Action Learning Support Groups

What is Action Learning

An Action Learning Set is a group of people who come together with the purpose of learning from and with each other – generally between 3-4 people

Individuals work together at the set meeting to enable others to move forward with an issue, problem, opportunity or aspiration which is important to them

Typically, an Action Learning programme is made up of between 4-8 meetings lasting between 1.5-3 hrs over a 7-12 month period

Action Learning is a place where the set members are not there to provide answers but to help others to find the right path to follow through the use of questions, probes, challenges, sharing of experiences and mindful support

Action Learning involves progressive self-facilitation so that participants can practise the approach in their own contexts beyond the life of a programme

How we integrate Action Learning Support Groups into Mindful Mentoring Level 1

During the course of training new members of the network also learn how to work in an action learning set of three or four to support one another’s personal and professional development.

You will meet online once a month over the four months of the Level 1 course giving each other 20-40 mins each to work on a work-based problem, issue, opportunity or aspiration you need to engage with.

The peer support process of action learning is similar to co-counselling. This means you are still practising co-co in your set but focused on what actions you need to take to progress a real-world project or aspect of professional development with the support of peers.

We call it mindfulness-based action learning in the network because participants are expected to apply any of the wisdom-based self-care practices you decide are relevant for the action learning. For example you may need to work on the motivation to do something challenging (self-care practice 1), or work through some of the negative emotions affecting your teamwork or leadership (self-care practice 2), or decide the right course of action to take when facing conflict or dilemma (self-care practice 3), or practise how to keep calm and focused when teaching a difficult group of students (self-care practice 4) etc

At the end of the Mindful Mentoring training the set should feel confident to continue as a self-organising support group if it wants or is free to form other sets in the network for ongoing support.

How to do Action Learning

The training group adopts a set of ground rules including strict confidentiality, supportively listening to other people, asking questions but not expressing opinions if unasked for, commitment to the course and taking responsibility for your own learning.

Learning to be the Presenter: the person presents their issue to the set in order to reflect on it and to design new ways of progressing it. The outcome of this time is a set of action ‘points’ that the presenter decides to take on and which he or she intends to complete before the next set meeting. During this time the other set members act as supporters. After determining their action points the presenter will be able to report back reflecting on what they have learned at the beginning of the next session.

Learning to be a Supporter: supporter skills include listening, observing, commenting and questioning the presenter with the aim of helping in the exploration of the issue and in forming the new action points. They are guided by the Presenter who requests the kind of intervention most helpful to them and who always stays in control of their own agenda.

Learning to be a Facilitator:  the role of the set facilitator is to enable this interaction to be most useful to the presenter and keep the time. Because in ‘normal’ interaction in groups people rarely concentrate on one issue at a time, controlling the process can require skill so that the support is always aligned with what the presenter says is helpful. As set working becomes familiar to set members they take on the roles of supporter and presenter more easily and the role of the facilitator declines to the point where a mindful peer action learning set will be self-facilitating.

Embedding Action Learning Skills in the Network

Presenter Skills

1.1 Learning to Receive

1.2 Asking for what you need

1.3 Taking control of the process

1.4 Action planning

  

Supporter Skills

2.1 ‘Is what I am about to say helpful to the presenter?’

2.2 Recognising that each person is the world expert on their own problem

2.3 “What does it feel like to be that person with that problem?”

2.4 A spirit of trust and confidentiality

2.5 Listening

2.6 Learning to give

2.7 Learning how to ask good questions

2.8 Giving time for reflection

2.9 Helping peers generate their own action plan

 

3 Facilitator Skills

The role of the facilitator involves empowering and enabling a group of individuals to take responsibility for their own learning through creating an environment that helps the individual to pursue ideas in a way that best suits them. The Facilitator is there to help the process of learning and should be non-directive. Key functions of the facilitator are: Time Management, agreeing structure of session, facilitating Presenting skills, facilitating Supporting skills.

3.1 Dimensions and Modes of Facilitation John Heron (in the Facilitator’s Handbook Kogan Page 1989) describes six dimensions of facilitation. In each dimension the Facilitator is concerned with a different question.

  1. Planning Dimension is concerned with the group’s aims and the programme it should undertake to achieve them. The question here is how shall the group acquire its objectives and its programme?
  2. Meaning Dimension is to do with group members’ understanding of what is going on, with making sense of his/her experiences. The question here is how shall meaning be given to and found in the actions and experience of set members?
  3. Confronting Dimension is concerned with raising members’ consciousness of what it needs to do and deal with. The question here is how shall the group consciousness be raised about issues it needs to face (and may be avoiding)?
  4. Feeling Dimension is to do with the management of feelings of the set. The question here is how shall the set’s emotional life be handled?
  1. Structuring Dimension is to do with methods of learning. The question here is how can the groups learning experience be structured?
  1. Valuing Dimension is concerned with creating a supportive climate which recognises and respects the individuality of each set member. The question here is how can such a climate of personal value, integrity and respect be created?

3.2 The modes of facilitation are described by John Heron as follows:

  • Hierarchical Mode – when the Facilitator trains the set, directs its learning  and does things for the set
  • The Co-operative Mode – the power is shared with the set. The Facilitator prompts and helps the set members, guides processes and negotiates the programme of sessions.
  • Autonomous Mode – the Facilitator respects the autonomy of the individuals in the set, does not do things for them, does not decide what they will do, but creates conditions in which the group provides peer support for autonomous project-based learning.

 

Preparation for next session

Complete the action points from the previous session

Sharing an update by email may enable more efficient use of time in the session

  • Describe the main issues arising for you since the last set meeting.
  • What do you want to concentrate on in your presenting time?
  • How much time would you like for this?
  • What other issues would you like discussed?

Sharing any ‘on top’ issues that may be affecting the Presenter at the start of the next session

Consider in advance what kind of help she would like from the set members in her own time, for example:

  • Coming prepared with a particular aspect of the project that the presenter has identified as being current and one the set can really help with.
  • The presenter presents their problem and remains silent, not steering the discussion in any way.
  • Talking through the problem with one set member, whilst the others observe then feedback after.

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 Supporting Teacher Wellbeing and Mental Health : Sustaining Mindful Teaching and Leadership : Skillsharing for Peer Supervision and Self-care

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