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~ 1 ~
EDITORIAL: We Just Want Fun
~ 2 ~ EVENTS: Active Reviewing
Workshops with Roger Greenaway
~ 3 ~ ARTICLE: We Just Want Fun
~ 4 ~ ONLINE TRAINING COURSE:
Active Reviewing
~ 5 ~ TIPS: 6 of the best ways to
end a training programme
~ 6 ~ ARCHIVE: Reviewing for Fun
~ 7 ~ PREVIOUS ISSUE and FUTURE
ISSUES
~ 8 ~ About Active Reviewing Tips
~ 1 ~ EDITORIAL: We Just
Want Fun
Some time ago I worked as a sailing instructor.
My first question to the guests would be: "Do you
want to learn to sail or do you want to have fun?"
They were guests, so they would choose. The fun
choice usually meant being pirates and having
water fights. (They were quite young guests.)
But the choice between "Fun" and "Learning" is
rarely so simple - and especially when it comes to
"active reviewing" which is usually an attempt to
do both at the same time.
In your role as a facilitator of learning, I am
sure you have encountered groups who are not
as interested in the learning objectives as
you would like them to be, and who will be happy
enough just doing the activities and having fun
together. And before you know it, the learning
programme has become a recreational programme.
So the main article in this issue (We Just Want
Fun) presents some ideas about how you can move
things in the other direction so that participants
become more committed to the learning without
necessarily losing their appetite for enjoyment.
This issue also introduces the new series: 'Six
of
the
best' starting with "Six of the best ways
to end
a training programme."
This is where you are just now - and a special
welcome if this is your first issue:
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Active
Reviewing Tips is a free
newsletter from Roger Greenaway that will
help you to re-charge your reviewing and
facilitation skills.
Typical contents:
- a practical feature on reviewing tips
- links to sites about active learning
methods
- tips, comments and ideas from readers
- what's new in the Guide to Active
Reviewing at http://reviewing.co.uk
Maximum frequency: monthly. Average
frequency: quarterly.
"16 years of
promoting better learning experiences."
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I welcome requests for topics you would like to
see included in Active Reviewing Tips, any questions
you would like to see answered in a FAQ, and
enquiries about trainer-training workshops (open or
in-house).
Roger Greenaway
roger@reviewing.co.uk
http://reviewing.co.uk
Don't
just
do it - actively review it!
~ 2 ~ EVENTS: Active Reviewing
Workshops with Roger Greenaway
The
Calendar of Reviewing Skills Training Workshops
provides the most up to date list of open/public
workshops provided by Roger Greenaway.
The
other
newsletter: the Experiential-CPD Calendar
The Experiential-CPD Calendar lists
'trainer-training' and 'educator-training' events
from several UK
providers. The events listed here are of
interest to facilitators who work indoors or
outdoors. The Experiential-CPD calendar features a
'Thought for the Month' about experiential
learning from the editors or from readers.
Active
Reviewing Online
Have you taken a look at my new online training
course on Active
Reviewing?
Please let me know what you think: roger@reviewing.co.uk
~ 3 ~ ARTICLE: We Just Want Fun
"We Just Want Fun!"
Which is the best
strategy to use in this situation?
by
Roger
Greenaway, Reviewing Skills Training
[The first article in this series was "The
Forgetful Navigator". It was about productive ways
of reviewing a situation in which one person is
very embarrassed and feels they have let down the
group. If you missed it follow
this
link to The Forgetful Navigator.]
"We just want
fun!" is the second of a series of
articles in which the starting point is a
situation that you might have faced already or
that you might face in the future - as a
facilitator of learning.
As you read through the article, please consider
which of these methods would be your own
favourite response to the situation. If your
favourite method is not described, please write to
roger@reviewing.co.uk
and share your own favourite.
"We
just want fun!"
You are
well prepared for facilitating this course. You
have met the client who is paying for the course
and the client has been very clear about the
learning objectives. You have listened to the
designer and director of the course explain how
and why the course has been organised in support
of the key learning objectives. Your success, in
large part, is the extent to which you can
please all parties involved: the client, your
boss and the group you are working with.
You
meet the group. They seem quite well motivated.
But their motivation seems to melt away when you
mention aims and objectives. You sense some
resistance and you wonder if it would be wiser
to ask participants to set their own objectives.
This would give you a starting point and their
objectives will probably tie in with the course
objectives anyway. You can sort out any
significant differences later.
But the
group's spokesperson says "We just want fun!"
and this seems to be echoed by everyone else.
You are probably failing to hide your concerns
about how on earth you are going to get from
this starting point to a finishing point that
will leave the group, the client and your
director fully satisfied and with significant
learning outcomes achieved.
Here are some choices for you.
Option 1: work towards a better climate for
learning (aided by physical movement)
Write up their words "We just want fun!" and
confirm that this is a statement they all support.
Now write up the words "We want fun!"
(missing out "just")
You say ...
"OK - your first bit of fun is a word game.
Please all stand." [pause while they stand] "You
are all standing in the middle of a spectrum. One
end of the spectrum - over there - represents the
view "I just want fun and nothing else". The other
end of the spectrum - over here - represents the
view "I want fun and I am happy to learn
interesting and useful things along the way, so
long as it's fun".
"You can choose to stand at any point on this
spectrum, depending on what you really want for
yourself from this course."
You hope that there will be some spreading out
along the spectrum, but whether the group is in
one huddle or is spread out along the spectrum,
this next stage applies:
"Please find someone you are standing close to
and sit down with them with a pen and paper and
make two lists: (1) experiences
you do want and (2) experiences
you don't want during this course."
Alternatively you can give out large sticky notes
to each pair, asking them to place "wanted
experiences" on one colour (eg green) and "not
wanted experiences" using the other colour (eg
orange).
All the results are put on display at the places
where people were standing in the spectrum. You
now ask everyone to tour the exhibition of
statements, reading what others have written.
(This also gives you time to take a look and think
ahead.)
When everyone has had sufficient reading and
thinking time, ask them to sit down in a circle.
If you have spotted any unrealistic or
unreasonable expectations you should say so, but
the chances are that most of these expectations
(expressed as experiences) are realistic and
reasonable and compatible with the course
objectives.
Now ask participants to come up with a list of
"do's and don'ts" that will help them to
make wanted experiences more likely and unwanted
experiences less likely.To add to the challenge
and value of this exercise request that do's
outnumber don'ts.
Option 1 will help you bring out individual
differences and create a useful discussion within
the group that gives you as a facilitator much
more room for manoeuvre than at first appeared.
You are also responding directly to the kinds of
concerns that can get in the way of learning. And
the do's and don'ts exercise can readily lead to a
contract based on ground rules that will help to
create a supportive climate for learning.
Option
2: use fun as a starting point - with fun
activities and fun reviews
You:
"That's a great attitude to come with because it
matches the schedule for the start of this
programme. It's best to start with fun and get
more focused later."
Self-appointed
spokesperson:
"But we just want fun! We don't want other stuff
later."
You:
"What's stopping us getting started? ... I cannot
guarantee that these games are going to be
non-stop fun for everyone all of the time. Not
everyone has the same ideas about what makes an
activity fun. But a lot of groups I have worked
with have had fun doing these activities. Are you
ready?"
What now
happens is a series of short activities which were
probably already designed into the programme. The
only difference is that your briefing for each
activity does not use the language of learning
objective and outcomes: it is the minimum briefing
necessary for people to understand and enjoy the
activity.
What you
are hoping for is plenty of reviewable incidents
during these opening activities - possibly where
people are not having much fun because they are
not being listened to, or they are not given a
turn or they feel insulted or embarrassed. The
theme of such reviews might be "Let's do better at
making things fun for everyone".
But
reviewable incidents are not necessarily negative
ones, so a more positive angle would be to provide
or generate positive feedback all round - to bring
everyone's attention to how they are contributing
to fun - by including others, supporting others,
taking the initiative, suggesting improvements,
helping with good decision-making, speaking up for
others ...
Option 2 is really a change of emphasis and a change
of language - but there is a particular risk that if
reviews are experienced as dull and boring (or "not
fun") that you end up with an "activities only"
programme with any useful learning left to chance.
So option 2 needs to be combined with review methods
that are mostly fun and positive. For example:
Action Replay can be fun and Spokes can be very
positive.
If you are not familiar with these methods, search
for them at http://reviewing.co.uk
Option 3:
use your powers of persuasion
Talk about other groups you have worked with who
arrived with a similar attitude, had a fun time and
left with lots of useful learning... "in fact
they are now regular customers because they are an
organisation that believes that fun and learning are
fully compatible. If people are not having fun it
suggests that their basic needs are not being met
and these need to be attended to before it is
possible to do much useful learning."
"But we just want fun!"
I hear what you are saying. Can you hear what I am
saying? Wanting fun is a temporary stage that all
groups go through. But there are many different
kinds of fun and there are many ways in which groups
develop. Groups do not just travel in one direction
from an appetite for fun to an appetite for serious
stuff and that's it. Groups that continue to grow
and learn keep cycling through stages of hard work
and relaxation and sometimes fun can even happen
alongside the hard work.
"Just fun" is a good place to start. So let's start
at square one and go back to square one from time to
time, but let's not get stuck at square one.
Option 3 depends entirely on your powers of
persuasion. It does not include activity and it does
not include much dialogue. There is a risk that if
you sustain this line for too long that you win the
argument but you lose the group: you have silenced
them. And then later on in the course you wonder why
it is so difficult to get them to speak up!
Which option would you choose - and why?
Much depends on the situation and much depends on
your personal style. But each option has its own
risks - and there may well be better ways of
dealing with this situation. If your favourite
strategy is not described, please write to roger@reviewing.co.uk
and share your own favourite.
~ 4 ~ ONLINE TRAINING COURSE:
Active Reviewing
Taking part in
this online course will enable you ...
- To engage your students' full set of learning
skills so that their learning is rapid,
significant and memorable.
- To inspire long lasting results by generating
immersive learning experiences.
- To become an expert in facilitating learning
from experience.
- To master the Active Reviewing Toolkit
(A.R.T.), a selection of versatile reviewing
techniques.
- To use tools such as the Horseshoe, the
Activity Map, Action Replay and others in order
to engage and empower your students.
You can view the full course content and sample
the training videos for free by visiting ActiveReviewing.com
Take Your Training Skills to the Next
Level
The best way to learn the procedures and
principles related to actively reviewing is to
enroll in this e-learning course. You will enjoy
your learning experience from this practical,
hands-on approach to active learning.
Sivasailam Thiagarajan
thiagi.com
See Thiagi's full review
A must for all
trainers not experienced in Roger's reviewing
methods
A programme that will really help trainers get to
grips with active and creative reviewing skills.
It's in nice short sections so it's easy to go
back and review a method before you use it. I
might make this a prerequisite for my associate
trainers!
Shirley Gaston
Azesta
You can view the full course content and sample
the training videos for free by visiting ActiveReviewing.com
~ 5 ~ TIPS: 6 of the best
ways to end a training programme
1. On time - or
early.
This is not just about being professional and
punctual. It is also recognising that a lot of very
useful things can happen informally as soon as a
training programme ends: saying goodbyes; saying
thank you; exchanging cards or contact information;
taking photos; making plans to meet. These are all
things that can add value to your training programme
and enhance the transfer of learning. In some
situations this opportunity is so valuable that you
may want to end the programme 15 minutes early and
challenge people to use these last 15 minutes to
have at least three conversations that will help
each other transfer their learning - and then leave
when they are ready to do so.
2. "This is not the
end: it is the start of the next stage of your
learning journey."
Not original, but true. It is often said when a
learner driver becomes qualified that the real
learning begins out on the roads after the test.
There is an important phase of extra learning when
the initial learning is tried out for real. The
transfer plan (next) should include a learning plan
within it - which includes a commitment (and the
know-how) for further review and reflection - so
that transfer experiments become learning
experiences. A quick way to enact this tip is to
make a short closing speech around this message.
Ideally it is preceded by a sharing of learning and
is followed by each participant outlining a future
experiment and how they will learn from it.
3. An ending that
is customised for each individual
This can take the form of a self-made transfer plan
which plays to the individual's strengths;
anticipation of potential barriers and strategies
for overcoming them; contracted one-to-one support
from learning buddy or coach or manager; a schedule
for self-testing of any knowledge or skills
that are critical for successful transfer; a
personally significant souvenir that will outlive
the transfer plan and serve both as a reminder and
as as a talking point with others. To enact this
tip, give time for each person to prepare to share
one aspect of their transfer plan that will be
relatively easy to achieve and one aspect that they
expect to be challenging or unpredictable.
4. Old and new
If the training programme is expected to result in
behaviour change, the end of a programme can be a
prime opportunity for contrasting old ways and new
ways. Teams can show their old ways of working and
their new ways of working in a short performance. A
good structure is to pick one old and new example
from the training programme, and follow this with
one old and one (imagined) new example from the
workplace. If asking individuals to perform their
personal old and new ways is too challenging, ask
them to choose pictures representing old and new and
to present the pictures in the group.
5. Slideshow
Participants watch a slideshow of the training
programme in which they have just been taking part.
It tells the story of their learning experience and
includes everyone. It can be a project for
participants or it can be produced by training
staff. You will find valuable advice and tips in Sam
Moore's article: Big
Screen
Magic (pdf) Unlike the first four tips, this
one is about the recent past, but (with the right
permissions) a slideshow of the recent past can also
become a powerful souvenir to take into the future.
6. Talking Knot
This is suitable for groups of 10-15 people. Seated
in a circle, everyone holds onto a circular
rope with 3 labels tied on at an equal distance from
each other. The labels are: 'Past', 'Present' and
'Future'. The group move the rope at a leisurely
pace in a clockwise direction. When anyone wishes to
speak on the subject that is passing by on a
label, the person seizes the rope either side of the
label and speaks. When the person has had their say,
the rope resumes its clockwise motion until someone
else choose to stop the rope and speak. This simple
turn-taking method allows people to opt in when they
are ready to speak. Unlike the other methods which
can take longer than expected, you can assign a
maximum time for this method and stop at the
designated time - so it fits particularly well with
Tip No.1.
You may have noticed that filling in an evaluation
form is not included in this "Six of the best". I
would not even recommend it. Few participants will
have the time, energy, thoughtfulness or commitment
needed to do a useful and honest evaluation at this
time - when there are other strong social needs to
attend to. Evaluation is best done sooner or later
rather than at the very end.
If you have a favourite way of ending a training
programme that you would like to share, please write
to roger@reviewing.co.uk
and this "Six of the best" might even grow into a
top ten!
~ 6 ~ ARCHIVE: Reviewing for Fun
Download
"Reviewing
for Fun" pdf (4 pages)
~ 7 ~ PREVIOUS ISSUE and FUTURE
ISSUES
See the previous issue of Active Reviewing Tips:
The
Forgetful
Navigator
Topics under consideration for future issues
include:
- The Active Reviewing Cycle: update
- Making the case for active reviewing
- Making reviewing a memorable experience
- Reviewing as a takeaway skill for participants
- Evaluating Active Reviewing: how well does it
work?
- Reviewing for different outcomes (using the
same activities)
- End of programme reviews
- Co-facilitating reviews
- The art of improvising
- Remote Reviewing
- Reviewing over a cup of tea (informal
reviewing)
- Readers' Questions about Reviewing (please
feed me with questions for this 'FAQ')
- Sample designs for learning and development
- Integrated practice in experiential learning
(when does an activity become a review? when
does a review become an activity? examples of
integrated practice - and do these
challenge or demonstrate experiential learning
theory?)
Please write to roger@reviewing.co.uk
if you have any topics you would like to see
included or put at the top of this list (which is
not yet in any particular order).
~ 8 ~ About Active Reviewing Tips
TITLE: Active Reviewing Tips for Dynamic
Experiential Learning
ISSN: 1465-8046
EDITOR: Dr. Roger Greenaway, Reviewing Skills
Training
EMAIL: roger@reviewing.co.uk
Feedback welcome
ARCHIVES: Index
of
back issues
HOME PAGE: Active
Reviewing
"I like the way
you look at everything and then return to what is
simple, effective and memorable."
"You always have material I don't want to miss."
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