ACTIVE REVIEWING TIPS
for Dynamic Experiential Learning

Active Reviewing Tips 2.9   Active Reviewing (part 1) From the Editor HOW TO TRANSFER LEARNING - New training workshop ACTIVE REVIEWING ARTICLE - Part 1

Active Reviewing Tips for Dynamic Experiential Learning http://reviewing.co.uk Active Reviewing Tips 2.9 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ISSN 1465-8046 ~ ~ A C T I V E . R E V I E W I N G . T I P S ~ ~ FOR DYNAMIC EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING ~ ~ the free monthly newsletter associated with the ~ ~ 'GUIDE TO ACTIVE REVIEWING' http://reviewing.co.uk ~ ~ Editor: Roger Greenaway roger@reviewing.co.uk ~ ~ Vol. 2.9 ~ ~ ACTIVE REVIEWING ARTICLE (Part 1) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ CONTENTS (TOP) FROM THE EDITOR In the Chinese language, I am told, there is a symbol that represents both opportunity and crisis. So when my modem packs up and most of my files and messages disappear, I try very hard to see the opportunities ........................................ ......maybe I'll write about that another time. Meanwhile, here is part 1 of my 'recycled' article about Active Reviewing. Maybe this IS an opportunity after all. Rather than throwing isolated ideas at you, here is an article that draws together some of the key principles and practices of active reviewing into one article. Here is your opportunity to get an overview of what 'active reviewing' is all about. This article is published in two parts because some of you may have a size limit for the emails you receive. (You or your service provider may have set a limit.) And after two months without any Active Reviewing Tips, perhaps you have an appetite for a longer 2-part issue? If you prefer to read the full version of this article from the web, please find your way to: http://reviewing.co.uk/actrev.htm CONTENTS (TOP) A NEW trainer-training workshop with Roger Greenaway Reviewing Skills Training ========================== HOW TO TRANSFER LEARNING and give your training lasting impact ========================== Experience-based training has impact. But how do you ensure that the impact leads to valued, significant and transferable change? By taking part in this practical 2 day workshop you will learn how to improve the chances that the full benefits of your training are transferred to the 'real' world. As a participant you will gain ... * an understanding of key issues in the transfer of learning. * the know-how to make learning experiences more transferable. * an expanded toolkit of reviewing techniques that assist transfer * first-hand experience of 'transfer planning' ==== DAY 1 ==== TRANSFER, TRANSLATE OR TRANSFORM * Who does what to assist transfer? * Key issues about transfer * Doing nothing about transfer * What you can do before, during and after training events to promote transfer THINKING LINKING * Warm-ups and skills development * Mind opening exercises * Association games * Physical games * Creative thinking exercises * Systematic comparisons * Pattern making * Parallel worlds * Developing learning skills TRANSFER WITHIN A TRAINING EVENT * Linking by design vs. linking by review * 'Do-Review-Apply' within a course. '* Do-Review-Apply' within an activity. * Reviewing how transfer is happening * Re-reviewing to find new associations TRANSFER BEYOND A TRAINING EVENT * When and how to focus on the future * Reviewing how transfer is happening * Models of transfer: bridging the gap with your favourite vehicle for change. * Transfer plan = action plan + learning plan * Writing 'smart' objectives with muscle! * Rehearsing 'what if' scenarios ==== DAY 2 ==== MAKING TRANSFER INEVITABLE * Growth, capacity and potential * Storing success * Working with stories and metaphors * Working at different levels MAKING LEARNING READY TO USE * hooks - internal and external * talking with different people about the course CUSTOMISING LEARNING TRANSFER * travelling alone * creating and using support * action plans or learning plans? * preferred learning style BEYOND TRANSFER * translating and transforming * what do you do with unfinished learning? * evaluation measures and supports transfer Roger Greenaway is the author of Playback and other books and articles about reviewing.  Roger provided his first trainer-training courses in reviewing at Brathay in the early eighties. He was awarded a doctorate in 1995 for a study entitled 'Powerful Learning Experiences in Management Learning and Development'. Roger now provides reviewing skills training and consultancy in the UK and abroad. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ CONTENTS (TOP) A C T I V E . R E V I E W I N G . [Part 1] WHEN WORDS ARE NOT ENOUGH The purpose of reviewing is to assist the process of learning from experience. This paper outlines some active approaches to reviewing that offer a way forward when words are not enough, or when words get in the way. ACTIVE REVIEWING Active reviewing improves our ability to learn from experience. Most active reviewing is simple, basic and direct. Used wisely it can enliven and sharpen the process of reviewing experience. INTEGRATING THE WORLDS OF TALK AND ACTION * Over-reliance on words can restrict our ability to learn from experience, however articulate or inarticulate we may think we are. * Talk and action tend to inhabit distinct and separate worlds, especially when there is a clear demarcation line between doing and reviewing. * The more separate these worlds, the less likely it is that learning from experience is happening. * Active reviewing is brings these worlds closer together, by narrowing the gap between theory and practice. THE BENEFITS OF ACTIVE REVIEWING The benefits arising from the habit of active reviewing can include: * More effective learning from experience * An improved confidence in translating words into action, trying out ideas, making decisions happen, and turning plans into reality * Soundly based resolutions and action plans. The transition of learning from a course is more likely to happen if plans for the future have already been rehearsed in some way while on the course. * Language is more likely to be used accurately, responsibly and sensitively. When language and action are no longer 'safely' separated, the quality of communication can only improve. ACTIVE REVIEWING complements discussion-based methods - it does not replace them. There is a risk that active reviewing might be seen as 'anti-language' or as an attack on the value of verbal reviewing. It is the trainer's responsibility to maintain a suitable balance between language, action and any other media which are used for reviewing. Active reviewing methods simply extend the choices available for learning from experience. PREPARING FOR ACTIVE REVIEWING SETTING UP NEW LANGUAGES It is useful to have a wide range of options instantly available when reviewing. If a trainer intends to use active techniques during a review, an earlier session involving communicating through action can prime the group for using 'active language'. 'Active Images' is an example of setting up and using a new language: ACTIVE IMAGES On a course which has 'teamwork' and 'leadership' as themes, each group member can be asked to demonstrate an ideal active image of 'teamwork' by directing the rest of the group in a short realistic or symbolic presentation. These presentations can then be readily adapted during later reviews to illustrate how the group is actually working as a team, and to represent people's changing views about teamwork or leadership. SETTING UP CONVENTIONS A number of games, communication exercises or movement exercises can be used to set up a range of conventions for use during reviewing. Strict observance of conventions can be just as vital to the success of a review as it can be to the success of a game. A group which already knows various conventions and has experienced their value, is more likely to be responsive when such conventions are re-introduced during a review. The discipline of 'rounds' or of 'sustained silences', or the precedent of moving everyone else or of freezing during action - these are just some of the conventions that can be valuable during reviewing. CONVENTIONS FOR CONVENTIONS If conventions are simply established by default (e.g. that people always sit in the same places and keep to the same pecking order in group discussions), then it is unlikely that effective reviewing will get off the ground. By making alternative conventions available in advance, trainers create more room for manoeuvre during reviews - both for themselves and for participants. EXAMPLES OF ACTIVE REVIEWING ACTION REPLAYS (improvised group re-enactments of a group event) Action replays are the basis of many active reviewing techniques. The purposes and variations of action replays are endless. The nine purposes listed below cover three broad areas: CLARIFYING what happened, CELEBRATING what happened, and INVESTIGATING what happened:     CLARIFYING * keeping everyone in the group informed about what others were doing (especially where a group has split into smaller units during an activity) * informing others outside the group about a group event (or possibly just to update the trainer following an independent exercise) * reconstructing a distant or complex event (to help people recall and relive the facts and feelings of an event)     CELEBRATING * celebrating a success (and appreciating more about what contributed to the success) * helping people to see the serious side of a humorous incident (or vice-versa)     INVESTIGATING * agenda-raising (using an action replay as a sweep search for issues to review) * awareness-raising (bringing out different points of view and disagreements) * focusing on issues which participants have found difficult to recognise or confront during the activity * analysing a problem (similar to reconstructing the scene of a crime) ACTION PRE-PLAYS (or rehearsals) Pre-plays (or rehearsals) are a natural development of action replays. They simply focus on future possibilities rather than on past events. Acting out alternative courses of action is more committing than talk, but is less committing than the real thing. * pre-plays create quick and convenient  opportunities for second attempts (compared to real second attempts). There may also be fewer distractions from key issues. * pre-plays create opportunities for experimenting with alternatives * individuals can swap roles with each other, leading towards criticism becoming more constructive...      [end of part 1 of this article.     See ARTips 2.10 for the continuation] ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ DO YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE? If you want to READ more about ACTIVE REVIEWING 1) Do nothing! Just continue reading Active Reviewing Tips and you will receive a monthly(ish) dose of practical ideas for active reviewing. 2) Search http://reviewing.co.uk There's now a full text search box at the top of the home page from where you can navigate this 220+ page site - mostly about reviewing, and quite a lot about outdoor learning. 3) Use http://reviewing.co.uk to find related sites. You will find useful links throughout the site. 4) Go to http://reviewing.co.uk/pbk.htm and learn more about Playback online. (You can also buy a copy from here.) If you want practical face-to-face TRAINING on the subject Take a look at http://reviewing.co.uk/_wkshops.htm for a full list of workshops or write to me at roger@reviewing.co.uk You will find a menu of workshops to choose from, but in most cases the workshops I provide are customised one-off events to meet the needs of a particular staff team. If you want to HOST a customised or open workshop, please write to me at roger@reviewing.co.uk   DON'T JUST DO IT -     ACTIVELY REVIEW IT !! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ MORE APOLOGIES - AND THANKS The results of the last Active Reviewing Tips Survey were amongst the casualties in my recent data disaster. Thank you to those who took part. I'll look after your replies better next time! Thank you to Paul at http://www.learningfountain.com and Frank at http://bemorecreative.com for giving Active Reviewing Tips a mention. Both Paul and Frank provide excellent ezines that I have been receiving for some time. I'll tell you more about them in the next issue!