I’ve run countless workshops for teachers over the years. Most of them go well—laughter, lively discussions, positive feedback. But there’s one exchange that stays with me:

Me: Did you enjoy the workshop? Participant: Oh yes, it was a lot of fun. Me: Would you use any of these activities in your classroom? Participant: (pause) Umm… no, I don’t think so.

This response isn’t rare. In fact, it’s remarkably common.

Teachers cite all sorts of reasons: 🕒 No time. 📘 Pressure to finish the syllabus. 👥 Classroom management issues. 🏫 Institutional expectations. 😕 Or simply, “It’s not really my style.”

But what matters most isn’t the reasons—it’s what they reveal: The workshop was enjoyable, but not applicable. It didn’t lead to change.

And that’s the paradox at the heart of so many traditional training sessions: We engage teachers in professional development that doesn’t meet them where they are.

It’s time we stop treating teachers as passive consumers of ready-made solutions. They are co-creators. And their professional learning should reflect that.

🎭 Facilitation as Expression and Empowerment

Facilitation isn’t just about keeping time or managing discussions. It’s an expressive craft. A skilled facilitator creates space for teachers to share openly, sit with uncertainty, and explore challenges without fear of judgement.

In Community Forums, facilitation becomes the engine of transformation. It’s not about giving answers—it’s about creating conditions where new insights can emerge. It’s about shared ownership, not top-down delivery.

🔄 From Trainer to Facilitator: A Brave Shift

Facilitating means stepping back. It means trusting participants to surface the issues that matter to them, and to make meaning together.

This takes courage—and it takes skill. That’s why Community Forums focus on building facilitation as a performative skillset:

🎧 Listening with presence ❤️ Responding with empathy 🌀 Guiding without directing 🌱 Holding space for growth

When we move from delivering content to co-creating experience, something powerful happens: Teacher development becomes real. Relevant. Human.

And that’s what it should be.

🌍 Want to explore this approach with like-minded educators?

Join my free online community: Performative ELT — a space for teachers, trainers, and teaching artists interested in embodied learning, facilitation, and drama-based approaches to professional development.

✨ Share your ideas ✨ Try out new techniques ✨ Be part of a movement redefining teacher education

👉 Join here and help us reimagine what teacher development can be.