Training For Social Action Trainers

Training for Social Action Trainers
April 29-May 1, 2011
St. Paul’s School, 116 Montecito Avenue, Oakland, CA

Join us for an intensive training designed for experienced facilitators wanting to revitalize their work, new trainers wanting to inspire, teachers, community leaders, activists -- anyone wanting to take their skills to a new level and learn how training can be used more effectively.

WHY THIS WORKSHOP?
Training and facilitation skills are a key element to successful organizing and movement building. People who have these skills support the groups they work with by developing new leaders, transferring skills and knowledge between generations, creating more participation within their groups, introducing new and transformative concepts, educating and engaging constituents, supporting meetings and decision making, resolving conflict and providing training for successful, creative and disciplined actions. Yet, few people who play the role of educator, trainer or facilitator in their work are offered an opportunity to learn a framework for training that supports their experience or a chance to hone their skills among other trainers. Few organizations commit the time to helping their leaders learn the craft of training. With this in mind, The Training for Social Action Trainers (TSAT) is designed to give people the opportunity to develop a stronger sense of the training tools, approaches and choices that will work for them to be most powerful and useful in their trainer role. [Note: We also offer variations of the TSAT, such as the "How to facilitate strategizing [1]" which emphasizes tools that assist groups to strategize more effectively.]

AS A PARTICIPANT, YOU WILL...
• Gain greater awareness about yourself and your strengths as a facilitator;
• Get a chance to take risks, experiment and refine skills in a safe and supportive environment;
• Get the stimulation of fresh approaches and increased options;
• Receive personal guidance from experienced trainers in a small group setting ;
• Learn new tools that are easily adapted, principles of workshop design, skills for working with diversity and a better understanding of how to use experiential education methods effectively.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND THIS WORKSHOP?
Experienced and less-experienced facilitators, consultants and trainers...Activists and organizers wanting to use training more effectively in their work... Teachers, community leaders, pastors, consultants and others who want more experiential tools. The TSAT is a great way to get introduced to TFC’s training style if you are considering bringing TFC trainers to work more closely with your organization or if you may be considering taking other trainings that we offer. Anyone who takes the TSAT is then qualified to be a participant at TFC’s Advanced Training of Trainers, an extended 6-day intensive the delves more thoroughly into group dynamics, conflict in groups, and working cross-culturally.

GOALS
• To enhance workshop facilitation and design skills
• To increase the training tools you can use effectively
• To gain greater awareness of yourself as facilitator
• To meet and receive support from other trainers and learn about new developments in the field

WORKSHOP FORMAT
The workshop begins with dinner and registration at 6 p.m. Friday and runs until 6 p.m. Sunday. The workshop hours for each day are as follows: Friday, start 6:00 pm, end between 9:00-10:00 pm dinner provided Saturday, (8:00 am breakfast) start 9:00 am, end between 9:00-10:00 pm lunch and dinner provided Sunday, (8:00 am breakfast) start 9:00 am, end by 6:00 pm lunch and afternoon snacks provided Though the hours of this workshop are long, we've found that our experiential style helps keep people engaged, alert and energized through the weekend. We also provide time for short and extended breaks within our agenda and encourage participants to take care of themselves so that they can stay fully present. Please contact us in advance if you have questions or concerns about the long hours of this workshop. The workshop is designed as an experiential package with each session building on the previous session. We want to create the best learning environment possible for participants to absorb the combined learning of each session and therefore WE DO NOT ALLOW PARTIAL ATTENDANCE, you must commit to taking the entire workshop. The central components of this workshop help participants build their skills in the areas of creating safety and cohesion so that a group can do its best work together, using experiential activities to ellicit the wisdom of the group and guide their learning, working with diversity within groups, and principles of design that support stronger workshops. Throughout the workshop there are multiple opportunities for discussion about specific questions or challenges that you may want to explore in this workshop. The TSAT is a fun but rigorous workshop and as participants stretch themselves to become better trainers, strong emotions can surface. We do our best to support you to take care of yourself in this workshop and get the most learning out of challenging moments.

REGISTRATION
Contact Ken Preston at 510-967-4495, ken [at] globalexchange.org. The registration deadline for all TSAT workshops is 15 days prior to the start of the workshop. If the registration deadline has passed, you can still contact us to try to register but you may be added to a waiting list if the workshop is full.

FEE
This workshop costs $150 US-$375 US, sliding scale based on income. The fee includes over 23 hours of training, and meals during workshop hours. To determine your fee, use the chart below.

FEE FOR WORKSHOPS IN THE US
If your income or organizational budget is... You pay...

under $15,000 US $150 US
$15,001-$25,000 US $180 US
$25,001-$35,000 US $210 US
$35,001-$45,000 US $250 US
$45,001-$55,000 US $300 US
over $55,000 US $375 US

STAFF RATES
Are you being sent to the training by your employer? If so, don't use your income to determine the fee -- use the annual budget of the organization.