What’s it like to host a Learning Marathon? Part Two.
Interview with current Bristol Enrol Yourself host and participant, Anna Rowlands
Following on from my chat with Enrol Yourself founder, Zahra Davidson, I reached out to Bristol host and participant, Anna Rowlands, to better understand how she entered the world of facilitation and Enrol Yourself. She has previously worked in multiple regions, including in the Middle East and North Africa, and has recently made the move to Bristol. Anna is in the last stages of the Learning Marathon, so I was interested to hear how her experience has been so far and what she’s been up to.
Could tell me a little bit about yourself, your background?
I started in this kind of world I suppose quite late in the game, I was in my late twenties and I had been working in a more corporate setting. I had done a Marketing MA at university and had been following jobs from pillar to post. I then found this organisation called The Girls’ Network. I got involved with them as a volunteer mentor and as I began, they were recruiting for a programme manager. It was their first recruitment, because they were this brand new startup housed by Teach First, and I was already in the process of becoming a Teach First teacher. I did these two things alongside each other. I wanted to get into the world of education in a more meaningful way. After The Girls’ Network offered me the job, I decided to drop the Teach First route, which actually was a bit of a blessing. I think teachers are amazing, and anyone who teaches in a programme like Teach First or a challenging school is a hero in my eyes. That being said I’m really pleased it didn’t happen for me because my work-life balance would have taken such a hit. I tend to get a bit obsessive about kind of careers and things!
Through my role at The Girls’ Network, I started understanding the difference between facilitation, mentoring and coaching. I moved on to work at another small organisation called Spark+Mettle, an education charity, focused on developing skills and strengths in young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Then I took on a big project run in partnership with HSBC and the British Council, called Taqaddam, which took me to the Middle East and North Africa, to work with young people there. I was facilitating very large workshops with teenagers from different countries. It was a really informative time, in terms of my understanding of facilitation. It also made me realise that ‘oh wow, people can facilitate for a living’.
What inspired you to get involved with Enrol Yourself or to become a facilitator?
Through Taqaddam I met Dave Heinemann, another host at Enrol Yourself. He got in touch and said, ‘there’s this opportunity to host, would you be up for doing it in Bristol?’ That moment felt very synchronistic because I was coming to the end of Taqaddam and thinking about new opportunities. I was already retraining as a coach and massage therapist, and thinking of setting up my massage practice, but I was unsure of my next steps. I was already aware of Enrol Yourself through some friends who had participated in London, and it seemed to be something that they were really passionate about. If it wasn’t for Dave reaching out, it wouldn’t have happened.
That seems like a natural progression from your previous experience in facilitation and education. How has your experience of hosting a Learning Marathon been so far? What’s been your highlight, and your biggest challenge?
A highlight for me is that Enrol Yourself feels very familial, which is wonderful. There’s a real sense of network and community, particularly between the hosts. When I went to the host training in March, the group of people were so warm and caring, deep, analytical and creative. So, a highlight was meeting the hosts, being at that training and meeting some incredible people. Zahra is absolutely at the top of that list and I have mad respect for what she’s created in collaboration with lots of other people; she really does inspire me.
My challenge is that I gave myself a very difficult task! I’m pregnant and I’m having my baby at the end of the Learning Marathon. So, I had much less time to recruit than hosts usually have: one month rather than three. I told Zahra this at the training. I was like ‘look, I’ve got to tell you this is the deal if I do this, I have to do it in a month’ and she was like ‘okay, let’s see what we can do’ and she was so open and positive. I was incredibly grateful, and it was a very important moment for me to feel this sense of lightness, not to worry about things that haven’t happened yet. I left with this challenge to recruit in just one month — and I did it! It was crazy and hard, inspiring and uplifting. All of the emotions really, all the while being in the early stages of pregnancy and also trying to find extra work. It was a period of change and uncertainty. A real testing ground for me!
You mentioned that this was a period where a lot of things were changing. Can you tell us about a moment of transformation you’ve had whilst working with your peer group?
As we were preparing for Power Up Day 1, my learning question had changed to focus on my rite of passage into motherhood. Being a participant (as well as host) in the programme gave me the space to open myself up to lots of different avenues and new insights., I’ve started to see my transition from being a non-mother to being a mother as something that I’ve been called to by ritual and by my ancestors. It’s been a deeply spiritual journey for me. Enrol Yourself gave me the motivation to step into the unknown. For example, I wouldn’t have gone into nature and done a mandala ritual had it not been for Enrol. I wouldn’t have allowed myself to prioritise play and exploration. I learnt a lot about who I am as a human and what I need in my life right now. That’s something I’m endlessly grateful for.
How is this role different to other facilitation work you’ve done?
As a host, you’re not in charge of anything, you’re just holding the space. That’s how this world is very different than any other facilitating role that I’ve ever done. You are very much part of the journey, because you’re a participant in the process as well.
Do you find that participating alongside everyone else inspires a deeper level of empathy as a host/facilitator?
Yeah, I definitely think so. It comes down to that authenticity. It’s like ‘I’m experiencing this with you, I’m with you on this journey’. I think it enables everyone to be really open and candid. It produces, like you say, empathy and understanding of one another, and an open space for people to say ‘oh, actually, yeah, I’m really struggling with X, Y or Z’.
Is there anything you’ve learnt from your peers that stands out?
I’ve learned loads from them. It’s a really great mix of people, they’re such a diverse group and yet we all really fit in quite well with one another. From the get-go, I’ve felt like we’ve been so lucky, maybe it’s the Bristol air. Everyone’s really supportive of each other and really wants each other to succeed and fly. I’ve learnt that we have the ability to hold each other, and we can trust each other to take responsibility and step up when needed. I haven’t really experienced true collaboration before. So, I think that’s what I’ve learned from the group. To have faith in that process; if you have a great structure or container, and a group of peers within it, you will see some magic happen.
What will your next steps be, after the Learning Marathon is over??
I’m having a baby in a few months, so I guess I’ll be facilitating my life and my new family! This year is the biggest shift that I’ve ever known in my life. My plan is to take everything as it comes and focus on my baby and my relationship with my partner. I’ve been quite career-focused at times, particularly with Taqaddam because it was such a big project. With my Learning Question, I’m looking at how I can intentionally and meaningfully slow things down. I think that’s what I’ll be focusing on for the next year, and after that I’m not sure which direction my career will take. There’s part of me that gravitates toward a full-time job where the pressure of freelance life is lessened. But I also have an idea to start my own social enterprise, working with young people who need jobs, maybe helping them learn massage as a skill. There are loads of possibilities, it’s really exciting.
Sounds like you have quite a big journey ahead of you! One last question. What do you see or envision for lifelong learning in the future?
I guess this looks different for everyone. For some people, lifelong learning can be picking up a new knitting pattern, learning pottery, or a new language. It’s all about allowing people space to indulge their interests and encouraging curiosity, because if we don’t have curiosity as human beings, then we’re just going to keep going around in circles. I think curiosity is what really feeds lifelong learning, and it comes from this inherent need to continue to grow. Sometimes education can mean jumping through a lot of hoops, which can be a negative experience for someone who isn’t able to understand what was happening in class or who struggles to fit into that kind of rigid structure. That can really stop people from learning later in life. There are so many different ways that we can access learning and it’s about being curious and knowing that you have as much right to it as anybody else.
With the rise in technology, it’s so easy for people to look at their phones and be passively fed information that they don’t necessarily want or need. There’s so much in our culture that stops or halts our curiosity; scrolling mindlessly through Facebook or Instagram produces a far more instant dopamine hit than picking up a book. I struggle with it too and I didn’t grow up with the internet. Ultimately, we have to reclaim the learning spaces that we need.
To learn more about Enrol Yourself and to get involved in hosting or participating in a Learning Marathon, visit the Enrol Yourself website.
