Empowering Learners by Stepping Back

As teachers and as leaders, so often we take the role as the facilitator - the one who delivers content, who leads the meeting, who plans and designs the lesson. And it's hard at times to step back and let those learners in our spaces glow in the full spotlight they deserve. Many of us have felt this as we facilitate virtual professional learning and virtual lessons and recognize how long wait time can truly feel. We discovered how hard it can be at times to stay silent, to wait for those responses, to step back and allow our learners to step forward.

Consider some of the facilitation moves that you can make either as a teacher, a leader, or a professional learning facilitator that allow you to shift to the side but not offstage entirely, and give those learners in your spaces a chance to shine.

• Is there a way that you can better facilitate conversation?

• Is there a platform or a tool that you might utilize to invite more voice and construction into your spaces instead of always just content delivery?

• Are there reflection prompts that you might use that enable learners to feel as though the space is truly theirs, and they have the room to discover not just where they are presently in the learning but what their next steps will be?

As we reflect on all the different ways we can empower learners in our spaces, step back.

Pause. Don't be afraid of the silence.