Prior to venturing into L&D almost 4 years ago, I used to be a French Language Facilitator for almost 6.5 years – by now most of you know that.
While I did have my private practice and classes in their full-blown glory; the last 3 years, I also took to part-timing at International Schools in the city. I still remember appearing for my final TYBMS exam in formals, and rushing to the interview directly after. Little did I know, the role I took on “temporarily” would end up permanently altering the course of my career.
So this IB school had a rule- no textbooks! There’s a prospectus with underlying themes, and as the Facilitator, you design the curriculum and session plan. And ‘learn through play’ was the School’s ethos.
Now as someone who hailed from a State-Board school, this came as much as a cultural shock, as it did as a pleasant challenge.
This was my Sandbox, my Handbook, and my Crucible, all in one.
Here began my stint with what I didn’t know then was called Facili-Training.
Concepts like “reverse engineering”, “session engineering”, “session dynamics”, “desired outcomes”, “session plans”, “intervention design” “group wisdom harvesting”, “reflection”- these got formalised, structurised, and theorised for me much later- after my pivot when I found a mentor in Ganesh Dalvi, CPF I Master and obtained my formal certifications from FOLKS School Of Facilitation and Learning. I didn’t know I’d already been living them day-in-and-day-out.
I mean, imagine teaching a Foreign language to a hundred pupils through games and play? And some students were as young as 3 years old!
Key parallels that I can draw from both my stints which fortified my transition are as follows:
– different strokes for different folks could not be more apt than with moulding young minds.
– different types of learners and learning styles in a room, and how to engage each one
– creation of safe space and fostering an environment that enables learning
– emergent needs, individual needs, desired outcomes, and session flow
– learning through reflection and simulations
– no matter what you plan, you can’t ever pre-empt your session. It’s a journey from chaos to cosmos.
– being fluid, yet structured.
– if it’s not your happy place, it’s not for you.
Lots more coming in part 2.
In frame- 19 year old Vahista who didn’t know her world was going to be metamorphosed shortly.
“I didn’t choose Facili-Training. Facili-Training chose me”
