Activity
Think about a particular situation that you commonly face with students in the classroom. Think about how you can us Murray's Ten Strategies for Evoking Change Talk in that situation. 1. When a change talk theme emerges, ask for specific examples: When was the last time that happened? Think of an example from your courses. 2. Explore Decisional Balance: Ask first for the good things about status quo, then ask for the not-so-good things. 3. Ask for Elaboration: When a change talk theme emerges,ask for more detail. In what ways? 4. Ask for Examples: Ask, “On a scale from 0-10, how important is it to you to [target change] where 0 is not at all important, and 10 is extremely important? Follow up: And why are you at ___ and not 0? What might happen that could move you from ____ to [higher score]? Instead of “how important” (need), you could also ask how much you want (desire), or how confident you are that you could (ability), or how committed are you to ____ (commitment). Asking “how ready are you?” tends to be confusing because it combines competing components of desire, ability, reasons and need. 5. Look Back: Ask about a time before the current concern emerged. How were things better, different?
6. Look Forward: Ask what may happen if things continue as they are (status quo). Try the miracle question: If you were 100% successful in making the changes you want, what would be different? How would you like your life to be five years from now?
7. Query Extremes: What are the worst things that might happen if you don’t make this change? What are the best things that might happen if you do make this change? 8. Use Change Rulers: Ask Evocative Questions. Ask open questions, the answer to which is change talk.
9. Explore Goals and Values: Ask what the person’s guiding values are. What do they want in life? Using a values card sort can be helpful here. If there is a “problem” behavior, ask how that behavior fits in with the person’s goals or values. Does it help realize a goal or value, interfere with it, or is it irrelevant? 10. Come Alongside: Explicitly side with the negative (status quo) side of ambivalence. Perhaps ___ is so important to you that you won’t give it up, no matter what the cost. "If you treat an individual as he is, he will stay as he is, but if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Some change plan questions to ask: The changes I want to make are: __________________ The reasons I want to make these change are_____________________________________________ The steps I plan to take in changing are: ____________ _____________________________________________ The ways other people can help me are: (identify the person) ______________________________________ Possible ways to help: __________________________ Some things that could interfere with my plan are: _____________________________________________ I will know that my plan is working if _____________________________________________ Think about how your students could use the questionnaire above. Think of how to introduce the need to change. Think of how you can communicate to your students the importance of being focused. A simple "ruler" can be used to help students visually represent how important a particular change is to them and how motivated they are to actually make a change. The attachment below provides you with an example. Previous: Points to Ponder Next: Quiz
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