more time preparing a presentation to ‘blow people
away’!
My session was scheduled for 7:00pm on the third
day and I delivered a passionate, energetic as well
as humorous presentation. There was a good deal
of laughter and the body language of my
colleagues delivering the programme was
extremely positive.
It was a shock, therefore, to read the feedback
sheets after the residential and discover that the
evaluation session was perceived, at best, as
being fair. A number of participants commented
that it was ‘too academic’ and that a formal lecture
was less useful than a practical session
The most important
lesson I have
learned is that all is
not what it seems.
That a good
humoured and very
polite audience may
not be receiving
what they really
want.
Insights; At the time my reflections included the insight that I had been keener to delight and
impress my new Change Academy team colleagues than find out what participants really
wanted and prepare a session around that. Also, that participants on change programmes
usually prefer interactive activities to passive presentations.
New Insights gained while sharing the story. As I write this so many other insights start to
‘bubble up’. Firstly, is this an example of my ‘desire to please’ significant others at the
expense of participant needs? It is also an example of my not seeking advice from others
who might have contributed and also suggested doing it differently. These are both examples
of my preferred way of working which could have implications for how I work in a team.
Having seen a colleague facilitate a much better session on evaluation using dialogue sheets
I could have spent the time researching facilitation methods rather than erudite knowledge
that no-one would have the time to follow up, even if they had the inclination. The insight
here is to be mindful of what I want people to do as a result of my session as well as what
they do in it – preparing for impact rather than outcome.
There is more to analysing stories than the contribution such analyses might make to reflective
practice. What does this story mean? Searching for the meanings in stories is the work of narrative
inquiry, a research method that has been deployed to analyse a range of narrative approaches,
including stories.
Lieblich, Tuvel and Mashiach (1998) suggest that narrative approaches advocate pluralism,
relativism and subjectivity (p2) and that the major focus is to explore and understand the inner
world of individuals. They recognise, therefore, that narrative inquiry may be criticised as being
more art than research; that interpretations are not replicable. However, they do demonstrate that
interpretations require justification as well as meeting a particular standard.
THE CENTRE FOR RECORDING ACHIEVEMENT 104 -108 WALLGATE, WIGAN, WN3 4AB |
15