The specialist course in Educational Project Design Through Strategic Facilitation will begin on March 17

On March 17, the Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences of Mondragon University and the radical learning laboratory TeamLabs will begin teaching a course entitled Specialization in Educational Project Design through Strategic Facilitation. The course is aimed at professionals in Education and aims to train professionals to be able to place those who will undergo the learning process at the center of the learning design process. The course has an academic load of 75 hours (3 ECTS), organized into two blocks: The Role of the Educator (1 ECTS) and Project Design (2 ECTS).

Description of the experience

The course is based on the idea that a successful training activity means placing the people who will undergo the learning process at the center of the learning design process. For this reason, the course focuses on the application of the principles of Human-Centered Innovation (HCI) when it comes to designing from the perspective of learning facilitation and innovation. The training will begin with an analysis of instruction and facilitation that will inspire a new way of doing things. Then we will move on to theoretical training and practical tools that will allow the participants to obtain and analyze information about the people for whom their learning project is intended, focusing on designing a prototype that will incorporate the needs of the end users of the project and that we will design collaboratively in teams.

Course objectives

The following are the three main purposes of the course:

1. To deconstruct the role of educator by offering a definition influenced by the connotations associated with the concept of facilitation.
2. To develop Design Thinking strategies and methodologies.
3. To design and develop a practical project in schools in small teams.

Skills to be acquired

At the end of this training, participants will be able to...

• Apply plastic, creative, curious and critical thinking to project design.
• Apply inductive and deductive analysis practices.
• Respond effectively and flexibly to complex situations.
• Design innovative projects for different teams.
• Strengthen their digital competence.
• Communicate ideas assertively.

Program

The learning experience consists of two main blocks: Facilitation and Project Design.

In Facilitation, the program will begin by answering the questions “What does learning facilitation and innovation consist of?” and “Is this model useful in our work?” To do this, we will work on the terms of facilitation and the role of the educator as a facilitator. In our teams, we will reach agreement about the do’s and don’ts of facilitation.

The second block focuses on the process/method we propose to develop a project. The approach we work on focuses on solving problems for people, HCI (Human-Centered Innovation). We will focus on designing a prototype based on the needs of the end users of the project we design.

Methodology

The program is structured to guide and support the group and individual learning of each participant using a double approach: autonomous learning through readings and current sources, and collaborative and facilitated work that provides context and tools to learn by doing, that is, by working in groups to design a training activity, course, or learning experience.

Four in-person workshops

The course will begin on March 17 and end on June 9, 2023. During the course, there will be four day-long workshops (8 hours each) at Bilbao AS Fabrik; that is, there will be a total of 32 in-person hours.

Workshop dates:

• WS 1: The Facilitator: March 17.
• WS 2: Project Design I: April 21.
• WS 3: Project Design II: May 5.
• WS 4: Presentation of Projects: June 9.

In addition, there will be synchronous sessions five and a half hours long to be scheduled for each group as well as follow-up of the project prototypes.

Cost and language

The registration fee is €1,350 per person. If two or more people from the same organization register, a discount of €135 (10%) will be applied beginning with the second person. The course will be taught in Basque and Spanish.

Experts

Agurtzane Martínez Gorrotxategi (Mondragon University). Agurtzane Martínez Gorrotxategi holds a PhD in Applied Pedagogy and is an expert in innovation and intervention in inclusive education. She currently works in the Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences of Mondragon University, participating in the Zehar research group, which focuses on methodological innovation linked to the paradigm shift in education, and learning facilitation and innovation from an inclusive perspective. She is also a member of the Ikerhezi research group, which focuses on researching and transferring educational innovation processes in order to generate knowledge to promote an innovative educational system that serves as a model at the international level. Agurtzane’s personal and professional life is based on committed, democratic, social justice practice, which has led her to work in education with vulnerable groups and groups at risk of exclusion. The environments and ecosystems in which she has participated with different functions have been diverse (formal education, special education, social education) and have granted her a global and holistic view of education.

Paloma Moruno (TeamLabs). Paloma Moruno is a designer and facilitator of group transformation processes in professional learning communities, and a trainer of teachers and management teams that believe in collaboration and in the power of diversity. She is an expert in guidance in the transformation processes of educational institutions and an educational psychologist. She holds Master’s degrees in Mediation and Conflict Resolution and in Planning and Innovation in Educational Institutions. She is an expert in Cooperative Learning and in Systemic Intervention in Organizations.

For more information

• Julene Gorrotxategi
• jgorrotxategi@mondragon.edu
• 600 02 27 20