Avril Danczak is one of the most experienced and innovative educators in the North West of England, having been a GP and Educator for many years. She has worked widely to deliver medical education in both Primary and Secondary care. Her work emphasises the skilled and focussed use of facilitation to engage and challenge learners at any stage of their education and training. Her specific and interesting exercises maximise learning, even when time is short.
This book is a summary of these approaches being a collection of educational methods and techniques for clinical educators to use. Each method is fully explained, with the resources, pitfalls and applications set out clearly, so that educators can try them and know how to adapt them to a range of audiences. This book can be read cover to cover as a complete introduction to facilitation skills. It can also be used like a recipe book to identify methods that will work best for the different stages of an educational intervention. Thus, an educator may wish to find methods that ENGAGE and ENERGISE their participants, and subsequently use other skills to ENRICH and EVALUATE their educational activities.
Using this approach leads to the creation of a community of practice amongst learners, so that they develop the values and attitudes so crucial for effective health care. These methods enable learners to acquire the skills they need, as well as the knowledge that underpins their work.