Reviewing for Starters

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- an alternative to icebreakers and energisers

The previous issue 'Turntaking in Reviewing' is now at: <http://reviewing.co.uk/archives/art/11_1.htm>

* Does your learning event open with a review that energises

* Do you review recent experience in a way that channels focused

energy into the next activity?

* Does your final review energise people to leave with a

commitment to try out their new learning?

Is it such a strange idea to think that reviewing can energise

people? The idea will soon be much less strange if you dive into

this month's Active Reviewing Tips article on 'Reviewing for

Take care - after you read the ten tips, ten benefits and the ten

ways of getting off to a reflective start, you will no longer be

thinking of reviewing as 'the bit at the end'.

Also in this month's issue is part of a Foreword that I wrote to

'Reviewingtechnieken' a new handbook on reviewing by Ammy Kuiper

and Jeroen Galama. The title gives a strong clue that most of the

book is indeed in the Dutch language. The English foreword is my

latest presentation of the case for active and creative

reviewing. You can borrow the arguments should you happen to

trying to persuade others of the value of this more dynamic

approach to facilitation.

Tell me what you think of this issue of Active Reviewing Tips,

and if you like it, why not recommend it to someone who would

benefit from the challenge of rethinking reviewing?

PS UK customers of my bookshop, please note the free delivery

offer all the way to Jan 1st 2010.

~ 2 ~ ARTICLE: Reviewing for Starters

[download pdf version entitled 'Reflection Before Action]

Reviewing usually happens after an event. This is normal timing.

But is it always perfect timing? Are there other good times to

have a review?

Well, you can review DURING activities. For example:

- reflection-in-action (Schon*)

- half time review (in games of two halves)

- taking time out (with a learning buddy or coach or video diary)

But 'Reviewing for Starters' is about bringing reviewing even

further forwards and reviewing BEFORE the action starts. In some

areas of practice, reviewing is the natural starting point, such

as when you:

- carry out a training needs analysis

- involve participants in designing a programme that connects to

their real world

- kick off an 'Appreciative Inquiry' with the question 'What

works well?'

- or when you search for relevant expertise with a 'peer assist'

(Collison and Parcell*)

In other situations a review at the start does not seem 'natural'

at all. In Reviewing for Starters you will find some 'natural'

and some 'less obvious' ways of starting a session with a review,

in this order:

- 10 TIPS

- 10 BENEFITS

- 10 ACTIVITIES

John Dewey wrote that 'every experience lives on in further

experiences' (Dewey*). By trying out the ideas in Reviewing for

Starters you will be able to help people select and harness those

experiences which they most want to 'live on' in the next

activity. (References are listed at the end of this article.)

REVIEWING FOR STARTERS: 10 TIPS

1. Get participants busy discovering the diversity of talent and

experiences in the room. For example: try out Brief Encounters or

Sim Survey.

2. Review recent learning immediately after a break and before

introducing the next exercise. This increases the chances that

recent learning will be applied in the new exercise. The new

pattern will look something like this: activity - break - review

- activity - break - review -

3. Pay attention to each individual's current state by asking

what feelings, fresh insights, questions, words or phrases are

'on top'. Not only does this help to meet people's need for

attention, it also helps you pitch what comes next in a suitable

way.

4. After briefing the next exercise, create a 'time-out' for

people to consider what recent learning could be useful.

Alternatively, refuse to start the clock on the next exercise

until you are satisfied that sufficient connection has been made

to recent learning.

5. Involve participants in researching safety, such as by

including these questions in a Sim Survey: What do you already

know about safety that will help us stay safe in this next

exercise? What do you already know about the activity, the

environment and how your group behaves that you need to consider

in order to stay safe? (Adapt for other objectives.)

6. Review whose turn it is to ... lead, go first, keep time,

observe, make the tea, or to carry out whatever responsibilities

might otherwise fall to the same few people.

7. Review what progress individuals are making on personal

targets, with a view to creating extra support or opportunity for

those who might need extra encouragement. Spokes (a kind of human

bulls eye) is a quick method for viewing such progress.

8. Highlight one individuals' story. As an alternative to always

trying to include everyone in every review, you can save pre-

activity reviews for highlighting one individual's learning story

- so that by the end of the programme each individual has had the

chance of being in the spotlight at least once.

9. Use a round (or pair and share) to get everyone making

connections between past present and future. Try these sentence

beginnings:

'This situation / place / activity reminds me of ...'

'What we are about to do reminds me of ...'

'I was ... I am ... I will ...'

10 Find even more 'starter' reviews by searching

<http://reviewing.co.uk> for 'Activity Map' and 'Observation

Walk'. Also try creative tweaks of any other reviewing methods

that can be used for bringing past experience into the immediate

future.

REVIEWING FOR STARTERS: 10 BENEFITS

Many of these benefits arise from changes you can make in

programmes where the normal structure for a session is 'brief-

plan-do-review' (or similar). Some of the benefits described

below can be achieved simply by changing the timing of the break

so that the break occurs after the activity and before the

review. Please note that a review before an activity can draw on

any prior experience and does not need to focus exclusively on

people's most recent experiences within the programme.

1. IMPORTANCE

Reviewing at the start demonstrates your commitment to reviewing

and that you recognise its importance. If you leave reviewing

until after the activity, and you do not have time to do it well,

your participants will soon get the impression that reviewing is

the unimportant bit tagged on at the end.

2. CONTINUITY

Reviewing first is a way of demonstrating that reviewing is part

of a continuous cycle that has no beginning or end. You can start

and stop wherever you like! You are not breaking any rules (or

inventing any new theories) by reviewing first. You are simply

applying experiential learning theory.

3. SURPRISE

Reviewing at the start surprises participants who are accustomed

to reviewing at the end. Do it well and it will be a pleasant

surprise that awakens their reflective processes from the very

beginning.

4. ALWAYS THINKING

Reviewing at the start helps to keep review, reflection, thinking

and learning ticking over - so review at every opportunity,

including before the activity. (If the gaps between reviews are

too long, people can get so absorbed in the action that they may

do little reflecting until it's all over.)

5. ENERGY

People are refreshed after a break, so why struggle with a review

when people are tired, when you can simply take a break and start

the next session when people are awake and alert? For example, on

a multi-day programme you can start the day with a review of the

last activity of the previous day.

6. FLOW

Reviewing at the start reduces the gap between the learning from

the previous activity and its application (if relevant) in the

next activity. This helps to create more flow in a programme.

7. PERFECT TIMING

Start with a review and you can give the review whatever time it

needs - assuming that you can be flexible with the time needed

for any activity that follows within the same session.

8. PERFECT PRIMING

Review after a break and you are better able to provide the

perfect lead in to the next activity. Participants are refreshed

and the break will also help clear your head and prepare for

priming the next activity - complete with relevant connections

with what has gone before.

9. PURPOSE

A review at the start makes it easier for participants to see the

purpose of a review because it is usually bringing to the fore

the very things that will be assets in the exercise that follows.

(In contrast after activity reviews can sometimes feel like a

'dead end' going nowhere, especially if the review is referred to

as a 'close', or 'closure', or 'wrap up' or 'winding down' or

'post mortem'.)

10. INTEGRATION

Reviewing at the start has its advantages but it does not rule

out reviewing at other times. So you have nothing to lose by

getting in a review early - and then reviewing as often as you

like! This integrates reviewing into your practice while also

getting participants into a regular habit of reflecting on

experience.

REVIEWING FOR STARTERS: 10 ACTIVITIES

ENERGISERS

1. Good News Graffiti

2. Brief Encounters

3. Sim Survey

ACTIVE AUDITS

4. Talent Show

5. Auditions and Interviews

6. Back to the Future - individual

7. Back to the Future - group version

CREATIVE CUSTOMISING

8. Missing Person

9. Solo Challenge

10 Snakes and Ladders

ENERGISERS

These three energisers are

- reflective because they draw on people's experiences

- energising because they draw on positive experiences

- suitable for starting an event because you can readily include

late arrivals

1. GOOD NEWS GRAFFITI

Good News Graffiti is particularly well suited to groups that

meet regularly. As people arrive they are invited to write up

their good news headlines on flip chart easels that are on

display around the room. Experiment with different page titles to

generate a suitable variety of good news. You decide whether to

keep the good news focused on the work of the group and whether

it is helpful to invite the sharing of other good news such as

achievements outside work. This sharing of good news as people

arrive helps to set a positive tone, while also acknowledging how

people are contributing to the work of the group. Good News

Graffiti could be seen as another way of asking the appreciative

question: 'What is working well around here?'

2. BRIEF ENCOUNTERS

Everyone receives a card with the instructions on one side and

two unique questions on the other side. Following their

instructions people quickly pair up and choose one of their

questions to ask to their partner. The questions are designed to

bring out short stories of success related to the overall theme

of the event. After answering each other's question, partners

swap cards and find a new partner. And so it continues for as

long as you want. It is also suitable for any size of group (from

10 to 100 or more). One ready-to-use example of Brief Encounters

is at: <http://reviewing.co.uk/success/icebreaker.htm>

3. SIM SURVEY (Simultaneous Survey)

This looks much the same as Brief Encounters (from a distance)

but it tends to be a little more serious and needs more time. In

Sim Survey, people do not swap cards: they keep their unique

question and report back to the whole group with an anonymous

summary of what they have learned from their interviews. Best

suited to groups of 10-30 people. To reduce the time needed for

interviews and for reporting back, keep to a maximum of ten

unique questions. This means that some people may have identical

questions - in which case people with the same questions can meet

up to collate their answers into a joint verbal report.

ACTIVE AUDITS

These three success-focused auditing exercises allow participants

to reflect on the talents they have, and on how these talents can

be applied towards achieving an individual goal or a group task.

4. TALENT SHOW

Find an object or picture postcard representing a talent you have

that you would like to bring to the next activity (or to the rest

of the programme). Each person gives an example of where they

have used this talent and of how they now hope to use it, or

develop it. Alternatively (where people are overly modest)

participants first share their 'talents' in twos or threes before

introducing each other's talents in the larger group. After each

talent is presented, it is put on show on a low table in the

centre of the group - or wherever the growing collection can

readily be seen by everyone. This may not be everyone's idea of a

'talent show' but it is a useful reviewing technique for focusing

energy and talent towards a common goal.

5. AUDITIONS AND INTERVIEWS

Where a group task requires specific roles or responsibilities,

show these in a list of vacancies and invite applications from

the group (two or three people per vacancy). Those choosing not

to apply for any vacancy automatically acquire the responsibility

of serving on the interview panel. Now provide time for

applicants to prepare for their audition. At the same time the

interview panel meet to elect a chair and prepare for how they

will manage the auditions. (Or you can appoint yourself as the

chair!) Because this is an 'audition' rather than an interview,

each applicant should be prepared to do a brief cameo performance

demonstrating their suitability for the role. Applicants can also

expect questions from the interview panel. Expect fun and

humour, but ensure that humour is not of the humiliating kind.

6. BACK TO THE FUTURE (paired version)

The original individual version of this exercise ('Objective

Line') was described in some detail in the previous issue of

Active Reviewing Tips. If you would like a pdf copy of the new

improved version (complete with a series of questions to ask the

traveller) please write to roger@reviewing.co.uk with 'back to

the future' in the subject line.

7. BACK TO THE FUTURE (group version)

You ask much the same questions (as in the paired version) to the

group as a whole. For example:

"What experiences / knowledge / skills / values / confidence /

achievements etc. do you already have as a group that will help

you tackle this next challenge successfully?"

Lay a rope of at least 5 metres on the floor, and place a chair

at the far end of the rope. Explain that for every convincing

point they make, you will move the chair towards the near end of

the rope. Once they get the chair to the near end of the rope,

the group switch from audit mode to planning mode. The far end of

the rope now becomes their target, and as they talk about how

they will use what they already have (making their plan) you

gradually move the chair closer towards their target. This

exercise provides a graphic and memorable way of getting a group

into the habit of carrying out an audit before making a plan.

When I am the chair mover, I am happy for the group to overrule

any moves I make, but I would try to insist on evidence (for the

audit) and clarity (for the plan).

CREATIVE CUSTOMISING

Up to this point, all of the 'Reviewing for Starters' exercises

have had a strong positive focus. These next three exercises

allow for a more balanced approach.

- Missing Person is a creative way of looking at the strengths

and weaknesses in a group.

- Solo Challenge starts by encouraging each individual to commit

themselves to a task or activity that they would find

particularly challenging and personally relevant.

- Snakes and Ladders is a more artistic version of Force Field

Analysis or SWOT analysis. It is about how existing strengths and

weaknesses might come into play in the next challenge.

8. MISSING PERSON

As with most reviewing methods, Missing Person is suitable for

all ages with a little tweaking here and there. It is best used

after a group have already carried out a number of different

activities together, so that they have a range of group

experiences to draw upon. The method is future focused, the key

question being 'What kind of person would you welcome into your

group to help you achieve your goals?'. But to answer this

question the group looks back over their experiences together

thinking about what has been missing from their performance so

far and how a new person could help to bring about improvements.

A more detailed description is in this month's extract from

'Dynamic Debriefing' in Section 5 below.

9. SOLO CHALLENGE

For Solo Challenge, group members all need to know each other

fairly well. Solo Challenge starts as an appraisal exercise, in

which the group (of up to around 10 people) generate ideas for

suitably challenging 30 minute tasks for each individual. Each

challenge is tailored to the perceived needs of each individual.

Anyone in the group (including the facilitator and the individual

being offered a challenge) has the power of veto over any

proposal. For example, proposals have been vetoed because they

are unsafe, too easy, too hard, not interesting enough, not

related to the person's needs, unlikely to be fulfilling, etc.

Vetoes help to raise the quality of the whole process. If it is

proving too difficult to find acceptable challenges within about

30 minutes, take a break or postpone Solo Challenge until later

in the programme. I have included Solo Challenge in Reviewing for

Starters because the facilitator can use their veto to ensure

value and relevance for each individual right from the start of

this exercise. A full description of the whole process is at:

http://reviewing.co.uk/toolkit/solo.challenge.htm

10. SNAKES AND LADDERS

Before an activity ask:

'What snakes do you each bring to this activity that could cause

you or others to slide back down?'

'What ladders do you each bring to this activity that could

assist the process or raise your game?'

And (like Missing Person) you can ask about the group as whole:

'What snakes lurk in this group's way of doing things that could

cause you to slide back down?'

'What ladders does the group have that could assist the process

or raise your game?'

With some groups you may want to go the whole way with this

method and have them make a snakes and ladders board, and play

the game.

Snakes and Ladders is just one example of a Metaphor Map

(described in Section 5 below). A Metaphor Map is a graphic way

of representing past experiences. It can then be used to help

people anticipate and prepare for navigating future challenges,

or it can be repeatedly used as a reviewing tool to reflect on

the journey taken.

IS IT A BIRD? IS IT A MAN?

In which section of the facilitator's toolbox does Snakes and

Ladders really belong?

Is it a reviewing technique?

Is it a game?

Is it a planning technique?

Is it a structure for an appraisal session?

Is it a skills development exercise?

Is it a team building exercise?

My answer: it could be all of these. If the naming of the snakes

and the ladders arises from past experience (rather than being

plucked from thin air) then it qualifies as a reviewing exercise.

The fact that it leads so well into anticipating the future, does

not disqualify it from being a 'reviewing' exercise. In fact,

like all of the methods described in 'Reviewing for Starters', it

encourages people to connect with past experiences before rushing

into the next activity.

By choosing (or creating) a suitable review before the next

activity, you are adding value to past experience in a way that

is also likely to add value to what is just about to happen. This

is what I mean by 'Reviewing for Starters'. If you would like to

add any of your own 'Reviewing for Starters' to the list above,

please write to roger@reviewing.co.uk with 'starters' in the

subject line.

AND FINALLY ... ANOTHER WAY TO BEGIN

Ask a group to review the activity they are about to do, 'as if'*

they had just completed it. Stepping into the world of

imagination can be a welcome change to the normal routine - and

it can readily provide breakthroughs in learning. If your review

of an imagined forthcoming event goes well you might find that

there is no need to review the event after it has happened for

real. And if your review of an imagined event goes really, really

well you might not even need to do the activity!

* REFERENCES and NOTES

Try not to be confused by the 'Starters' page at

<http://reviewing.co.uk/stories/starters.htm> which describes

storytelling methods for starting a review. This is a different

concept to 'Reviewing for Starters' which is about priming an

activity (or programme) by preceding it with a review.

Schon, D. The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in

Action (1991)

<www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1857423194/reviewingskillst>

'Peer Assist' is described in Collison and Parcell's Learning to

Fly (2001) which is reviewed at

<http://reviewing.co.uk/reviews/learning-to-fly.htm>

Dewey, J. Experience and Education (1938)

'As If' (reviewing an imaginary event) is described in my article

on Big Picture Reviewing:

<http://reviewing.co.uk/articles/big-picture-reviewing.htm#asif>

~ 3 ~ ACTIVE LEARNING MANUAL: HOW TO SAVE MONEY WITH A CAMERA

The Active Learning Manual is a pilot project using video to

demonstrate active learning methods. You can view my introductory

video and three one minute videos

If you are a client (or potential client) who has access to the

equipment and skills to take and edit 2 minute videos of a

similar style and quality to the pilot videos at

For a limited period I am now offering a third day's training

free in exchange for two minute videos that I can add to the

Active Learning Manual collection. To discuss this, or other

possibilities, please write to me at: roger@reviewing.co.uk

4 ~ ACTIVE LEARNING BOOKSHOP: FREE UK DELIVERY FOR 2 MONTHS

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~ 5 ~ DYNAMIC DEBREIFING: METAPHOR MAPS & MISSING PERSON

METAPHOR MAPS

Recommended use: for individuals or groups to map their world and

use their maps to help them reflect on individual or team

experiences.

Resources: flipchart paper and coloured markers

Participants create metaphor maps that represent the kind of

places they visit, avoid or seek in their working day. Map-making

can be a group or individual exercise. Places might include:

Field of Dreams, Stormy Seas, Safe Haven, Mountains of Work, Pool

of Relaxation, Stretch Zone, Swampland, Play Area, Road to

Nowhere, Stream of Ideas, Point of No Return, Terra Incognita,

Short Cut, Black Hole, Magic Spot, Site of Antiquity, Stadium of

Light, Great Wall, Greener Grass, Fountain of Knowledge, Bridge

Under Construction ...

Warning: People generally seem to be full of ideas for unpleasant

and frightening places to put on a map, so be sure to ask people

to check that their maps are reasonably balanced and include

places they like to visit and want to visit. It is meant to be a

map of their own territory - so it should include ‘places’ that

are familiar as well as a few strange ones.

Map-making is itself a reflective exercise. Once a map is created

it can be used as a more focused debriefing tool. Participants

tell their story about an experience while tracing their journey

across their map with a finger. The listener prompts as necessary

to help the person tell their story using the map: 'Did you visit

any of these places?' 'Where did you spend most time?' 'Can you

trace the journey you took?' 'Do you need to create new places on

the map?'. After the story is told (or during its telling) the

listener asks questions that help the storyteller to consider

alternative or preferred routes on the map, and how they could

succeed in making these journeys. Metaphor Map is a tool that can

be readily combined with most debriefing sequences.

Variations: With more resources and imagination, Metaphor Map can

be scaled up to room size or field size. These larger versions

allow people to walk around their maps with a facilitative

partner. The floor size map is a good scale for demonstrating the

method.

MISSING PERSON

Recommended use: for helping a group to assess its strengths,

needs and priorities. This exercise achieves the same as when a

group discusses its strengths and weaknesses, but in a more

powerful and memorable way.

Resources: flipchart paper and coloured markers.

Inform the group that their task is to create a new person to

join their group. Ask participants to think creatively about the

kind of person they would like this to be. The person will

probably share some of the characteristics already in the group

(e.g. sense of humour, good looks, friendly, enthusiastic) and

may also represent some characteristics that are missing (e.g.

timekeeping, leadership, telling decent jokes). Suggest they

start by giving the person a name and some interests before

thinking about their strengths and weaknesses as this provides a

fun and intuitive way into the process. Creating a missing person

is an activity that typically takes a group through a full

debriefing sequence - without much or any prompting. The new

character represents the skills, roles and qualities that the

team have so far lacked and now aspire to. Some groups so like

their missing person that you will find that they later call out

their name when they need help, or keep them on display for

inspiration.

Warning: Take care with how the image of the ‘missing person’ is

treated. Do not put their team mascot in the bin! As in all

creative work, the creators should dispose of their own work in

their own way and when they are ready to do so.

This is the 8th of 11 instalments from 'Dynamic Debriefing' - a

chapter I wrote for Mel Silberman's 'Handbook of Experiential

Learning'. Previous instalments were:

1: What is Dynamic Debriefing?

<http://reviewing.co.uk/archives/art/9_1.htm>

2 The Role of the Facilitator

<http://reviewing.co.uk/archives/art/9_2.htm>

3. Models of Debriefing

<http://reviewing.co.uk/archives/art/9_3.htm>

4. The Experience of Debriefing

<http://reviewing.co.uk/archives/art/9_4.htm>

5. The Sequencing in Debriefing

<http://reviewing.co.uk/archives/art/10_1.htm>

6. Action Replay

<http://reviewing.co.uk/archives/art/10_2.htm>

7. Objective Line (Back to the Future)

<http://reviewing.co.uk/archives/art/11_1.htm>

The remaining instalments of 'Dynamic Debriefing' will provide

further examples of debriefing methods.

Dynamic Debriefing is my chapter in Mel Silberman's 'Handbook of Experiential Learning' (2007).
See Amazon.co.uk: http://digbig.com/4rwnf or
Amazon.com: http://digbig.com/4rwng

If you are a provider of facilitation training, please send me

the details if you would like the details included in future

issues of Active Reviewing Tips.

REVIEWING SKILLS TRAINING WORKSHOPS

If you would like to host an open event or arrange for an in-

house customised trainer-training programme please get in touch.

~ 7 ~ FOREWORD TO REVIEWINGTECHNIEKEN

These are extracts from my Foreword to 'Reviewingtechnieken' a

new handbook on reviewing by Ammy Kuiper and Jeroen Galama. My

foreword is in English. The rest of the book is in Dutch. This

is my latest presentation of the case for active and creative

reviewing and the value of this more dynamic approach to

Learning from experience is an old way of learning that is

gaining new respectability. Learning from experience is learning

from the university of life itself.

Trainers and educators are continually creating new and better

ways of facilitating experience-based learning and development.

One of the most neglected aspects of experiential learning is the

art of reviewing. This book describes ways of enabling people to

reflect productively on their experiences, especially when they

are learning in a group setting.

The primary skill for helping other people to reflect on their

experience is the skill of asking good questions. But if

reflection is nothing more than a discussion driven by questions,

such a process of reflection would reveal a narrow and limited

view of our capacities for thinking and learning.

Why be imaginative about how you review? Why not just have a

reflective discussion? Well, sometimes that is a good option. The

very best discussions can be engaging, meaningful and highly

rewarding for each individual. But does this describe your

typical review sessions? However near or far you may be from

achieving such excellence in reviewing, you will find plenty of

ideas for further improvement by exploring the new dimensions

that the activities described in this book can open up for your

An able crafts person uses the best tools for the job and has the

experience and ability to use them well. The same is true for the

craft of reviewing. One big difference is that when you are

working with people, every person is a crafts person and you can

help each of them learn by helping them to develop their own

tools and skills for reflection. In many of these methods you are

the provider of tools that will help people learn from their own

experience. When tools are primarily for learners to use, the

facilitator's primary role is to help participants use the tools

Using active and creative methods during reflection is a way of

making the learning process more fun. At a deeper level, the wise

use of a variety of reflection methods can help people to think,

learn and communicate in deeper and more meaningful ways. For

example ... Many adults are highly eloquent and articulate. So

much so, that straight after an experience they can immediately

explain everything! They are often the first to speak and their

eloquence can quickly make their story the main story through

which everyone else 'sees' their own experience. And the person

who has first presented their version of what happened will quite

often defend their version of events if challenged by others.

Once established, this pattern is difficult to change. It is true

that change can be achieved through skilled questioning, but how

much easier it is to change patterns and habits by shifting out

of the habitual medium (of talking).

In conversations, people can readily get stuck in ruts and

patterns that discourage new or reflective thinking. But if

people are asked to communicate in pictures or patterns or

through mime or through drama or through verse or music or

metaphor, people readily get unstuck from their ruts. Replace or

complement conversations with other ways of communicating and

people discover new ways of thinking, new ways of expressing

themselves and new ways of understanding and explaining things.

Yes, it is true new angles can be discovered through astute

questioning. And it is at least equally true that new angles can

also be discovered by changing the means and method through which

people create, tell and compare their stories about their

For talking about group dynamics, it can be better to do so by

arranging (and continually rearranging) objects into patterns

showing how people are relating to each other.

For sharing an emotional experience, it can be better to do so by

first creating a storyline showing the ups and downs of their

emotions. This provides the storyteller with some thinking and

preparation time. And the storyline becomes a visual aid that

help listeners to see the story while following its ups and downs

and twists and turns.

For examining a critical moment it can be better to recreate

that critical moment through action replay. This gives all

participants the opportunity to discover new information by

interviewing people about the thoughts and feelings they were

having at that precise moment. This restaging of key moments

tends to bring out greater honesty and understanding.

I have myself been developing active and creative reviewing

methods for some years and I am happy that a number of my own

designs are included (or adapted) in this collection. The authors

have also included many methods from their own practice. The

methods described in this handbook have been developed and tested

in a wide variety of settings with many different age groups and

many kinds of people. But this does not guarantee success -

because the method itself will only be one of many variables

influencing the outcome.

These methods have been developed in the field. And in many

cases, the method seems more sound than the theory on which it is

based. In the field of experiential learning it is my view that

theory lags well behind the practice. Theories and models known

to practitioners are not necessarily the most suitable theories

for explaining what they do. There is an uncritical acceptance of

a number of theories that are known to be flawed. As this is a

preface and not a thesis, I will simply outline two theoretical

It is common to see experiential learning theory presented as a

'cyclical sequence' - as if the component parts of the sequence

happen one at a time. For example, it is common to see a clear

separation between 'experience' and 'reflection', or between

'doing' and 'thinking'. The visual appearance of these cycles and

the typical structure of a programme design makes it very clear

whether the learner is either 'doing' or 'thinking'. Kolb's

theory (which is the most referenced theory of experiential

learning) was more about the tensions between the opposites in

his model. I interpret his model as one in which all parts are

always present and are always in tension with each other - and

that if you pull too far in one direction there will be a

counterbalancing force pulling in the opposite direction. This is

very different to the popular understanding and application of

such theories as simply being step by step sequences.

The ultimate for some kinds of learning is 'unconscious

competence' - something that has been learned so well that there

is no need to think about it - it just happens. This may be

helpful for some basic or routine skills, but not for more

advanced skills where it would be a mistake to run on 'automatic

pilot'. Do we want bosses to fire people without consciously

thinking about it? Hopefully we are trying to develop thoughtful

performance, not thoughtless performance. We need people to

reflect about what does and does not work well and to keep on

reflecting - during and after the training event. We may also

want people to think outside of this 'effectiveness paradigm' and

reflect on values, qualities, relationships, priorities and

motivations as well as on effectiveness.

Shifting from 'talk only' methods to more active and creative

methods is the equivalent of shifting from a dial-up modem

connection to broadband internet access. Both kinds of upgrade

support greater breadth, depth, speed, interactivity and all

round quality. Some of these activities may at first look like

games without serious purpose, but with experience and practice

you will find many tools in this book that will allow you (and

your participants) to combine the best of both worlds - becoming

fully engaged in stimulating and effective enjoyable learning

If you can also read Dutch then you may like to know that

Reviewingtechnieken by Ammy Kuiper and Jeroen Galama is available

from these online bookshops:

http://www.thema.nl/product/reviewingtechnieken/

ACTIVE Reviewing Tips for dynamic experiential learning

Reviewing for Starters

- an alternative to icebreakers and energisers

ACTIVE Reviewing Tips
for dynamic experiential learning