COM-60306 Facilitating Interactive Processes

Course

Credits 6.00

Language of instruction:

English

Mandatory knowledge:

COM-22804, COM-36806, COM-33806, COM-21306

Contents:

To deal with the complexity and novelty of many rural development problems, standardised processes often prove inadequate. Innovations are needed that can only be created when different stakeholders are able to share ideas, learn and decide together. Also critical in such processes is developing collective commitment and capacity for action. As interactive processes often bring together groups of people in new social configurations and asks them to undertake joint learning and negotiating their way towards acceptable outcomes, this challenges the communication skills of all those involved. Such interactive processes require facilitated dialogue. Without facilitation, important groups may be forgotten, critical views unheard, consensus forced and proposed solutions may be ineffective when implemented. Hence, it is important that professionals gain knowledge of facilitation methodologies, gain insight in the potential and limitation of different approaches, and acquire some basic facilitation skills. The course 'Facilitating interactive processes' aims at equipping 'new' professionals with such insights, knowledge and skills.
This course has the character of a practical for experimentation with, and critical reflection on participatory/interactive processes and methods. In doing so it builds on the conceptual ideas and context information presented in earlier BSc-B and BSc-C courses. The course enhances students' capacity to translate conceptual ideas into actual intervention practice.
This course forms with the course YSS-60806 the Academic Master Cluster for the MAKS programme.

Learning outcomes:

At the end of the course the student is expected to be able to:
- explain group communication and decision making processes, and the skills required to encourage full participation, promote mutual understanding, and foster inclusive solutions;
- explain group dynamics, team roles and the skills required for effective facilitation;
- describe and recognise critical key issues involved in facilitating interactive processes;
- describe and critically reflect upon various methods & methodologies, their underlying theories, their focus, potential use and limitations;
- analyse a situation (institutional context, stakeholder perceptions and -relations) to identify the issue-at-stake and to design an interactive process;
- recognise the historical and institutional embeddedness of change processes and to understand the ways of dealing with constituencies, organisations and institutions.

Activities:

Interactive lecturing, groupwork, case studies, presentations, and role-plays. Experiential learning is the base of the course.
In the course, students work in small groups to try and learn facilitation methodologies and skills. To enable everybody to practice, students' presence is obligatory from the start of the course till the end.

Examination:

50% groupwork and 50 % individual assignments.

Literature:

There will be a studyguide and a reader.