Attending Trainers at IITs
Attending Trainers at IITs
At each of our 9-day International Intensive Trainings (IITs), we reserve three or more spaces for Certified Trainers to attend as participants to continue their own learning and bring support. This is one way that we appreciate and acknowledge our Certified Trainers for their contributions, and to give them an opportunity for their own enrichment and development, as well as an opportunity to contribute their skills to support the training team.
Definition
Attending Trainers (sometimes referred to as “Supporting Trainers”) are Certified Trainers who participate in an IIT who are not members of the official training team. They receive free tuition and pay for their own travel and accommodation.
Number
Typically, for every 20 paid participants, we invite one Certified Trainer to join the IIT tuition-free as an Attending Trainer. For example, if there are 60 paid participants, we make 3 of these spaces available. We begin each IIT by allocating three free spaces even before we know whether we will reach 60 paid participants. When IITs are larger (for example 75 people), usually we make an additional Attending Trainer space available.
Also, sometimes we get creative when there are even more Certified Trainers who want to participate as Attending Trainers (when space is available). For example, if there are 3 spaces and 6 trainers who want to participate, each of them pays an average of 50% of the tuition fee... and often, they decide among themselves how to distribute the payments! Obviously, with more than 900 Certified Trainers, only a relatively small % can participate as an Attending Trainer each year.
Criteria
Certified Trainers are eligible to be considered for one of the Attending Trainer spaces if all the following things are true -- the trainer has:
- Participated in a previous IIT.
- Paid a tuition fee for one or more IITs.
- Completed the annual renewal steps for Certified Trainers in the past 12 months.
- Not been an Attending Trainer at an IIT in the past 12 months.
Also, we might prioritize choosing Certified Trainers who have not previously received a free tuition space at an IIT before choosing ones who have.
How to apply
Fill out the Pre-registration form on the IIT of your choice, which is the same form that everyone fills out who wants to attend the IIT in any role. The decision about which Certified Trainers we invite to participate tuition-free is made by a 3-person committee consisting of the Organizer of the IIT, one representative of CNVC, and one trainer...the same group that makes decisions about how we allocate our financial assistance. If you are not selected as an Attending Trainer, you may pay tuition and receive a 25% tuition discount.
Financial Contribution
If you find joy in donating to CNVC’s Financial Assistance Fund that would be greatly appreciated -- especially if your financial situation makes that easy to do -- but it is not required or expected.
Suggestions
The suggestions below are for inspiration only -- the final agreements are made between the trainer team and the Attending Trainers. There are several levels of involvement possible depending on the needs and goals of the Attending Trainers, and how that fits with the needs of the training team.
Attending Trainers might want to be participants like other participants in order to learn, be inspired, and restore their energy. Please make sure that you have expressed the level of engagement that you wish for during the IIT, and that you can confirm this with the trainer team before the start of the IIT. Or, the Attending Trainer might want to be actively involved in some way - see the list below. In this case the Attending Trainer might see themselves more as a support trainer or an assisting trainer depending on the agreement with the team. In all cases, you are registered as a participant free of tuition, and still pay your own travel and accommodation.
Here is a list of ways that Attending Trainers might help to hold the container for the group, create a safe and joyful space, and offer support to participants. This could include the following:
- Show up fully present in the community meetings, holding the space and presence together with the trainer team.
- Be a “Flying Giraffe,” meaning that you spend time with participants, receiving them empathically, as well as approaching participants that you sense might need some support.
- Offer support in breakout sessions when needed or when asked by a trainer - for instance when one participant encounters something challenging and could benefit from individual support.
- Inform the trainer team when you see/hear things that worry you such as the dynamics in a home group, or conflicts between participants, or the situation of a specific participant.
- Mediate conflicts between individuals and/or in home groups if you encounter difficulties.
- Support Certification Candidates with preparations and being present to provide them with feedback on their offerings, be a sounding board
- Support people to make sure that daily rememberings are relevant/inspiring and time appropriate.
- Coordinate evening sessions. For example, is it helpful if all candidates who want feedback on their presentation also have one or more CTs with them in their group.
- Track announcements and issues to report in Community Meetings.
- Coordinate volunteers to beautify our spaces with volunteers.
While we are grateful for your presence and support, the trainers’ plates are likely to be full and focused on caring for the group and their sessions… so in most cases, they will not have a lot of availability to hang out with Attending Trainers as much as they might enjoy. The training team might provide a liaison to connect the two teams (Attending Trainers and the official IIT training team), and there may be a couple of meetings together, and yet in most cases, it will probably not go much beyond that other than impromptu interactions in the natural course of the training.
We also suggest that a few weeks before the IIT, when it's clear who the Attending Trainers will be, that you connect amongst each other to make plans and requests of each other for empathy, a check in about what interests you, and how you might support each other. We are hopeful that this brings more clarity and predictability to what the experience might be for Attending Trainers at IITs, and helps you make choices to fulfill the goals that you have in joining the IIT in this role.