Category: Discussion

How To Improve With The Start Stop Continue Retrospective

Design Thinking, Discussion, Mental ModelsPublished onUpdated on1 Comment on How To Improve With The Start Stop Continue Retrospective

The Start Stop Continue routine has been around for decades. It is commonly used as a ‘retrospective’ activity in Agile development and Scrum meetings.

Our development toolkit is filled with templates, activities and protocols for reflection, but often the simplest tool can be the most effective.

In this post, I explore the fundamental components of the reflection, how you can use it and the benefits. I also share an extended version that gives you some new options to try in your next review session.

Before you finish make sure you grab a copy of the editable PDF resource for the Start Stop Continue extended version. You can use it in your next meeting.

Start Stop Continue

In its simplest form, the protocol explores the three actions of its namesake. When you are reviewing the development of your project or even your own teaching practice, ask these three simple questions.

  • What should I stop doing?
  • What should I keep doing?
  • What should I start doing?

What are the benefits?

  • Provides a clear and comprehensive structure for agreeing on and setting actions.
  • Helps teams explore different types of improvements, using three different triggers.
  • Makes it easier for individuals to talk about what is not working and clarify issues.
  • Simple and memorable enough to be conducted quickly with little preparation.
  • Flexible enough to be valuable for individuals or large teams.

How do I facilitate the Start Stop Continue?

The first thing to do is grab a copy of the editable PDF resource for the Start Stop Continue. All of the sample questions below are included in the download.

This retrospective model will help you and your team explore what is working, what is not effective and what might be useful to try.

To support this and make it easier for participants, use some of the example questions below:

Start

  • What practices do you need to START doing?
  • Outline some of the new ideas that you want to start?
  • What are the habits you want to start?

Stop

  • What negative practices do you need to STOP?
  • What are the low-impact processes which need to stop?
  • What do you need to stop investing in?

Continue

  • What established practices do you need to CONTINUE doing?
  • Which aspects of your work need to be maintained?
  • What needs continued investment to maintain the impact you want to see?

A useful hack from Sarah Beldo, Head of Content and Communications at Miro, is to switch the order a little:

I’ve found that people find it easier to think about what already exists – both the good (“continue”) and the bad (“stop”), before venturing into uncharted territory (“start”).

Sarah Beldo, 7 retrospective templates we love and use at Miro
Start Stop Continue

Extend Your Reflection

Beyond the core Start Stop Continue routine, we can extend the reflection protocol in a few different directions. I think these provocations offer some much-needed nuance to the activity.

For example, the option to Pause, and not just Stop, is a useful distinction. The addition of shifting the thinking frame forward and back in time helps us to consider some important strategic modes of reflection.

I have developed the following additional provocations to complement the core trio and help you facilitate a comprehensive reflection.

Improve

  • What aspects of your practice can you IMPROVE?
  • Which parts of your project have room for growth?
  • What changes can you make to increase the impact?

Pause

  • Which elements of our work need to be PAUSED to allow resources to shift elsewhere?
  • Which projects would benefit from a short developmental hiatus?
  • Which projects are a priority and would benefit from other elements being PAUSED?

Fast Forward

  • Which aspects of this project would benefit from an increase in pace?
  • How might we increase the speed of development?
  • In the future what might be a block or challenge to the success of this?

Rewind

  • What have we learned from the story of development so far?
  • If we returned to the beginning of this project what would we start with?
  • What can we learn from how this problem was handled in the past?

Challenge

  • Which assumptions do we need to CHALLENGE?
  • What bias do you need to talk about and better understand?
  • What will you do to disrupt and challenge the status quo?

Download your editable PDF

If you are interested in this extended version of the model you can download an editable PDF. Just subscribe to my weekly newsletter and I will send you a copy.

Potential Uses and Applications

  • You have reached the end of a teaching placement, and you want to capture your reflections.
  • Your team is making progress with the implementation of a new programme prototype and you want to refine the approach.
  • You want a simple structure to use with your coach to reflect on the past few weeks.
  • During a weekly catchup with one of your team, you want to implement a simple structure for personal/professional mentorship.
  • At the beginning of the term, you want a framework for some collective reflection for your class.
  • You have moved into new learning spaces and need a tool to review what is working and what needs changing.

Further Reading and Resources

7 retrospective templates we love and use at Miro – MiroBlog | A blog by Miro. (2020)

Start, Stop, Continue Tutorial by Say, M. | Forbes. (2021)

The Stop, Start, Continue Approach To Feedback | The World of Work Project. (2019)

Start Stop Continue Template & Start Stop Continue Retrospective | Miro Template Library. (2021)

Why Am I Talking?

Discussion, Mental ModelsPublished onUpdated on2 Comments on Why Am I Talking?

I am always on the lookout for useful mental models, protocols and habits to improve the quality of dialogue and I discovered this little acronym to improve participation.

W.A.I.T = Why Am I Talking?

One of my favourite maxims and something I wrote down when I started Dialogic Learning is to “Listen twice as much as you talk.” This is based on a quote by the Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus:

We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.

One of the strengths of this and the Why Am I Talking? protocol is that it encourages us to carefully reflect on what we are sharing and think about our thinking.

Any habits and protocols that encourage us to slow down a little are really valuable at improving the quality of our dialogue and discussion.

It was hard to find the original attribution for the idea but I did come across some useful questions that you can use to elaborate further.

Questions for Reflection

The following is from a post on the The Power of TED* website.

  • Am I talking for approval and to be overly helpful? (Rescuer)
  • Am I talking to control and take charge of the situation? (Persecutor)
  • Am I talking to complain and whine about all I don’t like? (Victim)
  • What is my intention behind what I am about to say?
  • Is there a question I could ask that would help me better understand what the other person is saying and perceiving?
  • How might I simply listen and let go of my urge to talk at this moment?

Perry Holley posted last year about the WAIT habit encouraging us to ask the following questions:

  • Is this the time to share? Is what I want to share on the topic? Don’t divert the conversation away from what they are speaking about just because “that reminds me of a time when…”
  • Is it my turn to share? Are you mastering the pause?
  • Is what I want to share going to add to or subtract from what they are sharing? The temptation here is to divert the conversation from them to you.
  • If you do interject, be concise. Add value and then shut up.

Strategies to Try

Perry goes on to share a few other strategies which I have come across before and are well worth including in the mix. His titles in bold, but my explanations:

  1. Dare to be Dumb – This is all about asking questions and being open to new ideas. Often a dialogue or discussion can falter because we halt, cut down or stomp all over other people’s ideas. When we ask questions we are also much more likely to challenge assumptions in a group setting. Our curiosity should be a guide.
  2. Master the Pause – This one reminds me of running interviews during design thinking processes and also during coaching sessions. Just because it is quiet does not mean we are not thinking or engaged. Every second does not need to be filled with talk. Pausing allows others to extend their stories and contributions and sometimes reveal new ideas. Also pauses and lower volume time encourages reflection and thinking.
  3. Don’t top someone’s story – My favourite. I have been a victim of this so many times. The other person is simply waiting for their chance to speak. This is the antithesis of high-quality participation and nowhere close to a behaviour associated with rich dialogue. Story topping is the closest thing to competitive conversation.

Why Am I Talking Chart

If an acronym is not enough then here is a handy flow chart to keep us straight from Alan O’Rourke over at AudienceStack.

18956529930 6901758a35 z

When I just reviewed those questions above I wondered if you can practically be referencing those in the midst of your interactions with others? I suppose you could be but it might slow things down too much and reduce everything to an internal reflection process.

However, these structures and protocols are not meant to be explicitly used ad infinitum – I have seen groups internalise and normalise similar structures over time and with practice. That is the goal here – to have high-quality dialogue and discussion by normalising reflective participation.

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Name Your Perspective

Discussion, Leadership, Learning, ThinkingPublished on1 Comment on Name Your Perspective

If you have spent any time with me in small group development sessions you will likely have heard me talking deliberately about perspective. I am always keen to make explicit what can often be an implied understanding or concept. Trying to name up front and from the outset assumptions we might be making is a handy habit to get into. The same is true about the perspective we might be taking towards a discussion or dialogue.

I think one of the challenges we face is in our ability to zoom in and out in terms of our thinking and when in collaboration or discussion with others.

When I say “zoom in” I mean taking heed of the “Micro” perspective, the daily grind the specific, concrete things that might be happening in the classroom. Paying attention to the “Individual” would also be common with a “Micro” perspective. With this lens we are paying less attention to the larger more abstract goals at play and focusing on the concrete decisions and actions in the classroom. When we zoom in we might be asking “How” or “What” questions.

“Zoom out” to a wide angle lens and we bring into view the “Organisation” level goals and aspirations. They might be much less concrete to allow many people to get on-board, so our perspective is more abstract. We are thinking less about ourselves and the concrete stuff that might get in the way of whole school progress. When we zoom out we ask “Why” questions to get to the drivers of our actions and decisions. We have to be more comfortable dealing in a more abstract currency.

I typically signal the perspective I am taking to help set the expectations about a particular part of a discussion. I think it helps me make explicit my choice of perspective and also allows a group to quickly appreciate the expectations that come with that perspective. Micro = details, Macro = drivers.

“Let’s zoom out for a second and consider the reason why this programme needs to change in this way.”

“If we think about a wider lens for a moment we can see that this decision fits with what we are choosing to do across the school.”

“OK now let’s zoom back into what this means in terms of the day to day. How could we explore this everyday?”

“What about the learners experience of this? Let’s jump back into the classroom for a second and consider how this concept would be evidenced in the classroom.”

In most discussions we might move fluidly between the concrete and the abstract. So perhaps start with why but keep returning to it. By doing so we continue to rationalise our actions or ideas and ensure they are connected to a bigger picture.

Perhaps the challenge is not just zooming out to think in an abstract way or zooming in to consider the concrete actions, but more precisely how effectively, fluidly and quickly we can move between those perspectives. Another layer to this is of course how synchronised our perspective is with others we are with.

By explicitly naming a perspective in dialogue we are forming good mental cues to ourselves and external cues for others to gain a better understanding. I think we can all benefit from solid thinking habits that tether our concrete ideas to the drivers and the broader rationale.

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Micro Engagement is Killing Our Edublogging Community

28 Days of Writing, Blogging, DiscussionPublished on48 Comments on Micro Engagement is Killing Our Edublogging Community

One of the elements I have noticed that has changed in out edublogging community is the number of comments that are added to blog posts. The lack of discussion and further conversation is something I have missed from the blogging experience. Writing and reflecting upon my own practice is great in itself, but the ensuing discussions that occurred as a result of sharing often helped deepen my understanding or challenge how I was thinking. This depth of engagement seems to be a fading part of our writing community.

Since starting #28daysofwriting I have been able to re-ignite my reading and consumption of other people’s thinking through the blog posts that have been shared. I have been grateful for the few comments that have been added to my own blog posts so far this month, but am relatively surprised by the lack commenting and engagement I see around the education blogging community.

As my colleague and friend Ewan puts it in his latest post:

given the number of comments left on the first 14 days of this 2015 writing adventure compared to the flowing discussions one might have seen 10 years ago, I’m not sure anyone cares about many blog posts any more.

The engagement from over 110 educational bloggers for #28daysofwriting would suggest that it is still a viable format for reflection. But whether we care enough about other blogs is another thing.

Perhaps this is to do with the growing number of blogs that are active and the quality and breadth of blogging tools we have at our disposal. It would stand that an increase in the amount of posts that are shared and the number of educational blogs, would challenge the number of discussions that can be started. Maybe it is not that people do not care about blog posts but they are much more likely to be using that energy on their own blog.

I made the following diagram to help me think this through.

blog post engagement

There is nothing wrong with the amber lit retweeting and sharing, but for many people we are sharing in an attempt to have the most impact on others. The micro engagement that occurs as people share without reading and, reposting content without engaging any further, is much more prevalent than the more in depth discussions of 10 years ago.

Aaron mentioned in a comment on a post the other day that the rise of the mobile browsing experience is also another reason why people do not comment as much anymore.

At the macro level, the full realisation of a blog post’s impact, teachers think differently after reading something and act differently as a result (with their colleagues or with their class). I have been fortunate enough to be able to share ideas that have had such an impact. The usual way I have learned about such an effect is by reading other blog posts, as teachers reflect on their version of things and how they have adapted my original idea.

Of course we need content to inspire and challenge us, so we need educators writing about their experiences in the classroom. I want more and more people using blogging as a reflective tool and practice. Perhaps what we need is a focus on discussion, on building on each other’s ideas and then reflecting ourselves. And maybe it is this closing of the loop that is the most powerful.

What do you think? Is this micro engagement something that is eroding the discussions present in the community or are they simply happening elsewhere? What’s your take on it?

On a post lamenting the lack of commenting it is of course now mandatory to leave a comment 😉

Provide More Opportunities for Classroom Discussion

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“The prototypic teaching method for active learning is discussion.”
Svinicki and McKeachie

One of the teaching and learning strategies according to John Hattie that has one of the highest impacts on student achievement is classroom discussion. It has an effect size of 0.82 and is ranked very highly (in the top 10) amongst intervention factors that have an impact on learning.

A great outline of the importance of providing more opportunities for classroom discussion comes from the University of Victoria in Canada and their Learning Impact Library. Stating that classroom discussion:

Brings about student participation: Whenever a classroom-wide discussion comes about, students are encouraged to follow along and suggest their opinion. This also helps them build confidence and gain social interaction skills in a learning environment.

Allows students to become connected to a topic: By encouraging students to participate, and interact with a group about a topic, they are more inclined to gain interest in that topic.

It enables students to be respected for their ideas: By presenting their opinion to the class, students are given credit for their individual ideas (Effective Classroom Discussions, 2012).

Brings about multiple points of views on a single topic: Opposed to narrow-mindlessly thinking about an an issue from one perspective, students are encouraged to consider the ideas of those around them.

Builds intellectual agility in students (Drs. Cavanough, 2001): By being frequently exposed to listening to different approaches on the same issue, students acquire the ability to quickly think on their feet and formulate an opinion.

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This morning I ran across a fellow Melbourne educator, Greg Curran’s recent resource of language structures to support a more discursive approach in the classroom.

They provide a useful aid to our thinking – not something to tick off but certainly a resource to remind us of how our own language can open or close discussion. Here is an example from Greg’s post:

Sentence Starters for…Building On

  • Y mentioned that…
  • Yes–and furthermore…
  • The author’s claim that Z is interesting because…
  • Adding to what X said,…
  • If we change Xs position just a little, we can see that…

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In many cases we have to construct the climate for classroom discussion to work and to be most effective. A supportive, encouraging and open learning environment is most conducive to this type of learning talk – unfortunately there can be many obstacles that get in the way of fostering participation.

What follows are notes on five barriers to classroom discussion, six faulty assumptions and seven strategies to foster participation. (And a partridge in a pear tree) They are from a great Idea Paper from Kansas State University, Effective Classroom Discussion, written by William Cashin.

In the paper Cashin refers to Svinicki and McKeachie who outline five barriers to good discussion: 

  1. Habits of passive learning
  2. Fear of appearing stupid
  3. Trying too hard to find the answer the teacher is looking for
  4. Failing to see value in the discussion topic or process
  5. Wanting to settle on a solution before alternatives have been considered.

Additionally Davis (2009, p. 107) outlines six faulty assumptions students often hold about discussions

  1. One must argue for only one position
  2. Knowledge is really just opinion
  3. Personal experience is the real source of knowledge
  4. Issues should not be discussed unless there is agreement
  5. Individual rights are violated when ideas are challenged
  6. Individuals in a discussion should never feel uncomfortable.

Finally Cashin refers to seven strategies to try:

  1. Ask general (divergent) questions. Questions that can have more than one acceptable answer (e.g., “What is your opinion about…?”) can lead to more discussion. In addition, give students your questions about the reading before you will be discussing them. (See Svinicki and McKeachie, 2011, pp. 47-48.)
  2. Avoid looking only at the student talking. Although it may seem counterintuitive to look away, and eye contact does tell a student that you are paying attention, looking too long at one student can seem threatening. Also, you need to monitor how the other students in the group are reacting.
  3. Control excessive talkers. Even though the students who talk the most are sometimes the “better” students, avoid automatically calling on them first, even after a seemingly long silence. Ask to hear from someone who hasn’t said anything yet. If one student’s excessive talking becomes a problem, you may want to talk with that student about it outside of class. (See also Brookfield and Preskill, 2005, pp. 169-177.) Sometimes the excessive talker is you (or me) — the teacher! Videotaping a class and watching it later may provide useful information about this (as well as many other aspects of your class). (See also Brookfield and Preskill, 2005, pp. 193-200.)
  4. Ask for examples and illustrations. This is particularly important when discussing complex ideas, or concepts students often have difficulty understanding.
  5. Allow for pauses and silences. Sometimes in American culture, we act as though there should never be a quiet time in our conversations. Silence, even for a minute or more, allows the students, and you, time to think. This “wait time” is especially helpful to students who are more introverted and may not be getting an opportunity to participate (Davis, 2009).
  6. Be sensitive to feelings and emotional reactions. Some topics may generate strong negative — or positive — feelings, or you may notice that a student is becoming upset or angry as the discussion progresses, any of which may become obstacles to learning. Ideally, the student will bring up the problem so it can be discussed. To prompt this, you may simply wish to say, “You seem to have strong feelings about this.” Or you may need to explore: “Would you say some more about that?” You may want to talk to the student after class.
  7. Encourage and recognize students’ contributions. Listen carefully to each student’s comments, sometimes paraphrasing to show that you understand. Give students a chance to clarify what they meant, or link Student B’s comment to something Student A said.

Idea Paper #49 Effective Classroom Discussion, William Cashin, Kansas State University

Hopefully there is plenty there to get your teeth into regarding the impact and development of classroom discussion. It certainly forms a key pillar of the conditions for great learning in our schools.