GRADschool facilitator training

The GRADschool facilitator training is a one day workshop designed for anyone who is planning to be a facilitator on a GRADschool programme run by a UK higher education institution.  The workshop provides an opportunity to:

• understand the GRADschool design and process
• appreciate the role and skills of a GRADschool facilitator
• understand typical situations you might encounter and how to deal with them
• practise facilitation

Workshop programme

The workshop is run by a team of experienced GRADschool facilitators and covers the following areas:

• what is a GRADschool?
• the purpose, structure and delivery method of a GRADschool
• the roles and responsibilities of the course manager, course administrator, course director and the facilitator team
• review of an example GRADschool programme
• provides a step by step guide as to what to do prior to the course, what to do on the course, and what to do after the course, including critical points on a GRADschool and how to deal with them
• provides participants with a GRADschool facilitator toolkit, which is a resource to help support with the group facilitation
• provide an opportunity to practice facilitation techniques

GRADschool facilitator workshops in 2011

There are currently two GRADschool facilitator workshops scheduled this year on the following dates:

• Thursday 3 March 2011 (Edinburgh)
• Thursday 24 March 2011 (Birmingham)

These workshops are free to attend for those working for a UK higher education institution.

Overview of the GRADschool programme

GRADschools are experiential learning courses designed to develop the transferable skills of postgraduate researchers. Many researchers who attend the course have a transformational experience, empowered to take charge of their own learning and career.

Courses are three to four days in length, residential or non-residential and designed to enable postgraduate researchers to:

• develop their personal effectiveness
• identify ways to communicate effectively
• make more informed choices about their future and own and manage the next step of their careers.