« FACILITATOR TRAINING

Do you share a concern with others and want to be part of creating change as an effective group? Are you a facilitator who would like to refresh and experience new skills?

FACILITATOR TRAINING FOR NEW AND EXPERIENCED GROUP LEADERS may be what you’re looking for.

In a hands-on, practical workshop you will learn facilitation techniques for the purpose of working effectively with groups. You’ll develop the skills and confidence needed to create, facilitate and participate in groups and community development projects relevant to your own needs and the needs of others.

In this workshop you will experience some of the tools used by seasoned leaders, Joan Chandler and Lauren Best. They bring buoyancy and assurance to small group discussions, trust-building games and protocols, role-playing, reflective listening, reaching consensus, and the use of imagery, charting, brainstorming techniques. Together the group will explore such things as group dynamics, verbal and non-verbal communication, making agreements, and starting and running a group.

These techniques must be learned in a practical context, because they can only be learned and understood through participation in their actual use. “We learn from every group. There’s so much enjoyment in the purposeful, energetic, creative flow that happens in each unique project,” says Chandler. Whether you are young or mature, new to working with groups or an experienced facilitator, you will be invigorated by useful information and dynamic experiential learning.

FACILITATOR TRAINING FOR NEW AND EXPERIENCED GROUP LEADERS will be held on Saturday, January 30 from 9:30 – 4:30 at the Canadian Mental Health Association Grey Bruce, 1024 2nd Ave. E., Owen Sound. Pre-registration is required. The fee is $75. Scholarships are available for those with fixed incomes, and must be pre-requested and approved. Registration is required at least one week in advance of the workshop.

To register, contact Joan Chandler at sheatre@sheatre.com or 519-534-3039, or Lauren at laurenbest@gmail.com.

JOAN CHANDLER:
Joan Chandler is an award-winning producer, director, writer, arts educator and workshop facilitator. In 2015, Joan celebrated her 30th anniversary as the founding Artistic Director of Sheatre, a professional theatre company based near Owen Sound. She has led the collective creation of over 100 plays reaching about 95,000 people, led over 1,000 projects, and facilitated about 9,000 participants in groups in primarily under-served rural and small urban environments in Canada, the US and Europe. Joan has a keen ability to work with groups, collaboratively exploring ideas, and spinning new plays with, by and about their own stories and concerns. Her work is rooted in community arts processes and partnerships. She’s worked on a vast array of social issues and community celebrations. Theatre work includes the interactive forum theatre plays for youth Be Our Ally and Far From the Heart (film and play), community plays like The Dementia Play, and musicals including The Ballad of Kennedy’s, Snow Wonder and TOM (with david sereda). Joan is featured in the book Playing Boal: Theatre & Therapy.

LAUREN BEST;
Lauren Best is a passionate multidisciplinary arts educator and facilitator. She has designed and delivered interdisciplinary music and arts programming for all ages and walks of life, from infants and families to seniors, including professional development programming and mentorship for educators and social services professionals. She draws upon cross disciplinary collaboration in music, theatre, movement, digital media arts, and transmedia.

Lauren has consulted to Baycrest Hospital (Rotman Research Institute) as part of neuroscientific research. She has also consulted as a content specialist for music software product development. She worked as part of a cross disciplinary team writing new InterArt early childhood programs for the Royal Conservatory of Music, and has taught with the RCM’s acclaimed programs for research, schools, and community organizations. Lauren has taught and mentored as part of SmartStart InterArt Teacher Training Foundations at the Marilyn Thompson Centre for Early Childhood Education at the RCM, and is designated by the RCM as « Mentor Artist ». She has been trained in early childhood music education and has delighted hundreds of infants, young children, and their families with dynamic music and multi-arts programming.

Lauren’s self-produced debut album, Sticker Collection, has been heard coast to coast on CBC Radio 1 and Radio 2. She has shown her versatility as a musician and songwriter in genre-spanning solo and collaborative performances, recordings, and guest appearances. »

-submitted by Sheatre
Read Sheatre’s profile in ArtBridges Community-Engaged Arts Directory and Map