We Shall Not Cease from Exploration…

All of us at Barefoot keep learning. We regularly put ourselves in new learning situations – being coached, supervised, and attending courses as delegates. We do it because we believe you can’t facilitate someone else’s learning if you’ve stopped learning yourself.

We are grateful to the International Coaching Federation (ICF), whose high standards require us to keep learning as an ongoing part of our professional practice and staying accountable to our clients, our delegates, our profession, and ourselves.

Every time we embark on learning for ourselves, we are reminded what it feels like to be on the ‘other side’:

• How much it matters that you feel significant, capable, and worthy of kindness, understanding and respect in a learning environment.
• How empowering it is to feel like an adult and have your prior life and learning experiences honoured and valued in the learning space.
• How important it is to have clarity before the course starts about the practicalities of the course: dates, timings, breaks, size of the learning group, what happens if you miss a day, assessment criteria, and opportunities to share any questions or specific needs you have.
• How vulnerable you can feel returning to a learning environment for the first time in years, and how reassuring it is to realise that you’re not the only one who feels that way.

Our experiences shape the way we design and deliver all our programmes. They remind us as tutors:

• To begin with a strong, negotiated group contract – a shared agreement about what people want, need, and don’t want from themselves, from others, from the tutor, and from the group.
• To build in plenty of space and time to think – with pauses, reflection, journalling time and generous breaks.
• To always start and finish on time which demonstrates respect and builds trust
• To encourage learners to be comfortable to ‘stay with the not knowing’ and banish comparisons with other members of the group.
• To avoid being “the sage on the stage,” and instead model vulnerability, curiosity, and not knowing everything.
• To use personal anecdotes with care so that the focus stays where it belongs: on the learners, not the tutor.
• To make the learning experience practical, stimulating and memorable.

Adult learning theories are at the heartbeat of everything we do. They remind us that great learning environments are built, consciously and carefully, so that everyone feels safe enough to stretch and supported enough to grow.

T.S. Eliot wrote: “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”

Our own explorations ensure that every time we return to the role of tutor, we do so with fresh eyes and with renewed commitment to creating spaces where learning is adult, collaborative, transformative and enjoyable.