The FDP program is a thoughtful and delightful course of study working to meet the needs of a growing worldwide network of facilitators. The content is powerful, the practices transformative, the community grounding, and the teachers supportive. I highly recommend this program to anyone whose passion or path in life has led them to deepen their devotion to the planet and to be of service in this way.
The Work that Reconnects has changed my life, and now, so has the Facilitators Development Program.
Rachael Alaia Helschein, Mexico
Work That Reconnects Spiral Journey Facilitator Development Program 2020
Context and Content: The year long FDP online Program will follow the Spiral of the Work and use primarily “Coming Back to Life” and “Active Hope” as the core texts with additional resource material on anti-oppression/ anti-racism, facilitation skills, working with trauma, overviews of global challenges, and living the great turning with support from mindfulness, nature connection, diversity, and joy.
In this moment in history, people are waking up to the realization that our society is not sustainable. Violence in its many manifestations is causing pain and suffering. Climate disruption, systemic racism and oppression, endless war, and our political reality are some of the things creating fear for our people. We need ways to reduce fear and heal from trauma. People are looking for community and ways to be with the pain they experience from what’s going on in the world. They also want to find their particular gifts and how they can contribute to the Great Turning. This program will give facilitators the support needed to make this transformational journey themselves and to assist others on the path to coming back to life.
One’s ability to guide others through the Work That Reconnects is enhanced by one’s own personal work, knowledge of and engagement in social and ecological challenges, developing one’s skills as a facilitator, and working to dismantle the socialization that has lead us to behave in ways that continue oppression. This course will weave all these dimensions together.
Our text books for this course include Coming Back to Life and Active Hope, along with other materials on environmental challenges, systemic racism and other social justice issues, and facilitation skills. Those participating in the program will also be expected to do homework between webinars, participate in regular study circles as well as engage in personal/spiritual practices and community activism. Perhaps most importantly this program will help build a widening community of facilitators who support each other through sharing resources and experiences, as well as helping each other face the difficult times ahead with open hearts and minds.
The trainers/facilitators of the 2019 Program are Molly Brown, Mutima Imani, and Constance Washburn, along with guest teachers who have extensive experience in facilitating the Work That Reconnects.
Program topics will include; WTR theory; systems thinking, deep time, the spiral, deep ecology, The Great Turning, confronting and exploring together current social, environmental, political, racial, and spiritual crises as well as facilitating WTR practices; workshop design; principles of inclusive, respectful facilitation; group process; awareness of power, privilege, and systemic white domination and racism, as well as “best practices” for counteracting that social conditioning. We will also explore what it means to be living the Great Turning: exploration of how each of us makes the Great Turning real in our personal, spiritual, and community lives.
Structure The 2020 FDP will begin in early 2020 with the introductory webinar and then we will send out February prep work to all members of our learning community; this will be readings and videos to read and watch before our first webinar. There will be monthly prep work and monthly webinars on the second Saturday of the month through the yea There will be at least 2 - 4 hours of homework per month as well as requirements for individual practices, meetings with a study circle and with an ally in the Work between webinars. Participants will also plan and present a Work That Reconnects workshop, either in partnership with other participants or solo depending on geography and resources.
Tuition The cost of the program is $2,000, with a sliding scale between $1,500 and $2,500 for those in need of scholarships or those who can pay more. The more people who participate at the higher end the more scholarships will be available.
Application Here is a link to an Facilitator Development Program Application Form
Prerequisites Our experience with the first programs has taught us a lot, which we will integrate into the 2020 program. One change is that we are now asking applicants to complete a few additional prerequisites before January, many of which you may already have fulfilled.
At least 3-4 day in-person workshop in the Work That Reconnects. This is essential! And it could be fulfilled by a series of shorter workshops. See workthatreconnects.org for upcoming events.
Read Coming Back to Life (2014 edition) by Joanna Macy and Molly Brown, and Active Hope, by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone.
Anti-oppression training or study: (WhiteAwake.org and other online courses, webinars, books, and videos). Read “ What Does It Mean to be White? “ by Robin DiAngelo and Deep Times Journal issue August 2017
Group facilitation skills (professional experience, training programs, practice groups). Read Facilitating Group Learning by George Lakey.
Study of global challenges and engagement in any or all of the 3 dimensions of the Great Turning. (life experience, study/action groups, courses such as Pachamama Intensive, activist organizations, books and blogs)
Have a meditation or mindfulness practice or other self-resourcing tools. (personal growth trainings, EFT, psychosynthesis, meditation, yoga, prayer etc)
Learn more and become part of the Work That Reconnects Network. Thank you for your interest in the Work That Reconnects. To find out more about the Work and to sign up for workshops and retreats go to www.workthatreconnects.org. Sign up on the website as a friend of the Work That Reconnect to receive notifications and updates. We also recommend reading the Deep Times Journal for the most current thinking about the Work and to learn more about what the global Work That Reconnects community is up to.