PARTNERS

Partners  
24 Northbrook Road  
Dublin 6  
+353 1 667 3440  

INTRODUCTION

PARTNERS offers a range of possibilities in training and consultative interventions to the many requests it receives. While PARTNERS does organise some training events much of its work is tailor-made to the specific needs presented to it.

PARTNERS responds creatively and appropriately to the various requests for training, facilitation and organisational support made by organisations, groups and individuals, mainly in the community and voluntary sector in Ireland. Each piece of work is designed in dialogue with the participating group/s and individuals. This is achieved through information sessions, taster sessions, consultation and joint organisational responsibility.

Training for Transformation as used by PARTNERS is both a development/education process and a resource. As a resource it is a pool or reservoir from which we draw and design processes for specific purposes.

PARTNERS training work is characterised by a number of features:

• Integral to the work is a group learning process whereby a temporary learning community is created. This community building function of the learning is a key characteristic.
• The use of a variety of learning methods - discussion, art, simulations, role-playing, reflection, personal sharing, small group work, large group work, input etc.
• The intention of the learning is to build confidence, competence and commitment in participants as they engage in the creation of a society marked by equality, respect and participation and a particular concern for addressing the circumstances of the marginalized communities.
• The content of the learning is primarily shaped by the expressed needs of the participants.
• The learning has a problem posing and appreciative nature based on a belief that participants know their own needs and have the resources to address them.

CATEGORIES OF WORK

Outlined below are categories which describe some of the work which PARTNERS has undertaken in recent years. These categories illustrate the range of services PARTNERS offer. Within each category a whole range of possibilities exist and the final design around each piece of work is negotiated in two phases. Firstly, the intervention is designed in collaboration with the particular community or organisation making the request and secondly when the facilitators meet and begin to work with the participants.

Categories of Partners' work include -

• Training for Transformation course
• Facilitation Skills Training
• Intercultural Education
• Theme-based sessions e.g. Leadership, conflict, peace-building, power, etc.
• Supporting and resourcing existing/established organisations to strengthen their way of working in the community.
• Internal Capacity-Building
• Facilitating Problem-solving
• Working creatively in and with groups

TRAINING FOR TRANSFORMATION

Training for Transformation is an exciting intensive series of workshops which is often, though not always, run over 75 hours. It combines discovery, learning and action at the Personal, Interpersonal and Wider Society dimensions of life. A basic belief underlying the training is that community development and working for change needs to address these three aspects of life.

The main elements of the training are:

• Human Relations Skills
• Organisation Development
• Social Analysis
• The Principles and Methods of Paolo Freire
• Concepts Of Transformation

While the original length of the training was 75 hours different variations of it are sometimes organised to suit the needs of a particular community or organisation. The original 75 hour workshop can also be organised in different ways. For example:

1. Five weekends over a year.
2. A night a week for twenty weeks, plus two weekends.
3. 3 four day blocks over a year.
4. 12 consecutive days.

The training is designed primarily for:

• Local teams at community level, who will be in a position to work as teams/groups afterwards.
• Individuals involved in local organisations or in adult or community education.
• Individuals who are interested in, or want to become involved in their local community.

Each workshop is shaped to suit the particular group of people doing it, but a typical workshop would include:

• How can I improve my listening and communication skills?
• How can I work cooperatively in a group situation?
• How do I behave in a group?
• How can I deal with conflict constructively?

• What kind of a leader am I?
• What leadership styles are appropriate to different groups and situations?Personal Growth
• What talents and skills do I have?
• How can I be more confident?

• What do I see when I look at society?
• Why are things the way they are?
• What changes are needed and how can they be brought about?

• What issues are important in our community or locality?
• How can we identify these issues?
• How can we address them?
• How do we deal with apathy?

• What motivates me to do the work I do?
• What nourishes me in times of stress?
• How do I relax and renew myself?
• What values are important in my life?

CREATIVE FACILITATION

In recent years, Partners has been running one or two Creative Facilitation courses each year responding to several requests from facilitators who wanted to share in and learn from the Training for Transformation approach to facilitation.

The course is intended for those who are experienced facilitators and want to work in more creative ways or for anyone in a management or facilitative roles who wish to enhance their present approach to their work.

The OVERALL FRAMEWORK of the course includes FOUR DIMENSIONS

On the course we attend to four areas: theory, skills, practice/experience and the self. Each of these elements and the interplay between them is essential to good facilitation. It is our experience that in order to work confidently and competently, a facilitator needs

• A clear understanding and strong theoretical grasp of what they are about
• An ability to articulate what they are doing and why they are doing it
• A commitment to the values underlying facilitation and participatory practice
• A familiarity with and competence in a wide range of processes and techniques
• A willingness to review experience and reflect on practice.

Our aim is to enable participants to be

• better resourced (be familiar with and be competent in a range of methods) and
• more resourceful (have an enhanced ability to creatively respond to the demands and challenges of the moment).

The content of what we do is negotiated with the participants so that it is relevant and pertinent to their needs and context. It is also informed by the experience of the course facilitators. Among the themes and issues chosen by previous groups are: designing learning events and resource material for use in adult guidance, understanding key elements in group dynamics and development, decision-making (individual and group), facilitator styles, understanding and managing change and transition, making the most of adult experience in group guidance, creative processes, power issues, managing conflict, promoting participation and inclusion, supporting/nourishing the self etc.

In terms of process we are mindful of three things. We like to facilitate a high level of participation, we recognise that participants will have a variety of different experiences and we are also aware that there will be a diversity of personal learning styles within the group. So we tend to draw from a wide range of methods and resources. These include case studies, personal reflection, structured exercises, role play, reading, group discussion, design work, questionnaires, drama, art, movement etc. There is an emphasis on participants drawing on and sharing their own experience and working on real-life cases and scenarios.

By the end of the course we would see participants as being better resourced and more resourceful. By better resourced we mean that participants will be more competent in the appropriate use of a wide range of methods and processes, more confident and self-assured in their work with groups and individuals and more committed to facilitating adults in a way that is mindful of their rich life experiences. By resourceful we mean an enhanced ability to respond creatively and spontaneously to the often unforeseen and surprising challenges and demands which inevitably arise in work with groups.

INTERCULTURAL WORK

PARTNERS INTERCULTURAL PUBLICATION

In 2006 PARTNERS published a resource entitled Partners Intercultural Companion to Training for Transformation. This publication is a compilation of the exercises, processes, resources and reflections designed, developed or adapted by PARTNERS facilitators over a number of years. PARTNERS is presently developing a range of other development education/intercultural processes.

INTRODUCTORY COURSE TO PARTNERS INTERCULTURAL COMPANION TO TRAINING FOR TRANSFORMATION

Partners offers an Introductory 2 day Course on Partners Intercultural Companion to Training for Transformation..

The purpose of this 2 day course is four-fold. It offers a number of opportunities:

• An opportunity to learn about, become familiar with, and explore the thinking and principles behind the Companion.
• An opportunity to experience exercises and processes you might use with others.
• An opportunity to identify and prepare for ways in which you might use this resource in your context.
• An opportunity to explore and reflect on how you have been shaped by your own culture.

The two days take the form of a highly participative, experiential, hands-on workshop with handouts and suggestions about resource material for developing ideas and options people may wish to pursue.

This course is of particular interest to anyone who works in formal or non-formal settings with groups involved in community development, community education, adult education, development education and overseas development. It will also be of interest to those whose lives or work situations involve a significant intercultural dimension.

THEME-BASED WORK

This work is usually done in response to a request from a group or organisation who want to explore a particular theme or to be better resourced on a particular subject or issue.

Sessions in the past have included such subjects as – power, leadership, conflict, gender, group development, community development, change, appreciative inquiry, listening and listening surveys, Paolo Freire and his methodology, using codes etc.

SUPPORTING AND RESOURCING GROUPS AND ORGANISATIONS

Partners undertake a lot of work in this area and it varies from single pieces of work to on-going work and contact with a group or organisation over several years. Usually it would be with a group or organisation that has expertise in a particular area and who wish to enhance their practice by incorporating Training for Transformation resources, practice and methods into their way of working. They often approach PARTNERS saying their wish is to work in a more participative, inclusive, creative, and overall, in a more process oriented way. Work of this nature has been undertaken with community development and other networks, persons involved in drugs work, health care workers, adult guidance counsellors, community and adult education practitioners and many others.

GROUP/ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, CAPACITY BUILDING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING

The primary purpose of this work is to affirm and support groups or organisations as they face development challenges. The work varies enormously and could include such things as evaluation, planning, team-building, managing conflict, refocusing, problem-solving, reflection or nourishment days, improving communication or dealing with specific pertinent issues.

This work is tailor-made to the needs of each specific group at any particular time.

WORKING CREATIVELY IN AND WITH GROUPS

These workshops are designed specifically for the group requesting them and vary in length depending on the group’s need. Main elements often include –

• • What is a group?
• Group dynamics
• Task/Process/Relatiionships
• Creating safety in a group
• Ensuring participation by all
• Team-building
• Planning and evaluating
• Conflict management
• Decision-making

WITH WHOM AND FOR WHOM DO WE WORK

Among the groups and organizations with whom we have worked are the following:-

• Community Development Projects
• Family Resource Centres
• Community Education Groups
• Community Drugs Teams
• Local community Groups
• Peace and Reconciliation Groups
• Neighbourhood Work
• Adult Education Guidance Service
• Development Education Groups
• Migrant Groups
• Partnerships
• Local Development Companies
• Travellers Groups
• Health Workers
• Youth Workers
• Support Agencies
• Intercultural Groups
• Disability Groups
• NGO’s –National & International
• Statutory Agencies
• Parish groups
• Third Level Colleges
• Housing Associations
• Religious Groups
• Overseas Development Organisations

COMMENTS

WHAT PARTICIPANTS HAVE SAID ABOUT OUR COURSES AND TRAINING

Partners engages in a wide variety of work. We find some of the following categories useful in describing the kinds of work we do: Training for Transformation courses; Creative Facilitation Training; Internal Capacity-building; Intercultural Education; Theme-based sessions; and others. Below is a selection of comments by participants who experienced these various kinds of work over the last five years.

"In Partners the power of the group releases the potential of individuals and the whole group to work for change".

"For me the special thing about Partners was the radical centrality of participation. The dignity of the person and their participation is valued in a way that few other systems value people".

"I joined Training for Transformation in September 1999, to be honest I don't think any of us got what we expected - not that we really knew what we expected either! Like anyone else I found it nerve-wracking meeting a new group of people and the prospect of growing together was at times quite daunting. TfT is something I sell to others now. I keep thinking that if only another few people in our area had an opportunity like I had, then I know we could all make such a difference. We are only part of a whole; TfT taught me that I do have a greater role to play as a parent, a worker, a member of my community and as part of the fabric of the world. I feel very strongly as a result of TfT that I have a strong and valid contribution to make, I can make a difference. This time last year I wasn't so sure".

"Throughout the course, the emphasis was placed on the ability to listen to what is being said within your group and to take forward what the group collectively is identifying as the issues. This is essential in community work".

"Because I was given the opportunity to be involved in my own personal transformation journey I came upon learning that I never witnessed before. I work in the disability sector striving to create a just society. TfT gave me the wisdom to empower my peers to participate in their own development. Hence my setting up a course in my own community".

"TfT has enabled me to analyse those factors which have shaped and moulded my community in the past and those which continue to do so. The course has encouraged me to accept what I cannot change, and to attempt to improve the things that will make life better for the whole community. I feel the course enabled me to have a wider vision, a better understanding and a deeper insight into myself, my friends and my community. It was indeed an enriching experience".

"Two years ago, when I got the opportunity to participate in the TfT programme, I didn't know what to expect but I was intrigued enough to want to find out. The workshop took place over a five-month period and it brought together a diverse range of people who all brought their experiences to the group. Through a series of exercises we were challenged to explore personal identities and our relationship with our communities and, in a wider context, society. What emerged for me during the workshops was how society impacts on community which in turn affects our self-identity. I gained a deeper understanding of how communities relate to each other. The most significant learning for me was how the experience of being marginalised is the same, regardless of what the reason for the marginalisation is, i.e. being a working-class woman or being disabled. All marginalised people share the same struggle. The key to transformation is empowering people to recognise the political context, which they exist in , and how it shapes them. I used what I learned in the workshop in my work and in my community"

"I was very happy with the course content. The desire of the facilitators to have the content decided by the participants was unusual and very commendable. So the course was relevant and interesting"

"(.the methodology.) was very good. It helped to break the ice and I was able to understand everyone's point of view. It gave me the chance to interact intensively with the Irish women in the group. It gave me a different perspective".

"I am very happy with the end result of the course. I feel I have gained a lot of relevant information and experience regarding the different cultures present which I very much enjoyed".

"Main expectations were to get to know more about the various cultures participating, very happy with the course. Participating was a very positive experience for me- I would definitely recommend it".

"Having done the Creative Facilitation Training I would take on work with groups I previously wouldn't even have considered".

"What I really liked about how Partners worked with us was that it was just so practical. I began using the resources we developed the following Monday".

"We appreciated how much we had achieved as an organization and had a much clearer focus for the future".