The FDW stands for the Facilitators Development Workshop.  It is a “train the trainer” week-long intensive workshop, that is conducted by qualified Instructional Skills Workshop Facilitator Trainers.  I attended this training in May of 2009 at the University of Windsor.  It is a transformative experience that leads you to approach facilitation in a new and reflective manner.

The Facilitator Development Workshop (FDW) is designed primarily for individuals who have completed the ISW and who will be conducting the ISW Program at their institution. The FDW provides individuals with an opportunity for professional development in a challenging and supportive atmosphere with connections to a larger instructional development network. ISW activities form the nucleus of the FDW. Participants refine teaching techniques through the mini-lessons and, with guided practice and feedback, develop strategies for facilitating the group process central to the ISW method. As with the ISW, the FDW is a peer-based model providing participants a small group setting in which to work on facilitation skills. The small groups meet in plenary sessions each day featuring such themes as preferred ways of learning, group development, and the use of questions in teaching, among others.

More about the Instructional Skills Workshops are found at http://iswnetwork.ca/?page_id=389