Continued Professional Development & Focus Discussion Groups
August 18 2009CPD – Continuing Personal or Professional Development - refers to a commitment to structured skills enhancement and personal or professional enrichment.
As part of Creating Excellence’s commitment to CPD, I was asked to attend a skills developing workshop to learn how to run ‘Focus Discussion Groups’.
The course was run by The Eastern Development Centre and supported by Niace, (National Institute of Adult Continuing Education) in Ipswich and quite an unusually pleasant drive up the A12 saw me arriving at the IP-City Centre Building.
I was one of the first to arrive, and it’s always awkward deciding what table you should join, so I opted for a seat adjacent to a gentleman and his dog, who I later discovered to be Phil and his guide dog Usef. By the time the rest of the arrivals filtered through, our table was a culmination of entrepreneurs, public sector employees, Trade Union representatives and private sector employees. Certainly a good mix for a ‘discussion group’ – what better way to learn than from putting theory to practice!?
Our trainers for the day: Catina Barrett and Caroline Law, both from Niace, kicked off the session asking delegates what we wanted to get from the day and asked us to discuss our pre-coursework. Unlike most other groups of strangers meeting for the first time; our group had no fear contributing into the conversation, and there was a steady influx from everyone at the table on their views and impressions.
What I did find quite an eye opener is that ‘Focus Discussion Groups’ (FDG) have so many interpreted meanings. What one person would call a ‘meeting’ another would call a ‘focus discussion group’, so immediately I learnt that whilst using this form of qualitative research, we must clearly define all parameters and what our own definition is.
We reviewed some sources of definitions of FDG’s; one by Gary Anderson in his book ‘Fundamentals of Educational Research’ (1998 p200) through to Ranjit Kumar’s ‘Research Methodology’ (2005, p124) and even the world renown ‘Wikipedia’!
Over the course of the session we learnt how to plan, implement, deliver and evaluate appropriately FDG’s and even what the advantages and disadvantages of this type of research method could be. This got me thinking to my own skill set and how I plan to utilise FDG’s within my own line of work…
FDG’s are a very aural tool, pooling at their very essence information communicated by word of mouth. My concern though, is that not everyone learns or contributes at this level. When my group was asked to think about the disadvantages of such an evaluation tool, this was the idea I put forward.
The easiest way in which I could relay this to them was using the ‘VARK’ framework which I apply to my own training sessions, and intend on integrating into FDG’s wherever possible.
V – Visual
A – Auditory
R – Read/Write
K – Kinaesthetic
To my surprise the group suggested I relay this point to the entire room of delegates, and I was also asked by Catina to demonstrate some examples in which we can put practice to this theory. After, priming myself with lunch, I set to work on a flip chart to explain my thinking…
V – Visual People would engage with:
Flipcharts
Handouts
Diagrams
DVD’s
Colours
A – Aural contributors, although well catered for in FDG’s, would engage well with a mix of participants, including different voices and opinions to maximise variety. Ensure any written information is reinforced verbally in case participants have any learning difficulties.
R – Read/Writer’s would prefer it if you could include:
Note taking option(s)
Feedback to precede the FDG (If applicable)
Good lighting to ensure optimum visuals to allow reading/writing
K – Kinaesthetic learners like to touch, feel and make the sessions ‘real’ they like actual engagement, so I discussed that people may like to include objects for engagement:
Tactile Objects (Dolls for role play / balls to engage feedback as ‘throw in’ exercises)
Variety
Asking for delegates to suggest ‘Imaginary Names’ for themselves as when collating FDG feedback this data should generally be anonymous anyway.
Although a little shocked I was asked to present to the group (!) I hope the information I shared was useful, and will also help others consider ‘levels of engagement’.
I found the session with Catina and Caroline, really motivating and it provided a wealth of information for me to incorporate whilst utilising FDG’s as a research tool, it has certainly aided my own personal and professional development.
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