REVIEWING FOR DEVELOPMENT
by Roger Greenaway, Reviewing Skills Training
'Reviewing for Development' is also available as a 5 page easy-to-print pdf file.
If your work is about personal development, social development,
team development, leadership development, management
development, or 'anything' development you should find some useful
ideas and tips in this article about reviewing for development.
Much advice about reviewing (or debriefing) assumes that the main
purpose is to facilitate LEARNING. So what should you do differently
when the emphasis is on facilitating DEVELOPMENT?
One (partly right) answer is that DEVELOPMENT arises as a direct
result of what is experienced during the 'activity' and that
LEARNING mostly happens after the activity when reviewing the
experience. For example, the sense of achievement on completing a
rock climb happens as the climber completes the final move. Such
achievements have an impact on DEVELOPMENT - whether or not
much LEARNING arises directly from the achievement. It is during
reflection and review after the climb that the climber can LEARN
more from the experience than was possible while engrossed in the
climbing. The climber may learn through feedback during a review
that their communication was poor or that their recklessness was
endangering others, or during a review they may learn how they
can also control other fears in other situations. A review can take
LEARNING in many directions that were not fully apparent at the
time of the DEVELOPMENTAL experience.
The above description is only 'partly right' because it is by no
means always true that development happens during 'the
experience' and learning happens during 'the review'. Many
exceptions spring to mind. But more important than recognising
exceptions is to recognise the flaw in the original proposition.
What flaw?
The flaw is thinking of a review as a period during which
experiencing is switched off. It is my belief that the experience of a
review is at least as important as the experience of the event being
reviewed. (How can you advocate learning through experience
without paying attention to the experience of learning?)
It is easy to see how this flaw has come about. When reviews are
designed for learning from an experience that has just happened,
the experience of the reviewing process is given little (if any)
attention. But if you want to use both the activity AND the review
for DEVELOPMENT, it is important to consider the quality of
experience THROUGHOUT the whole process.
The tips that follow about 'reviewing for development' are based on
the belief that the quality of experience during reviews can have a
significant impact on growth and development. If participants feel
valued, respected, responsible, listened to, cared for, and have
these and other needs met during review time, the experience of
reviewing is likely to be contributing to their growth and
development.
There are many theories about the kinds of experiences that are
most critical for development. Some models are arranged in
hierarchies meaning that some needs have to be met before other
'higher' needs can be met. Other models simply suggest that you
pay most attention to the greatest need. Other models suggest the
opposite - that you play to people's strengths. Other models bypass
needs assessment altogether and simply aim to provide a nourishing
environment with an abundance of opportunities for development.
Whether you follow a model or just do what feels right, the
following tips list should open your eyes to some of the possibilities
of using reviewing (or debriefing) sessions for achieving
developmental aims.
Does that mean putting LEARNING objectives on one side while you
attend to DEVELOPMENTAL aims? Probably not. Many reviewing
techniques can work well at both levels simultaneously - especially
if your own mind is working at both of these levels and is in touch
with what people are EXPERIENCING during the review as well as
with what they are LEARNING during the review.
That's the explanation. There now follows a list of ways in which
you can meet a whole range of developmental needs while
reviewing. This way of thinking about reviewing will increase the
developmental impact of your programmes. It will provide a solid
base for facilitating more specific kinds of development (such as
team development or leadership development). And as a bonus you
will also have created a wonderful climate for learning! In other
words, even if your main focus is LEARNING you should achieve
more and better learning if you use the twin track approach of using
reviews for both learning and development.
REVIEWING FOR DEVELOPMENT: EXAMPLES
We can respond to the need for ...
... BELONGINGNESS
by ensuring that no-one is just listening, or feels left out or is
isolated during a review. Use techniques that encourage everyone
to tell their story so that everyone gets listened to. Use small group
tasks during review so that everyone has something to do and is
included. Have a rule that encourages anyone to speak up if they
are feeling left out or ignored e.g. 'by playing the joker'.
... ACCEPTANCE
by accepting people as they are. This need probably has to be met
before the individual will consider change. So feedback sessions
should initially encourage reflective feedback (as in holding up a
mirror) rather than judgemental feedback (as when stating opinions
or giving advice). By rotating paired reviewing tasks everyone ends
up doing paired work with everyone else. Acceptance at one-to-
one level leads to feelings of acceptance at the 'group' level.
... CARE AND FRIENDSHIP
by using reviewing tasks in which people get to know each other
better. This is more likely to happen in twos and threes than in the
large group. The empathy test (a paired exercise) is a fun and
intuitive way of guessing what the world looks like in your partner's
shoes. Care and friendship are unlikely to develop until people know
each other well, so use buddy systems for reviewing and use
prediction exercises as a way of testing how well people know each
other.
... PRAISE AND RECOGNITION
by using rounds in which the whole group are asked to praise each
individual (in turn) for something specific they said or did or did not
do during the event being reviewed. Limit points to a suitable
number (e.g. 5 per person). Follow with a round in which each
individual states something they deserve praise for that was not
noticed. Many other feedback exercises are described in the Active
Reviewing Guide.
... RESPONSIBILITY
by giving participants responsibility for some (or all) aspects of
reviewing. A half way house is to set up reviews as independent
tasks. With groups of all ages, I have found that participants
behave particularly responsibly when a group of around 10 is split in
two with each 5 preparing feedback for individuals in the other 5.
Also ... people have a greater sense of responsibility in reviewing if
they are given choice (e.g. to create their own questions) and have
advance warning and some preparation time.
... SELF-RESPECT
by giving participants reviewing exercises in which they evaluate
their own performance and share this in the group. For some groups
(of any age) simply asking them to write and read out 'My Ten Best
Points' can be quite an experience. By making 'respect' a ground
rule (or similar) it is easier for the facilitator or participants to
challenge if it is felt that anyone is failing to respect themselves or
others. A facilitator who upholds the rights of individuals to opt out
or speak up will be helping to develop respect as a group norm.
... CREATIVITY
by directly encouraging creativity in reviewing. Being a creative
facilitator is not enough. Encouraging participants' own creativity is
different. So give half ideas, not full instructions. Ask for
suggestions. Invent a rule that states 'we will not use the same
reviewing technique twice'. So if you want to use rounds for a
second time, ask the group to suggest a variation. Arts based
reviewing exercises help to meet this need, but the need for
creativity is much more than being 'arty'. New ideas and innovative
thinking belong to all subject disciplines.
... ACHIEVEMENT
by (very occasionally) making a review a race against time. The
'Survey' method works well in a tight but realistic time scale. In a
group of 20 with 5 issues to review, 5 groups of 4 specialise in one
issue, simultaneously conduct a survey throughout the whole group
and report back on their findings. Also ... after a particularly good
or intensive review (such as a review session with a high quality of
feedback) be sure to give credit to the group for what they have
achieved in the review.
... NEW EXPERIENCES
by pointing out to the group that reviewing sessions are a time for
new experiences. The new experience might be the responsibility of
observing and reporting back, or of facilitating a discussion, or of
giving and receiving feedback, or doing 'Action Replay' or 'Guided
Reflection'. You can use 'Activity Map' for quickly finding out what
kinds of reviewing methods participants have experienced before
and how they responded. If you are using methods from the Active
Reviewing Guide with people who normally review using group
discussion, then nearly all your review sessions will be new
experiences!
... CONNECTION
"Personal growth can be viewed as making new connections in any
of several directions: UPWARD to achieve one's full potential;
OUTWARD to make contact and encounter others; INWARD to
increase our awareness of who we are, and what we want, need,
sense, feel, think, and do; and DOWNWARD to touch earth, to be
grounded, and to connect." (Giges and Rosenfeld, 1976)
Examples of reviewing methods that help people to connect in all
four directions are described in 'In Search of Respectable
Adventure' at
http://reviewing.co.uk/outdoor/respctad.htm
[These 'outdoor' examples can be translated into indoor settings.]
... SIGNIFICANCE
by reviewing 'leadership' or 'influence' and helping everyone to
become more aware of how what they say and do or don't do
affects others. Freeze a reviewing discussion and review the
review. Ask everyone to look around and think about how each
other person is influencing what they are saying or doing or not
doing. Then go round the group and ask, one at a time 'How is [this
person] influencing you or the group?' Or, at the end of a review,
finish with a round of appreciation for each individual about the part
they played in the review.
... CERTAINTY
by announcing the structure and purpose of the review and
explaining what you can and cannot guarantee about the process
that lies ahead. Agree the latest finish time. If you have prepared a
tightly structured session that provides each person with equal
airtime, then say so. If it will be a more flexible session in which
suggestions are welcome and in which everyone has a right to
leave, then remind them this is so. If you need to make or remake a
contract with the group, then consider writing it down and keeping
it in view.
... UNCERTAINTY/VARIETY
by explaining that 'experiential learning and development' (or
however you describe what you do) is really a voyage of discovery.
The start and finish of the journey is fairly well charted, but the
middle is not mapped out because it is a dynamic process that turns
out differently every time. By using 'Metaphor Maps' each person
can trace their journey during the programme. If it is clear from this
process that they are staying in safe and familiar territory, ask if
they are staying in this territory out of choice and if there are any
parts of the map that they are curious about visiting. [This is a
richer version of 'Comfort Zone'. I find that 'variety' is often a more
attractive destination than 'discomfort'.]
... GROWTH
by providing support, space and room to move. This can be mental
space or physical space, but somehow physical space helps to
create mental space, just as physical movement helps to create
mental movement. 'Guided Reflection' can help to create mental
space. Slightly active methods such as 'Revolver' or 'Horseshoe'
create strong associations between mental positions and physical
positions. 'Action Replay' and 'Active Force Field Analysis' and
'Future Walking' take such associations much further.
... CONTRIBUTION
by creating opportunities for participants to help each other within
the reviewing process - as facilitators, buddies, mentors, or
coaches. If we have a developmental need to help others, then by
helping others we help ourselves. The challenge in review design is
to create suitable opportunities for everyone to 'help others'. Try
exploring the slogan 'the more you give, the more you get' and
through discussion work out what 'giving' in reviews would look like
for each group and individual you work with. You can then help
participants turn a nice slogan into practical and specific action.
... FUN
by including playful exercises such as 'Empathy Tests' or
'Fortunately, Unfortunately' (an alternating round), or by including
independent reviewing tasks that end with a performance such as a
poem, a song, a replay, a dramatic presentation. Of course, the
best fun just happens, but it helps if you create expectations that
reviewing sessions can be both fun and serious. Better still if you
avoid associating 'serious' with learning and 'fun' with energisers!
Techniques like 'Revolver', 'Action Replay' or 'Gifts' tend to generate
a healthy mixture of fun and serious within the same technique.
Now that's what I call 'blended learning'!
... FREEDOM
by creating time and space and choices within reviews, and by
giving as much responsibility to learners as you dare (or by taking
as little as you can). The 'Joker' (the wild card) in the 'Active
Reviewing Cycle' was intended to give facilitators the freedom to
work intuitively and not becoming too dependent on keeping to this
model (or any other). Some trainers have gone further and take the
'Joker' into the group setting with the rule that anyone can
interrupt the process when they hold the 'Joker'. This symbol can
be used as a safety valve or a spanner in the works. Either way, it
gives participants who need freedom a way of finding it before a
crisis develops.
... POWER
by disempowering ourselves. This is the advice given in 'Learning by
Doing and Sharing' by the European Centre for Development Policy
Management (ECDPM) at
http://digbig.com/4cdak
"Disempower yourself as facilitator. To do this, you can:
- decentre move away from the spatial focus of authority;
- sit down, instead of standing while others sit;
- keep quiet;
- initiate self-organising processes;
- hand over to a participant (e.g. to chair a feedback session);
- refer questions back to groups;
- ask for contributions from others;
- start individual reflection in buzz groups;
- go away."
... SURVIVAL
This should not be an issue during reviewing! But when reviews go
wrong people can feel very threatened, especially if feedback
sessions go awry. That is why I developed 'Warm Seat' on
discovering that 'Hot Seat' methods could easily become
threatening and unproductive. 'Warm Seat' allows the person
receiving feedback to stay in control. They are free to leave the
seat if it becomes too hot. Other measures also need to be in place
to make such sessions enjoyable, warm and valuable.
In 1990, I wrote:
''By reviewing activities we show that we care about what people
experience; that we value what they have to say; and that we are
interested in the progress of each individual's learning and
development.'' (Playback, page 21)
If participants feel cared for, valued and important during reviews,
you will have succeeded in creating a climate in which they are
more likely to learn and develop. This article has shown how you
can build on these principles to achieve an even more
developmental climate when reviewing.
REFERENCES
The list above draws together the work of Maslow (1954), Lindgren
(1956) and Kellmer-Pringle (1965). Similar needs have been
identified by Carl Rogers (1969) as being critical needs to satisfy in
order to create the "freedom to learn". Anthony Robbins' Human
Needs Psychology (HNP) identifies 6 Human Needs - 1:Love &
Connection 2:Significance 3:Certainty 4:Uncertainty/Variety
5:Growth 6:Contribution. Fulfillment depends on meeting the needs
for Growth and Contribution. William Glasser's 5 Needs are Fun,
Freedom, Power, Belonging and Survival. He refers to them as 5 legs
of a stool, not as a hierarchy.
References to methods such as 'Revolver' or 'Warm Seat' can be
followed up by entering their names in the search box at
http://reviewing.co.uk
The theme of learning versus development is also explored in
'In Search of Adventure' at
http://reviewing.co.uk/outdoor/respctad.htm
Feedback
I welcome feedback on this article - however critical, appreciative or full of new ideas.
Recommended Links
I also welcome recommendations of links to similar articles (paper or electronic media) by other authors.
Since writing this article I have frequently revisited the topic of engaging learners in reviewing - each time from a different perspective. These articles are
brought together in Active Reviewing Tips 12.2
