I have found myself recently focusing a lot of my attention on asking questions. Asking questions of the professionals that I am coaching allows me to listen rather than talk. Asking questions of the parents and caregivers that I work with gives me their perspective rather than staying focused on only my own. And really that is the perspective that matters, the person doing the learning, isn’t it?
In my quest to talk less and listen more, I’ve found that considering my questions ahead of time has been helpful. Even though this felt a little like pre-determining the course of the conversation before it happened, what I have found instead is that I get a chance this way to make sure that my questions are not leading questions designed to get at what I think the important topics are. Instead my open-ended questions are also open to my partner’s interpretation – they can take their answer in any direction. Here are some of the questions that I have been trying out lately:
- What was it about this session that got you the most excited?
- After this session, what are you the most eager to talk about?
- If you could tell the story of this session, how would it start?
- If you had 3 wishes for your child/your practice/this family, what would they be?
- When you look back on this session/meeting, what questions are you left with?
I am still practicing and learning, for sure. www.schooltransformation.com is a great resource for getting my thinking going on this subject.
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