Description
Learn how to facilitate a family, a work team or an organisation to think together around their preferred future or about particular challenge or issue. Here is an opportunity to experience first hand the person centred, futures planning tool – PATH (Pearpoint, Forest et. al. 1989).
This will be an event with lots of hands-on participation.
This is a process not a training day. Let us facilitate your planning and refocus your story whilst strengthening you and your group.
This tool uses both process and graphic facilitation to help any group develop a shared vision and then to make a start on working out what they will need to do together to move towards that vision.
Is your team or family stuck?
Want to move on, but haunted by the past and cannot get any useful dialogue started about the future?
Facing a challenging transition into a new school or setting?
Leaving school?
Bored with annual reviews, transition plans and review meetings?
Want to find a way of making meetings and planning feel more real and engaging?
Need an approach, which engages a young person respectfully together with his or her family and friends?
Want the ultimate visual record of the process of a meeting, which will help everyone, keep track?
Want to problem solve and plan for the future of a small or large group, service or organisation up to the size of an LA
Give your team the opportunity to pause and reflect on what matters most to them about the work they do. The act of listening to each other creates relationship and strengthens trust and inclusion within the team – in creating a shared vision, groups of people build a sense of commitment together. They develop images of the future we want to create together, along with the values that will be important in getting there and the goals they want to see achieved along the way. Unfortunately, many people still think vision is the top leaders job. In schools, the vision task usually falls to the Headteacher and/or the governors or it comes in a glossy document from the local authority or the DfES. But visions based on authority are not sustainable.
Drawing on the planning tool PATH (Pearpoint, Forest and OBrien 1997) and other facilitation sources we use both process and graphic facilitation to enable the group to build their picture of what they would love to see happening within their organisation/community in the future and we encourage this to be a positive naming, not just a list of the things they want to avoid.
Course Content
PATH is a creative planning tool that utilises graphic facilitation to collect information and develop positive future plans.
PATH goes directly to the future and implements backwards planning to create a step by step path to a desirable future. (Inclusion Press, 2000). These tools were developed by Jack Pearpoint, Marsha Forest and John O’Brien to help marginalised people be included in society and to enable people to develop a shared vision for the future.
PATH can be used with individuals and their circle of support, families teams and organisations.
Both MAP and PATH are facilitated by two trained facilitators – one process facilitator who guides people through the stages and ensures that the person is at the centre and one graphic facilitator who develops a graphic record of the conversations taking place in the room.
Follow the link below to read a detailed thesis by Dr Margo Bristow on the use of PATH by educational Psychologists in the UK.The findings indicate that PATH impacted positively and pupils attributed increased confidence and motivation to achieve their goals to their PATH. Parents and young people felt they had contributed to the process as equal partners, feeling their voices were heard. Improved pupil- parent relationships and parent-school relationships were reported and the importance of having skilled facilitators was highlighted. Although participants were generally positive about the process, many felt daunted beforehand, possibly due to a lack of preparation. Pre-PATH planning and post-PATH review were highlighted as areas requiring further consideration by PATH organisers. Recommendations to shape and improve the delivery of PATH are outlined together with future research directions.
Who Is It For ?
Multi Agency Teams
Social workers
CAMHS teams
Year Managers
Primary and secondary staff teams
Early Years and School based Practitioners
Heads and Deputies
SENCOs
Advanced Skills Teachers
Primary and secondary teachers
Local Authority Support Services
Person Centred Planning Facilitators
Learning Objectives
To create a shared vision
To name shared goals
To enrol others
To strengthen the group
To explore connections and needs
To specify an Action Plan
To create a visual graphic record of the whole event
How to Get Started with PATH
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Person Centred Planning Together Book
This book explores Person Centred Planning, a transformative approach that empowers individuals to shape their own lives, rather than being directed by service systems. Focusing on tools like MAPS and PATH, it offers practical guidance for effective, inclusive planning with skilled facilitation and meaningful participation at its core.
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Self Paced Online Learning
Learn how to facilitate PATH, a powerful Person Centred Planning tool, through this practical online course. Designed for educators, support workers, and facilitators, the course covers each step of the PATH process, offering real examples, downloadable resources, and strategies to empower individuals to plan meaningful, self-directed futures.
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Facilitated Process
Our team will lead a live PATH session—a powerful visual planning process that supports individuals or groups to map out positive futures. With skilled facilitation and graphic recording, they guide participants through each step, turning dreams and goals into clear actions, shared understanding, and committed support.
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In Person Training
This in-depth, in-person training teaches participants how to confidently facilitate and graphically record PATH sessions. Our team will provide step-by-step instruction, modelling best practice and offering hands-on experience. Trainees leave equipped to lead inclusive, person-centred planning that inspires action and supports people to move towards meaningful life goals.
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Hear From Others
Watch this video to discover how the Keys to Inclusion course inspires real change. Hear firsthand reflections from participants in a session led by Colin and Jacqui Newton in County Durham, as they share insights, challenges, and the impact of exploring practical strategies for creating truly inclusive environments.