Values that Guide Facilitation

Whether you realize it or not, you most likely have personal values that affect your conceptualization of the facilitator role. These beliefs related to how group members work together and how a facilitator works with a group form principles that guide your work. The ground rules that you choose to use (Chapters 6 and 7) reflect your values to some extent. As a starting point to thinking about your own values, consider the following values of group work identified by Auvine, Densmore, Extrom, Poole, & Shanklin (1978):

Democracy: Each person has the opportunity to participate. The planning of the meeting is open and shared by the facilitator and the participants; no hierarchical organizational structure functions ...

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