PROJECT NATURECONNECT
Institute of Global
Education
Special NGO Consultant to the United Nations Economic and Social
Council
CREATING MOMENTS THAT
LET EARTH TEACH
....
Psychological Elements of Global Citizenship:
The Science of Connecting With the Web of Life
The Art of Thinking With Nature
Guidelines Regarding a Co-Facilitator's (F's )Role:
Co-Facilitators are interns or professionals with experience and expertise in the content and process of this course described at
http://www.rockisland.com/~process/5grglobal.html
and index/scheduled at
http://www.rockisland.com/~process/5grnchaindex.html
and alternatively at
http://www.ecopsych.com/5grnchaindex.htmlPlease be aware that the whole course is also available at the http://www.ecopsych.com/ site so if people have trouble finding pages at Rockisland they can apply the same html to the ecopsych server
Please re-familiarize yourself with these web pages so you may assist the interact group with them when necessary.
PURPOSE: Co-facilitators help the webstring sense of reason, especially in the new brain, respect and enjoy the reasonableness of learning how to consciously experience webstring sensory attractions in nature and people, and verbally share them to help improve relationships with people and Earth.
They further master the Natural System Thinking Process by teaching people how to learn from it.
F's helps the official course Instructor organize the course mailing list, schedule and administrative needs of the course.
F''s help people trust the course and its participants by helping them determine and consent to the course schedule and painstakingly meet their commitments to it. No better way to undermine an interact group than by urging folks to trust each others words and then have this trust broken by people breaking the commitments they make to the group.F''s help participants find answers for themselves through the course procedures and conscious contact with natural phenomena. They support participants' efforts and experiences in this regard.
The goal of a facilitator is to help participants learn how natural systems work by enabling the participants to self-organize the course community to meet its goals through consensus based on webstring contacts.
Co-Facilitators (F''s):
F''s help course participants learn from unadulterated webstring contact with Earth and each other. They refrain from bringing in stories, questions or points of view that swing the course focus on their personal outlooks and beliefs instead of on the reconnecting process itself. Remember, names attached to the webstrings, other than the names that label sensations (hunger, thirst, gravity, smell, etc) tend to draw the senses out of the web of life model. That model is presently embraced and unchallenged in most disciplines, it offers common ground.
Other names risk siphoning off or triggering resistance from other belief systems and conflicting schizms and institutions (labels such as: indigenous science, spirit, Christ consciousness, relations, energies, God, chakra, etc) and for this reason I discourage their use on the course, even though each student may integrate them into his or her belief system privately. It is the scientific, objective, process of learning how to make nameless webstring contact with Earth/nature in natural areas that nurtures the strings. It brings to mind what we biologically and psychologically hold in common. A facilitator's familiarity with a reviewed journal article will be of help in this regard.
F''s recognize that, like nature itself, the course is most effective when the facilitator is not needed because the participants have been attracted to engaging in the responsibilities assigned to the facilitator.
F''s help participants stay within the course guidelines, especially with respect
- to not saying one thing and then doing another,
- unwittingly becoming attracted to nature negatives (Please familiarize yourself with Chapter 13, Reconnecting With Nature)
- quoting outside expertise rather than owning information and beliefs.
- placing disconnective cultural names, labels or values on webstrings that represent them as creations and properties of contemporary society rather than as nameless attraction essences that pervade nature.
F''s may
- participate as students and engage in the course activities and discussion. This has proven to be the most effective and safest way to facilitate a group. Guidance then comes from webstring contact, shared knowledge and community spirit. It reduces the tendency to see the facilitator as a teacher or wrangler.
- choose to limit their participation to that of a guide when help is needed,
- express their attraction to and appreciation of people participating in the course by saying thank you or giving other encouragement individually or collectively for participants' posting to the group.
- or find an attractive balance between the three.
Most groups report that the facilitator who particpates in the activities is the most helpful. Some facilitators save their posted activity experience descriptions from their coursework and share the same material again with new groups they facilitate. This gives them the capacity to work with many groups at a time.
F'' are encouraged to follow their attractions with regard to requesting and receiving information about how they can be most helpful to the course and other evaluations of interest to them. Suggestions for ways to constructively communicate with participants and not be seen as a wrangler are located in Well Mind, Well Earth, Chapter 17. A safe, effective way to facilitate is to do the activities along with the the group and use that common relationship as a source of supportive communication through activated webstrings.
F''s agree to help update the course description if weak areas are found in it.
F''s are encouraged to reaquaint themselves with the course and changes in it before they start with the group. They are also encouraged to join discussion and news groups and introduce the webstring process to others there who are ready for it.
F's are encouraged to encourage promising students to continue learning the Natural Systems Thinking Process via additional courses and the degree programs.
Facilitators help students fill the following assigned roles in their group and cover a role if the student is having difficulty with it.
A: Group Consciousness and Communication Supporter:
This person notes if all particpants are online and in communication by helping participants make a group address list. Using the group address list, one letter goes to all in the group, including me, and all responses to it go to all in the group, including me. The "GCC person" also observes during the course if the time schedule is working OK or if it should be modified by group consent. If you've had experience with making group addresses, your help with this is most welcomed by less experienced participants, no matter what role you assume.
B. Participation Supporter:
On the agreed upon due dates for sharing activity experiences, notes whether all participants have sent their activity responses to the group or made other arrangements. If a participant is missing, the Participation Role person lets the group know this and tries to help the missing participant get their responses posted to the group
C. Agenda Supporter:
We all carry a tendency to get into side issues and experiences that may take so much time and energy that they ennervate or dissolve the group. We also have a tendency to want to teach what we think we know. The Agenda Role person keeps track if this is happening. He or she helps people get back to the interact group goal of helping each other learn by sharing what has been learned **doing the course activities and readings and then sharing what we learned from the sharing.**
D. Coordenation Supporter:
This participant observes if and when help is needed by the other support people or special areas where she or he can be helpful to group members or myself with the course. For those who want to learn how to facilitate groups, this is an excellent growing opportunity for one or more people. If you let me know you want to play this role I can refer you to some articles and Chapter readings in RWN that will helpfully provide guidelines. Sometimes a co-facilitor will be part of the group to help with this as well.
A stipend of $25.00 is optionally available to a non-student person who co-facilitates a course after having served as an intern facilitator for that course.
The course starts at http://www.rockisland.com/~process/5grglobal.html . Course participants do not normally receive the web address of the course schedule until the course commences. It is located at http://www.rockisland.com/~process/5grnch.html Facilitators are invited to reaquaint themselves with it as it may contain updates since they were last a participant.
Facilitators recognize that the Course philosophies, methods and materials are copyright and registered as property of Michael J. Cohen, Project NatureConnect and the Institute of Global Education and they are used by the facilitator with the expressed permission of these parties.
Do you have additions? Questions? Contact Mike Cohen at 1-888-285-4694, toll free, or email
PERSONAL PROTECTION SUGGESTIONS WHILE LEADING ON-SITE WORKSHOPS
collected by Mark Brody
Don't stray far into "wilderness" or other areas where communication and assistance are not readibly available if emergencies occur
Bring immediate first aid equipment and training with you, or have it available through other participants etc.
Use sites that are covered by public liability: parks, schoolgrounds etc. for on non-public lands there may be no insurance backup if things go wrong due to the landscape.
Carry an emergency cell phone so when help is needed, you can get it. Don't go into areas where cell phones don't work.
Have folks sign a liability release as part of the program's signup
Obtain a personal liability insurance policy for professional services rendered. Its often part of a homeowners policy.
From John: Scull
1. Most of my activities are day walks in public parks near town. Even
there, I carry a whistle (to find lost folks) and a cellphone (in case of
injury or medical emergency).
2. If I were going to do wilderness trips, I would not take responsibility
for them myself. Instead, I would arrange with one of the local ecotourism
companies to provide the adventure and I would provide only the
ecopsychology. These companies have trained staff, licenses, insurance, etc.
INSURANCE
1. I carry professional liability insurance as a psychologist and my
regular office and homeowner policies.2. Environmental groups whose chapters do outings or have volunteers, such
as the Sierra Club, the Land Trust Alliance, or the Audobon Society, all
have group liability insurance and waiver forms. Some of my PNC activities
have been as a volunteer for local land trusts.3. Colleges, adult education centres, elderhostels, recreation centres,
etc., all have insurance. They will usually help with some other costs, too,
such as advertising and registration, so whenever possible I try to find a
sponsor.
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