Understanding Different Roles within Groups

The chart below shows differences in dynamics, beliefs, roles, and responsibilities when groups are led by a “facilitator” and a “teacher”.

Of course, “facilitator” and “teacher” aren’t the only options in programming. In reality, there is often fluidity between roles, and all parties have knowledge and perspectives to share. Having fluidity between roles allows you to adapt to different needs within the group at different points within the program. 

Thinking about your program, when might you tend towards inhabiting the “teacher” role? Eg. teaching a specific skill or dispensing information or knowledge, such as sharing local history of a place with the group.

In some instances, the “teacher” role might be necessary, but it can also be a default setting that we’ve learned through our own experiences with the current education system. Revisit the situation(s) you identified above. Are there other approaches you could take? 

With the example of sharing local history with the group, there may be times where an Elder or knowledge keeper comes in to share the local history of a place and assumes the role of “teacher”. You could also use an activity to share aspects of local history, eg. by preparing cue cards with facts or important aspects of the local history for each participant to read aloud as a way to open the conversation and introduce the topic.