 19*1( =atterson, C( +( Carl Rogers and +umanistic >ducation( )n Foundations &or a 6heory o&

)nstruction and >ducational =sychology, Chapter 7( +arper ? Row, 19@@(' 4ee &or eample Ausubel$s Assimilation 6heory7 Rogers, Carl R( 6he )nterpersonal Relationship in the Facilitation o& earning( )n +umaniing

8/10/2019 1. Facilitation Theory

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/1-facilitation-theory 2/4

Realness( !"t means that he #the teacher$ is being himself , not denyinghimself."7 6he teacher has to be a real person aware of his feelings and ableto communicate them appropriately, no matter how eactly does he &eel( +eshould not be ust a role in the play o& education, !"a faceless embodiment af acurricular reuirement or a sterile tube through which knowledge is passedfrom one generation to the ne!t.!7

Prizing acceptance tr!st( 6his re&ers to teacher$s caring abo!t thest!dent and his acceptance o& student$s &eelings -one that support learning aswell as ones disturbing it.( )t is the trust and priing o& his capacity and abilitiesas a human being(

"mpathy( >mpathy means being able to walk in others shoes( 6his means thata teacher can understand student$s perspective on the process on learning andhis reactions &rom the inside( 6he accent here is on understand, not %udge orevaluate(

ther tas/s o& teachers include establishing a pleasant atmosphere in the

classroom and thereby &acilitating learning and ac2uisition o& new ideas byreducing possible negative eBects o& eternal &actors( A &acilitative teachershould also be open to new ideas, listen to students, pay as much attention tohis relationship with the students as he does to the content he is teaching,encouraging learners to ta/e responsibility &or their learning and actions and tota/e sel&3evaluation as the highest &orm o& evaluation( +e should also use classfeedbac#  &or &urther improvements(

4till, not all o& the wor/ during the educational process can be done by theteacher( )ts eBectiveness does depend on the learner as well( )n order tocontribute to their own learning, students should be

aware of the facilitati$e conditions implemented &or their bene%t,aware that the problem to be learned is realistic, relevant and meaning&ul

moti$ated, since motivation is, according to Rogers, a tendency towards sel&3actualiation present in all healthy individuals(

)& all the necessary conditions are satis%ed,

"learning becomes life, and a very vital life at that. &he student is on his way,sometimes e!citedly, sometimes reluctantly, to becoming a learning, changingbeing.!7

What is the practical meaning of facilitationtheory?Rogers$ theory, as stated, has rather clear implementation goals, yet they arenot always so easy to introduce to the classroom( >stablishing a close contactwith the students, getting to /now them and oBering them empathy andsupport re2uires a great amount o& eBort &rom teachers, who mostly ignore thisside o& educational process and orientate only on /nowledge they are supposedto pass on to the students(

4ome o& Rogers$ Advice &or implementing the the core conditions  are the&ollowing7

>ducation 6he =erson in the =rocess( >d( 6( eeper( ational >ducation Association,Association &or 4upervision and Curriculum Development, p1318( 19*@(

8/10/2019 1. Facilitation Theory

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/1-facilitation-theory 3/4

Realness( :eing real does not mean to release all the &rustrations and anger onthe students( 6hat /ind o& teacher should not be in the classroom at all( !&heattitudes being e!pressed in being real must be attitudes of respect, warmth,caring, liking and understanding." 6he teacher must not pretend to be all3/nowing and per&ect, since the students /now that can$t be the truth(

Acceptance( 6eachers should prize all st!dents not &or their positiveEnegativecharacteristics, but because they are all valuable human beings( 6his priingcan mani&est as listening to what students are saying, but not necessary aslistening to evaluate, but listening to learn his ideas, tho!ghts and feelings(4tudents need to &eel &ree to eplain their thoughts( =riing can also mani&estthrough responding to what the students say(

>mpathy( >mpathy enables teacher to understand the reasons that led thestudent to certain behavior or an answer, but also to understand his emotionalsituation that needs to be solved in order to enable signi%cant learning(

Reported positive results o& Rogers$ theory in practice include &ewer

disciplinary problems in the classroom, better /nowledge and ) test scores,usage o& higher levels o& thin/ing, &ewer acts o& vandalism, positive sel&3regard,increase in creativity and other(*

%riticismsRogers$ theory is criticied &or similar reasons as other humanist theoriesdoubtable claim about the inherent human goodness, and willingness to learn(

&eywords and most important namesfacilitation theory, facilitati$e teacher, realness, acceptance, empathy

Carl Rogers

'ibliographyRogers, Carl R( 6he )nterpersonal Relationship in the Facilitation o& earning( )n+umaniing >ducation 6he =erson in the =rocess( >d( 6( eeper( ational>ducation Association, Association &or 4upervision and CurriculumDevelopment, p1318( 19*@(

=atterson, C( +( Carl Rogers and +umanistic >ducation( )n Foundations &or a 6heory o& )nstruction and >ducational =sychology, Chapter 7( +arper ? Row,19@@(

 6heories o& learning +olistic learning theory( &ord :roo/es Gniversity(Retrieved ;arch ##, #011(

Read moreRogers, Carl R( Freedom to earn A Hiew o& Ihat >ducation ;ight :ecome(Columbus, hio Charles >( ;errill =ublishing Company, 19*9(

* Aspy, D(, Roebuc/, F( ur research and our %ndings( )n Rogers, C( R( Freedom to learn aview o& what education might become, p( 1993#1@( Columbus, +, Charles >( ;errill, 19*9( Cited by Jimring, Fred( Carl Rogers( =rospects the 2uarterly review o& comparativeeducation #', no( E' '113'##, 199'(

8/10/2019 1. Facilitation Theory

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/1-facilitation-theory 4/4