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Content

Content…………………………………………………………………… 2
Introduction……………………………………………………………… 3
1.1. The styles of a modern teacher …………………………………… 4
1.2. Definition of teacher as facilitator………………………………… 5
2.1. The difference between a teacher and a facilitator……………….. 6
2.2. Teacher’s Effective Ways to Facilitate……………………………. 7
Conclusion……………………………………………………………… 9
Reference……………………………………………………………….. 10

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“I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they
can learn”

Albert Einstein

Introduction:
Throughout the last century, traditional teaching methods have undergone
significant changes; brought on by social, cultural and technological developments.
Education is very important for a student. In addition, another important element
that empowers his or her life through education is a teacher. A teacher facilitates
his or her students with perfect environment, through motivation, through listening
their point of view etc. A teacher is someone we respect and we can see a teacher
as our friend. If students do not feel dominated and see their teacher as their friend
then students will be the urge to learn by themselves. Moreover, in a traditional
classroom teacher is someone who conveys knowledge and students grab it. On the
other hand, a facilitator gives equal importance to students’ opinion. Teacher as a
facilitator is very useful for a student’s life as it helps them to take responsibilities
of their own learning.

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1.1. The styles of a modern teacher:

In the contemporary classroom, five distinct teaching styles have emerged as

the primary strategies adopted by modern teachers: The Authority Style, The
Delegator Style, The Facilitator Style, The Demonstrator Style and The Hybrid
Style.
 The Authority Style
The authority style is primarily used in a lecture or auditorium setting,
whereby the teacher will give a lengthy, one-way discussion whilst students
take notes and memorize key pieces of information. Though popular when there
is a large group of students present, the authority or lecture style is less
common in the standard classroom setting. This is because the strategy offers
little to no student participation, making it impossible to meet the needs of each
individual pupil.

 The Delegator Style

For subjects that necessitate group work, peer feedback or lab-based
learning, a delegator or group style of tutoring is often adopted. As a
delegator, the teacher may take an observer role to promote collaboration
and encourage peer-to-peer learning. Some critics consider the delegation or
group style to be a poor teaching strategy given that it removes the teacher
from a position of authority.

 The Facilitator Style

Teachers who adopt a facilitator or activity-based style encourage self-
learning in the classroom through increased peer to teacher learning. Unlike
the lecture style, teachers ask students to question rather than simply have
the answer given to them. In this style, activities are used to promote self-
discovery and develop problem-solving skills, which can often lead to the
student developing a much deeper understanding of the topic.

 The Demonstrator Style

Like the lecture or authority style of teaching, the demonstrator retains
authority in the classroom. However, instead of relying solely on a verbal
lecture, the demonstrator style combines lectures with other teaching forms,
including multimedia presentations, demonstrations and class activities.

 The Hybrid Style

Some teachers adopt an integrated teaching style that incorporates their
personality, preferences and interests into their teaching. This strategy is
known as the hybrid style, and is popular in subjects like English, Science
and Religious Studies. Teachers who use the hybrid style are able to tailor
their tutoring for different pupils.
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1.2. Definition of teacher as Facilitator:
A facilitator is someone who makes something easy or eases a process. A
facilitator plans, guides and manages to ensure that group’s objectives fulfills.
Before knowing how facilitation works, we need to know when and how
facilitation evolved. According to Christine Hogan in her book “Understanding
Facilitation”. She talked how facilitation evolved after Second World War. The
word facilitation came from the Latin word “facilis” which means easy to do or a
person’s willing participation makes everything easy. It sounds easy but
facilitation is a very complex thing. It is a movement, which expanded in many
sectors like education, management, psychology, community movement. As many
other sectors facilitation has a great impact on education sector. As facilitator
encourages individual or a group to participate that, they can achieve a goal.
Moreover, Hogan herself recognized this when she wrote, everything occurs in a
situation. There are many layers like society, groups, organization, community,
class. By encouraging all members in a group, facilitators value the input of
everyone no matter what their status, experience. It is very important in a
classroom. When a teacher facilitates then any situation can be handled very easily
[Hogan 2: 55].

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2.1. The difference between a teacher and a facilitator
A teacher leads a group of students in acquiring new skills, knowledge, or
understanding. Most subject area involves telling and teaching the students.
A Facilitator helps/makes it easy for students to learn together in a group, or
to achieve something together as a group. Involves helping the students to discover
by themselves.
When we hear the word teacher first thing comes to our mind, a person who
guides a group of people. However, facilitating a group and teaching a class are
two different things. According to Clapper, in his article named „Moving away
from teaching and becoming a facilitator of learning‟ he showed how teacher’s
role and role Teacher as a Facilitator are different from each other. In his article, he
portrayed two images. The first one is a traditional teacher who controls the whole
class. Always stands in front of the class, follows a lesson plan that has been
planned years ago etc. On the other hand, he explained how a facilitator facilitates
a group to reach a particular goal. Moreover, a facilitator communicates with their
students, believes in student, facilitates students according to their needs, makes
lesson plan depending on student’s requirement etc. Likewise, he also added how a
facilitator combines a classroom and works as a group, encourages students to
participate, works as a prompter, exhilarate learning process. In opposite a
traditional teacher always maintains a certain distance with their students, in class
there is only one way communication, students speaks only when their teachers ask
them like asking close ended question or read out from a book or board etc.
Clapper says both teacher and facilitator pursue different techniques while teaching
their students. A teacher always applies the traditional procedure like explaining,
writing on board and asks students to write it from the board etc. But a facilitator
becomes one of the participant forms groups, uses different tools, gives chance to
their students to explore knowledge by themselves and work as information source
etc. Therefore, William and Dunn also drew attention by expressing difference
between teacher and facilitator based on assessment procedure. Teacher always
follows summative which means quizzes, midterms, final projects etc.[William
and Dunn 5: 176]. In the case of facilitator, where student‘s achievement and
learning is the only goal. By providing constructive, positive and Teacher as a
Facilitator shape up students result, make them proficient, and creates a trust in
them that they can do anything [Clapper1:3].

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2.2. Teacher’s Effective Ways to Facilitate
What does it mean when we say, “Teachers are the facilitators of learning?”
This resonates the importance of interaction: if you listen, you forget; if you
see, you remember; and if you do, you learn. Hence, the modern academic world
has introduced constructivism inquiry based on learning which believes in the
learner-centeredness in education. Students or learners have become a prime
focus of all the teaching learning activities in the classroom
Teacher’s Effective Ways to Facilitate
Motivation: need to make daily life enjoyable + rewarding experience
Catching up with students’ knowledge
Preventing tendency of thinking you are an expert (do not be afraid to say
I do not know)
If you want to learn something new, teach it.
Find interesting material.
Be a good listener.
Do not be afraid to delegate and empower.
Determine right questions.
Be creative – not stick to strict curriculum.
Ongoing professional training specially improving self + seminars.
Reflect and evaluate your performance.
Facilitative teacher should:
Be flexible.
Be creative and up to date.
Use different techniques.
Show students you love them.
Do not repeat the same things year after year (for example, after 20 years of
teaching you teach in the same way as your 1st year of teaching).
Offer skills that lead to learning.
Surprise your students.
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Do not focus on yourself.
Respect each one of your students. Each one is different and special.
Do not make fun of your students.
Listen actively and comprehensively to your students.
During the transitional period from a teacher to a facilitator, you need to be aware
of your techniques so as not to go backward into being a teacher
Giving positive feedback

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 Conclusion:

The research shows how facilitation affects students learning. Moreover,

how teacher is different from a facilitator. A traditional teacher is a person who
teaches and students only learn. Till now teachers follow traditional teaching
methods. If we try to facilitate students then learning would be double. Result
would be more positive, effective for students. It will promote students’ confident
adaptability by enhancing their security and making them aware of their power and
worth. Any new thing seems difficult but when we apply it then it becomes easy as
water.

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 Reference

1. Clapper T.C. Moving away from teaching and becoming a facilitator of

learning (2009).
2. Hogan C. Understanding Facilitation. London (2002).
3. Scrivener J. Learning Teaching, Macmillan Publishers. Ur, P. (1994).
4. Vienna S. The role of teacher as facilitator (2008).
5. William and Dunn Difference between Facilitator & Teachers (2008, p.
176).

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