WLD Guide to Facilitating_UMass Amherst 1 | Page 3
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What is the difference between a facilitator and a trainer?
A facilitator:
helps others learn.
helps participants to collaborate as they explore a topic or issue.
encourages participants to learn through engaging ways, and
ultimately to articulate key ideas, to ask vital questions, to
uncover variables, to find solutions, and/or to identify productive
actions.
may or may not be a content expert.
The word trainer is often used interchangeably with facilitator, but
the trainer usually connotes a facilitator who has content expertise.
Both facilitators and trainers must understand how adults learn and how to
draw out the best thinking of a group. http://www.workshopexercises.com/Facilitator.htm