Training in the art and science of facilitation to scale research mentor training in low and middle income countries
Advancing biomedical research in low and middle income countries (LMICs) to expand the capacity for LMICs to integrate biomedical research into their health care systems and education has been the focus of many programs in global health over the past two decades. Central to the success of these prog...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Education |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1270480/full |
| _version_ | 1797383339424874496 |
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| author | Bennett B. Goldberg Erasto V. Mbugi Fatima Kyari Sara E. Woods Emmanuel Balandya Denise Drane Rifkatu Reng Deodatus Kakoko |
| author_facet | Bennett B. Goldberg Erasto V. Mbugi Fatima Kyari Sara E. Woods Emmanuel Balandya Denise Drane Rifkatu Reng Deodatus Kakoko |
| author_sort | Bennett B. Goldberg |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Advancing biomedical research in low and middle income countries (LMICs) to expand the capacity for LMICs to integrate biomedical research into their health care systems and education has been the focus of many programs in global health over the past two decades. Central to the success of these programs is effective research mentoring, characterized by academic, career and psychosocial support through culturally appropriate practices. Research mentoring is a learned skill, developed through training, mutual discussions, practice and feedback. The majority of extant training programs are designed and delivered by US partners, so the next stage in building capacity is to train facilitators within the LMIC partner institutions to contextualize and advance mentoring specifically within their cultural and institutional norms by co-developing, delivering and evaluating semi-annual research mentoring training. To this end, we describe the development, delivery and outcome evaluation of a 5-week course in the art and skill of facilitation. Care was taken to explicitly distinguish between concepts of “teaching” and “facilitation,” since “teaching” is closely connected to a transmission or banking model of education, which is characterized by “top-down,” hierarchical relationship. The course discussed power and positionality, themes that resonate with partners in Nigeria and Tanzania. These themes provided unique entry into deeper conversations core to advancing mentoring practice away from the traditional dyadic power structure that remains from colonization. Evaluation findings indicate significant advances in awareness of differences between teaching and facilitating, increased confidence in facilitation skills, especially in the area of structured planning and organization, as well as improved communication and interpersonal skills. All respondents felt that students in Nigeria and Tanzania would respond well to the facilitation approach conveyed during the course and they found value in participating in the course as a cohort. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:18:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9dc8cd3867344ac78e09074f96d6c65d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2504-284X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:18:35Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-9dc8cd3867344ac78e09074f96d6c65d2023-12-21T12:23:44ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Education2504-284X2023-12-01810.3389/feduc.2023.12704801270480Training in the art and science of facilitation to scale research mentor training in low and middle income countriesBennett B. Goldberg0Erasto V. Mbugi1Fatima Kyari2Sara E. Woods3Emmanuel Balandya4Denise Drane5Rifkatu Reng6Deodatus Kakoko7Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United StatesDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, TanzaniaDepartment of Ophthalmology, University of Abuja, Abuja, NigeriaProgram Evaluation Core, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United StatesDepartment of Physiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, TanzaniaProgram Evaluation Core, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United StatesDepartment of Internal Medicine, University of Abuja, Abuja, NigeriaDepartment of Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health and Social Sciences, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, TanzaniaAdvancing biomedical research in low and middle income countries (LMICs) to expand the capacity for LMICs to integrate biomedical research into their health care systems and education has been the focus of many programs in global health over the past two decades. Central to the success of these programs is effective research mentoring, characterized by academic, career and psychosocial support through culturally appropriate practices. Research mentoring is a learned skill, developed through training, mutual discussions, practice and feedback. The majority of extant training programs are designed and delivered by US partners, so the next stage in building capacity is to train facilitators within the LMIC partner institutions to contextualize and advance mentoring specifically within their cultural and institutional norms by co-developing, delivering and evaluating semi-annual research mentoring training. To this end, we describe the development, delivery and outcome evaluation of a 5-week course in the art and skill of facilitation. Care was taken to explicitly distinguish between concepts of “teaching” and “facilitation,” since “teaching” is closely connected to a transmission or banking model of education, which is characterized by “top-down,” hierarchical relationship. The course discussed power and positionality, themes that resonate with partners in Nigeria and Tanzania. These themes provided unique entry into deeper conversations core to advancing mentoring practice away from the traditional dyadic power structure that remains from colonization. Evaluation findings indicate significant advances in awareness of differences between teaching and facilitating, increased confidence in facilitation skills, especially in the area of structured planning and organization, as well as improved communication and interpersonal skills. All respondents felt that students in Nigeria and Tanzania would respond well to the facilitation approach conveyed during the course and they found value in participating in the course as a cohort.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1270480/fullfacilitationmentoringmentor training courseslow and mid income countriesequity and social justice |
| spellingShingle | Bennett B. Goldberg Erasto V. Mbugi Fatima Kyari Sara E. Woods Emmanuel Balandya Denise Drane Rifkatu Reng Deodatus Kakoko Training in the art and science of facilitation to scale research mentor training in low and middle income countries Frontiers in Education facilitation mentoring mentor training courses low and mid income countries equity and social justice |
| title | Training in the art and science of facilitation to scale research mentor training in low and middle income countries |
| title_full | Training in the art and science of facilitation to scale research mentor training in low and middle income countries |
| title_fullStr | Training in the art and science of facilitation to scale research mentor training in low and middle income countries |
| title_full_unstemmed | Training in the art and science of facilitation to scale research mentor training in low and middle income countries |
| title_short | Training in the art and science of facilitation to scale research mentor training in low and middle income countries |
| title_sort | training in the art and science of facilitation to scale research mentor training in low and middle income countries |
| topic | facilitation mentoring mentor training courses low and mid income countries equity and social justice |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1270480/full |
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