Design is a Pedagogy
When I first started teaching, no one really explained how to build a session. I got a syllabus. A slide deck. Maybe a list of learning outcomes.
But not much about how to shape a room, how to structure time, or how to think about what a session is actually for.
So I did what a lot of us do: I packed in content. I rushed through. I tried to keep up.
It took a while to learn that teaching isn’t just about what you know—it’s about what you help people experience, understand, and carry with them.
That’s where design comes in. Before I create anything, I ask myself three questions:
What do I want people to feel in this space?
What do I want them to remember after they leave?
What do I want them to do differently because of it?
The questions are simple—but they help me make better decisions. Not everything needs to be included. Not everything needs to be explained. These questions help me figure out what’s most important for this particular moment, with this particular group.
From there, I build the shape of the session. I generally use the same five moves almost every time:
Open
Engage
Learn
Apply
Reflect
It’s not rigid, but it’s consistent. It helps me avoid stuffing too much in. And it ensures that the learners have time to contextualize what they learn.
Here’s what that looks like in a real, 90-minute training I built for early-career health educators on inclusive facilitation.
Cycle 1: Orientation
Open: I used Sharon Bowman’s Postcard Pals Activity (from Training from the Back of the Room) to prime folks for the session and give them something to do while they waited to begin.
Engage: They engaged with one another and reflected on questions related to their experiences with inclusive facilitation.
Learn: I gave a short primer on facilitation as space-making, and the particular role that primers and warm-up activities can play in that space.
Apply: They reviewed a list of primers and warm-up activities and marked those that they wanted to try in the next training they design.
Reflect: They shared their list (optional) with one other participant.
Cycle 2: Identifying our Role
Open: I shared a quote about how our delivery of information can send (un)spoken messages about power and equity.
Engage: I used a warm-up activity called “Who’s in the Room?” to prime them for identity discussion.
Learn: I introduced Killerman and Bolger’s framework for examining teaching, training, and facilitating as it relates to agency and active participation.
Apply: I sorted them into groups of three (using the “three on three” method) to discuss their gut reactions to the framework.
Reflect: I asked them to reflect on where their work currently falls in the framework and where they would like the work they do to fall.
That’s just the first half of the session. But you can see the rhythm.
In a 3-hour session, I might go through that arc three or four times.
Each “cycle” has its own learning goal and its own rhythm.
When I map it out—on paper, in Miro, or with sticky notes—I can see where things might drag or overload, and where there’s room for reflection or conversation.
The hardest part is usually what to leave out.
There’s always more I could say or include.
But the best sessions I’ve been part of—whether I was teaching or learning—left space for people to slow down, connect, and actually try something.
Cutting content makes that possible.
It’s not about doing less.
It’s about making sure what stays has time to land.
If you want to try the five-box structure I use, I’m happy to share the sketch I use to build out sessions and courses. No funnel, no download wall—just a tool I use in real life.
Drop me a message or comment. I’ll send it your way.
(If you want to read more about teaching vs. training vs. facilitating, Sam Killerman and Meg Bolger’s Unlocking the Magic of Facilitation does an excellent job of teasing apart the differences between them.)
