As educators, one of our roles is to foster and encourage the development of our students' ability to professionally reason. One way we can do this is by asking open ended questions which encourage the student to verbalize the thinking behind their practice.
The following are some suggestions for the types of questions that may help coach the students along:
HOW:
How did you come about that?
How is that the same or different with what you already know/ have done?
How did you feel/think/act when that happened?
WHAT:
What makes you think that?
What was important about that?
What did you learn from that?
What might you do similarly/differently next time?
WHEN:
When did that first occur?
When did you realize that?
When do you anticipate that will happen?
WHERE:
Where can we start to make a change?
Where did it go wrong?
Where do you see yourself fit in?
WHY:
Why did you do that?
Why do think that happened?
Why is it happening?
Why do you think you got that response?
A note about “Why?”: Try to use these questions more cautiously and/or with a mix of the other questions. Why questions can sometimes feel more interrogatory for students…like they need to “defend” their decisions.
Bonus Tip: If you have asked the student to complete a journal, ask them to keep these questions in mind when they are writing.
Happy educating!
OT Fieldwork Team
References
Zeus, P. and Skiffington, S. (2000) The complete guide to coaching at work. McGraw-Hill, Sydney.
