Modelling inter-personal relationships that promote class commitment and initiate group dynamics
Or (in common speak)
Creating Communication!

How do you give a sense of belonging to a stranger?
I teach Computing and one of the competencies I need to facilitate is to correspond by email. In the first class, (which is often the first contact the participants have at TAFE besides enrolment) I step all learners through the Groupwise email system, showing them how to read, and reply to emails, and how to use the address book. Once they are ready to send a message, and they have my email address loaded, I ask each learner to write me a message of introduction, to talk about themselves or anything else they wish and then to send it to me.
 
During the week I answer each and every email I receive, prompting the conversation to continue with appropriate questioning. I have created an environment where some learners will continue to email throughout the year. I find that this creates a personalised one to one relationship where the learner feels they can approach me anytime – either by email or in our face–to–face class time. I also gain the trust of the learners.
 
The learners in my class feel as though they now know someone within TAFE who is immediately approachable. I have found that even when they go on to the next level certificate, (where I am not their facilitator) they will still email me with their general TAFE questions.
I have also made myself more approachable face-to-face by showing that I am interested in what they have to tell me and have effectively created a personalised, friendly and nurturing environment. I have also found that the people in my class will often seek me out to talk about problems.
 
Much to the agony of new learners, the old “Lets get to know everybody” scenario, where each new learner in their first class would be asked to stand up and say their name and a bit about themselves, is still being used. This exercise is valuable to the facilitator though, in order to meet new learners, remember names and to know something about them. This old way is, in my opinion, not suitable for adult learners who may feel that they have been treated like a child because of the primary school memories it brings back and it can be embarrassing.
 
I have found that learners will contribute in class by firstly being outspoken in reply to my questions as individuals. They feel more relaxed responding to my questions as we “know each other now”. They trust that by answering my question they will not be embarrassed if front of people they don’t yet know. Some of these answers then initiate another question or answer from a different learner and the conversations and discussions are encouraged and continue to grow in this way. Communication then becomes “catchy” within the class environment because communication and trust has already been established with me and is looking to “grow” further with relationships with the people in the immediate surroundings.
 
The trust gained by myself from individual learners has then contributed to the confidence gained by learners to be outspoken, committed learners who can communicate and work within a team, forming many lasting friendships with many different people.

It would be great to find out what you think about the following questions or any other issues that reading my article may have prompted.
 
How do you initiate a work-group of people, who don’t know each other, to work together on team solutions?
 
Do you think inter-personal relationships are important between learners and facilitators?
 
Would they make any difference to the individual outcomes for each learner?