Over the years, I've observed a lot of practitioners delivering training to groups. Recently, we've been working with a Careers company where, as part of their Level 6 qualification, the Managers had decided to choose: "Plan, deliver and evaluate career-related learning in groups" as an Optional Unit. The reason being to stretch, challenge and develop staff and take them out of their "comfort zone" of one-to-one interventions.

Let me tell you, have I seen some knees knocking?! While I appreciate "being observed" isn't everyone's mug of Bovril, the thought of standing up and delivering a session to a group of people has some Advisers threatening to emigrate!

With this in mind, I wondered what made you guys want to become trainers? When you look at the Standards from the qualification I Assess, do you think YOUR sweat glands would go into overdrive too if you had to think about every element of what you do, or are you "unconsciously competent"? The staff have to:

• Crticially analyse the theories of how people learn in groups
• Assess the learning needs of groups
• Deliver learning to meet the needs of groups
• Explain the principles of group dynamics and its impact on learning
• Manage group dynamics
• Manage the learning of individual group members
• Evaluate factors affecting learning in groups
• Understand the terms "aims" and "objectives" and how to plan sessions
• Evaluate learning resources
• Establish and maintain communication with groups
• Analyse facilitation skills needed to manage learning in groups
• Analyse how to manage barriers and risks to learning
• Analyse ways to motivate learners
• Critique methods of evaluating learning
• Use evaluation to shape future delivery

Blimey! I know I do all that (in one way or another) however, if I had to think about it, you'd have ME running to hide behind the water machine!!

Ade.