The Art of Effective Facilitation: Developing and Sustaining Effective Cofacilitation Across Identities

Chapter 6

This chapter had a lot of very important information about establishing a good foundation for cofacilitation. I found this chapter very helpful especially because this is Brice's and my first year working together so it is imperative that we lay a good foundation for the rest of the year. One thing the chapter pointed out is that practicing these things will not only improve the quality of the relationship between Brice and I and how we work together, but also as a model for participants to build relationships within the group.

Two things that I learned the most from this chapter are being able to develop my own social identity to become more confident in group dialogue and being able to work with and around triggers. It is important to develop my own sense and definition of my identity that includes each and every integral part of my being. With that being said, that doesn't mean that I have to stay silent in situations because I am afraid or doing or saying the wrong thing if I am not a person of that identity. This isn't speaking from the perspective of someone else's identity, but speaking up about something because I am trying to educate people on a topic from the perspective of all my identities working together.

I also learned that knowing your cofacilitators' triggers are very important to being able to to be aware of their disposition. Last week, Brice and I actually had a conversation about some of the things that may trigger us. I was happy to find out that some of them were the same, but some of them were different. From this, I feel like I am able to assist him better during dialogue and he is able to assist me. I also know how to not to trigger Brice so that we can continue to build our relationship.