Workshop Facilitator Training Program

Group Training Program (delivered virtually) to help you create and facilitate professional development workshops for Early Childhood Educators. 

** Applications for this program are currently closed. Join the waitlist below. **

Who This Program Is For:

The Workshop Facilitator Training Program is designed specifically for child care professionals and Early Childhood Educators that want to learn how to create and facilitate professional development workshops for other Early Childhood Educators.

They may decide to facilitate workshops for other organizations in exchange for a fee, or simply create professional development workshops for their own staff and organizations. 


Program Outcomes:

At the end of 6 weeks, graduates of this program will be:

  • Able to create unique professional development workshop presentations
  • More confident in their abilities as a workshop presenter and group facilitator
  • Able to prepare and send proposals for getting hired as a workshop facilitator 
  • Invited to facilitate a live workshop for the Early Years Thriving Community
  • Added to our directory of Certified Workshop Facilitators (optional)

Curriculum & Schedule:

WEEK 1: Clarifying Your Philosophy & Workshop Topic 

During the first week of the program, you will learn how to identify and describe your core philosophies and beliefs about child care and child development, and from there, select a workshop topic that you feel confident teaching to other Early Childhood Educators. 

 

WEEK 2: Outlining Your Workshop Content 

During this week, you will learn how to structure an effective workshop presentation, create an outline for your workshop presentation content, and choose specific stories, examples, discussion topics, and activities to utilize throughout your workshop to help make it engaging for your participants.

 

WEEK 3: Enhancing Your Presentation Skills

During this week, you will learn how to enhance your public speaking and presentation skills and confidence as a facilitator, best practices for being an effective presenter (both online and in-person), and how to avoid many of the common presentation mistakes that contribute to a negative experience for workshop participants.

 

WEEK 4: Enhancing Your Group Facilitation Skills

During this week, you will learn how to effectively manage the participants in your workshop (both online and in-person), create a safe space for participants, encourage discussions, and minimize disruptive behaviour among participants. 

 

WEEK 5: Finalizing Your Workshop & Participant Materials

During this week, you will finalize the content and the design of your workshop presentation, plus prepare any additional resources for your workshop participants. 

 

WEEK 6: Creating Proposals & Getting Hired 

In the final week of this program, you will learn how to create a proposal for your workshop that can be submitted to other organizations for the purpose of getting hired as a Workshop Facilitator. You will also learn current best practices for establishing and maintaining relationships with organizations that hire facilitators in a professional manner. 

 

Your Program Facilitator:

Ana Valle Rivera is the Founder of Early Years Thriving (formerly known as Early Years Workshops). Ana has a diploma in Early Childhood Education from Douglas College, a Bachelor's Degree in Child and Youth Care from the University of Victoria, and is currently completing a Master's Degree of Professional Education from the University of Western Ontario. 

Ana's main purpose with her training is to inspire positive change in the early years by helping adult caregivers to think about the ways in which they can help children thrive. Since 2016, she has personally created over 50 unique professional development workshops, and facilitated over 300 live workshops (both online and in-person) for Early Childhood Educators across Canada. 


Testimonials From Facilitators:

Carli M.

PROGRAM MANAGER

I took Ana’s workshop on creating and facilitating workshops to help me build confidence in becoming a facilitator. Ana provided feedback and was always there to support me through building my workshop and presenting it. She answered any questions I had and gave me a lot of great advice. After I facilitated my first workshop with Ana she not only helped me during the facilitation process but also helped me understand how I could improve. After facilitating my second one I felt way more confident in my abilities and very well supported. Ana has also been willing to connect me with her wide-reaching network of organizations and individuals who hire early years facilitators. This has also increased my income potential. I recommend working with Ana and Early Years Thriving if you are seeking to start or level up as a facilitator. Ana is professional and easy to work with and genuinely cares about the success of the people she coaches. I look forward to facilitating with Early Years Thriving again!

Lobna A.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATOR

Attending the Early Years Thriving workshop about creating and facilitating workshops helped me as RECE and Early Childhood Leader ECL. It shaped my understanding of audience needs, facilitation methods, purpose and objective of facilitation for educators. Moreover, it opened a door for me to facilitate a workshop at the Early Years Thriving about micro-aggression in the ECE workplace. Working with Ana allowed me to facilitate with confidence and passion. Her motivation is highly appreciated as she believed in my potential and strengths and guided me with great tips to facilitate a successful workshop. Attending a workshop about creating and facilitating workshops was an eye-opener to learn more about adult education. It motivated me to enroll in the Adult Education Certificate program. Thank you Early Years Thriving and Ana for the great help for educators so they can learn, facilitate and thrive!


Frequently Asked Questions:

How soon do I have to apply?

Because this is a LIVE group training program that begins on Thursday, February 9th, 2023, the deadline to complete your Program Orientation Call and pay to join the program is Monday, February 6th, 2023.

Do you offer a Certificate of Completion?

Yes, any participant who successfully completes all the of training and assignments in this program will receive a Certificate of Completion. That being said, because the nature of this program does not directly relate to the quality of care that you provide to children, this Certificate is not meant to count towards professional development hours as an Early Childhood Educator.

Do you offer a discount for groups?

No, we do not offer discounts to groups. Every participant in this program will receive the same level of support and personalized coaching from the Program Facilitator, regardless of whether or not they have colleagues participating in the program with them. 

Can you guarantee that I will get hired as a Workshop Facilitator?

We cannot guarantee that you get hired as a Workshop Facilitator by any other organizations other than our own. What we can promise you is that if you do the work to create a workshop and send us a proposal (and this program will support you and coach you throughout this process), we will hire you to present your workshop to the Early Years Thriving community. Getting hired to create and/or facilitate a workshop for any other organizations will depend on a variety of factors that we cannot control including your ability to choose a compelling workshop topic, send proposals, and establish relationships with organizations that regularly hire facilitators.

What is your refund policy?

This program is delivered LIVE over a series of 6 weeks group training sessions, and although all participants will be given access to the recordings of the training sessions, no refunds will be offered to participants who "partially" complete this program or are not happy with the training provided. If you apply to join this program, our expectation of you is that you are committed to attending the live training sessions and completing all assignments in a timely manner. The objective of our application process and Program Orientation Call is help ensure you have an accurate understanding of program expectations and are likely to achieve the outcomes promised. If we are not confident in your ability to achieve the outcomes, we will tell you why and refer you to other trainings or programs that might be more suitable for you.


How To Apply:

To ensure that every participant in this program receives sufficient support and personalized feedback to complete the program, enrolment in this program is limited to a maximum of 12 participants. Participation in this program is by Application Only

To apply to participate in this program, click on the "Apply Now" button on this page, and then follow the instructions to schedule your Program Orientation Call. The purpose of this call is to ensure that this program is a good fit for you and to answer any questions you might have about this program before agreeing to participate. 

By agreeing to participate in this program, you are committing to attending all of the live training sessions and completing all of the assignments in a timely manner. No refunds will be offered to participants who "partially" complete this program. 

Applications for this program are currently closed. 

To join the waitlist for the next cohort, click on the button below.

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