ICESCR Training Guide - Facilitator Information
Human Rights Education
Human rights education is an important way to understand and implement strategies and practices that uphold the rights and freedoms all people are entitled to. Throughout this training guide you will find human rights issues explored in relation to disability using a participatory learning approach. Unlike a regular class where a teacher shares knowledge with a group, as the facilitator, you will help to guide the discussion. In this way, all participants are able to bring and share their knowledge and experience; everyone is learning from and teaching each other.
Some ways a human rights approach can address disability issues:
- Allows for many voices to be heard
- Provides a way to speak about our own experiences
- Identifies levels of responsibility for implementing and upholding rights
- Supports the creation of collaborative approaches to important issues
- Promotes different ways of seeing issues and approaches
- Encourages putting human rights concepts into action in our own lives
Adapted from: Mertus & Flowers (2008). Local Action, Global Change
Train-the-Trainer Approach
In a human rights context, the role of the facilitator is to uphold the human rights principles of dignity, autonomy, non-discrimination and equality, participation, inclusion and accessibility, and respect for difference. The Disability Rights Promotion International (DRPI) training approach is a train-the-trainer model. Based on the concept of “Nothing about us without us”, this model recognizes the value of having people with disabilities use their knowledge and expertise to train others on Economic, Social and Cultural (ESC) rights and other disability issues. We have chosen this method with the hope of creating networks of trainers across communities of both people with disabilities and their allies. Trainers, from a variety of backgrounds, will present their knowledge and skills about human rights issues in their communities with the goal of providing this important information to an ever growing number of people.
Tips on Facilitating a Participatory Group
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A key to participatory learning is active engagement
The process of active engagement ensures that everyone has the opportunity to participate and contribute to the process of learning. Everyone learns, teaches and discovers together, using a hands-on approach.
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Bring your own life experience, respect your experience and the experiences of others
Because people can learn from what happens in their own lives and the lives of others, sharing this information can be very helpful to the learning of the whole group. It helps to discuss your own experiences. What you bring to the discussion may make others more comfortable sharing their own information. It also shows how you connect to a problem.
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Participants and facilitators are equals
This training is meant to be a shared process. The facilitator and participants are here to learn together from each other's experience and knowledge. The facilitator’s role is not to teach but to help the group to build knowledge together through discussion. -
Explore ideas cooperatively
If group members have conflicting opinions, try to consider where the conflict is coming from. In doing so, remember to focus on the conflict of opinion rather than individuals. Try to establish an understanding of what ways different perspectives relate to disability rights (access, discrimination, education, social rights, goods and services). Responses to these issues may clarify a person’s point of view and discover how important different viewpoints are to the group. Working together can help to bring out new and innovative ideas.
Adapted from: Mertus & Flowers (2008). Local Action, Global Change and Doris Marshall Institute for Education and Action (1991). As cited in Training for Human Rights Trainers – Book 1 Facilitator’s Manual, Canadian Human Rights Foundation
Keys to Successful Learning
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Cooperative Learning
- The most effective learning is from shared experience
- Participants learn from each other and facilitators learn from participants
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Doing
- Learning through each other’s experiences, using that information in the activities provided can locate individual and group experiences more clearly within the human rights framework
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Feedback
- Effective learning requires feedback that is supportive
- Positive feedback generates positive feelings which are an important step to successful learning
- Feedback provided in a constructive way promotes sharing of responsibility for learning and action
Source: Training for Human Rights Trainers – Book 1 Facilitators Manual, Canadian Human Rights Foundation
Using Your Guide
This Facilitator Version of the training guide was created to facilitate a training. It provides provides a suggested framework for facilitating. Here you will find a step-by-step guide with a sequence of topics, materials, activities and timeframes. Each section provides:
- Outline of objectives and goals
- Suggested time frame for each section
- Information required on the topic
- Guide for quick reference
- Related activity
The Facilitator Version contains the same information as the Participant Version, with the addition of clearly indicated Facilitator Overview and Information pages. In each section, these pages are marked as 'Facilitator Information' to help provide additional direction and structure throughout the sessions.
- Note
- Facilitator instructions are meant to serve as guidelines. Don’t forget to be flexible if you need to. If you feel that it is necessary to change parts of the workshop in order to present the material better or to accommodate your participants, please do.
Understanding Facilitator Information Sections
Facilitator Instructions are presented like this:
Title of Upcoming Module or Section
Facilitator Overview / Information
In the Facilitator Version of the training guide, each module begins with a Facilitator Overview of the module which is placed before the Participant Overview. More specific instructions for each section of the module follow and are marked as Facilitator Information.
Each Facilitator Overview is broken down into the following parts:
Introduction: An overview of what is discussed in the section
Description: A breakdown of the module into smaller sections, giving specific instructions and timelines for activities
Time: The approximate time that each section should take to complete.
Page numbers are included like this throughout the Facilitator Version of the training guide to indicate the corresponding page in the Participant Version. Because you have additional information in your Facilitator Version, page numbers will be different.
Understanding Participant Overview Sections
Each module of the Participant Version of the training guide starts with an outline of the objectives and activities in that section. This information is provided at the start of each section so the facilitator can review the objectives, activities and time frames with participants so that they know what will be coming up. The overviews are all formatted in the same way, like the example below.
Module Title
Objectives: A description of the main goals to be achieved in each section.
Description: An overview of the main parts of each section.
Time: The approximate time that each section should take to complete.