There are many aspects to facilitating that I enjoy. One aspect, oddly, is the unexpectedness of it. While last week I was second-guessing myself, as I prepared a session for colleagues on Group Work, after the session it struck me that in some ways, it is that very uncertainty that is one of the joys. On the one hand there’s the stress attached to being uncertain whether one has truly sufficiently prepared for whatever might come up; on the other, the uncertainty of what might come up brings the unexpected gems, insights and ‘aha’ moments that are the magic of almost every session one teaches.

I am glad to say that the time I took to prepare for the Group Work session was well spent and well placed. It’s not only about making sure I have the confidence in myself; it’s important that my colleagues can trust me, can have faith that I will do the research, find the answers they’re looking for, explore the issues they face every day and come willing to engage with them and support them in their work. They deserve the best that I can offer; and that is indeed worth all the time and effort that takes.

I can see that also in our learning circle this week, continuing to explore how to create compassionate and caring classrooms. It was very special watching faculty and students engage together on this joint exploration. It got me thinking: why don’t we do more of this? Why is there still this divide between instructors and students? Logically I know the ‘historical’ reason behind this. My question to myself is, what’s stopping us doing this more often moving forward? Nothing; nothing at all. If we can imagine something, it can become a reality.