"A Deep Dive Into The Experiential Learning Cycle: Processing" is part four in a six-part series
As I have said in previous articles, at The Leadership Program we use a specific questioning process called the Experiential Learning Cycle, with students and adults alike. The basic idea behind this process is that greater learning and meaning can come out of ANY experience, if only you take the time to reflect on it.
Our use of the Experiential Learning Cycle follows five steps Experience, Publishing, Processing, Generalizing, and Applying.
Here we are going to focus in on the third step of The Experiential Learning Cycle: Processing. Why is Processing essential? During processing, participants have a chance to reflect on observations they made about each other, and the group as a whole through the experience that just happened. To “process” something is commonly used when trying to work through something (Okay, I need to process what just happened here). In this case participants are working through what they experienced with each other.
If you remember, in the publishing phase participants are only reflecting on themselves. But now it’s time to reflect on others—what happened to the group? What did they notice in each other? How did what happened during the experience change or impact the group? This is the group dynamics and shared experiences portion of the Experiential Learning Cycle.
Some examples of questions we ask during this phase of the cycle, to prime the conversation, include:
As the facilitator, your goal during this phase is to get participants making thoughtful, though not critical, observations about the collective experience. This is an important step because it allows participants to notice both the similarities and differences between themselves and their fellow participants. It also encourages reflection about how the group worked well together and how they potentially stumbled. When building team, the processing phase of the cycle is an imperative opportunity to get the group to begin to look outward instead of keeping their focus on themselves and what happened to them. It invites them to consider how each individual has an effect on another, and how teams can rise or fall based upon the actions of the individuals within.
A few other tips for effectively facilitating the processing phase of the cycle:
Okay! So you’ve had the Experience, you’ve given your participants the space to Publish their thoughts and feelings about the Experience, and you’ve allowed them time to Process their observations about the group dynamics that showed up during the Experience. Next up, you’ll move to Generalizing, where participants are challenged to reflect on other places in their lives where they might think/feel/believe similarly to how they are thinking/feeling/believing about the current experience—this is the fun, yet sometimes challenging, “So What?” portion of the cycle. I can’t wait to take you through it!
Questions? Thoughts? Please post me in the comments below or Tweet to @ErikaPetrelli1