Life as an Educator and Interviewer: Using Facilitation Skills to Craft Thoughtful Interviews

About 10 years ago, I stood in front of my first-ever class, a newly minted teacher. I was nervous: I was still a graduate student. What did I know about teaching? As the class began, I calmed my nerves by wielding one of the few tools I had in my back pocket: an icebreaker question. “Would you rather battle a lion or fight a shark?” The students laughed; they each answered, showing a bit of their personality with each response. My nerves began to settle, and I thought, “Oh, yeah, I forgot. My students and I create this space of dialogue together, and we can use questions to build connections.” As I grew as an educator over the next couple of years, I loved facilitating learning. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the role of facilitator—I liked (as the cool kids might say) “holding space” for inquiry, critique, and dialogue. So, I went on to explore other facilitation roles; I served as a writing tutor, and I trained to become a museum docent. 

Today, I use much of the same facilitation skills that I honed in these roles, this time as a researcher. Like my Kera Collective colleague Hannah, I was surprised at the unexpected ways I have been able to use these facilitation techniques in evaluation, and specifically, conducting interviews, something I do frequently as part of evaluation studies. So, here are a few tips for using facilitation skills to make your interviews the best they can be.  

Use backward design and scaffolding to help structure and ground your interview questions.  

During my first year of teaching, I learned about backward design and my entire teaching world opened up—as they say, “new skill unlocked.” Backward design is a curricula framework where you start with learning objectives (i.e., what you hope students learn, practice, or achieve) and then design “backwards,” developing assessments (e.g., assignments, projects) that show students have met these learning objectives. When designing, you must start with clear and purposeful learning goals for students. 

Similarly, evaluation objectives guide interview instrument design. Before you develop interview questions, consider what you want to learn through your evaluation. What is the goal of your interview? What are you assessing or exploring in your interview? 

Additionally, when I design interview guides, I use scaffolding, “breaking up the [information] into chunks and providing a tool, or structure, with each chunk.” In teaching, when introducing a new text, you might start with “preview” or warmup questions that introduce students to key concepts and vocabulary in the reading. Then, each class, you might read and discuss a section of the text. Similarly, I approach interview instrument design as a process of scaffolding information. For example, at the beginning of the interview, I start with more straightforward questions. We ease into the rhythm of the interview with questions like, “What is your relationship with the museum?” “How did you get involved in this program?” This allows interviewees to cast their mind back—to take a beat and reflect. Then, we might walk through their experience gradually: we’ll discuss their experience at the beginning, during the program, and at the end. After they’ve reflected on each stage, we can explore more complex topics, like change over time: “Reflecting on your experience overall, what, if any, impact did the program have on your museum? Why or why not?” 

Dialogue is your friend! Be an active listener, reflective facilitator, and recognize interviewees’ transparency and vulnerability. 

As a teacher and writing tutor, dialogue was my bread and butter. It was an exchange of ideas that opened the door to further inquiry. As an interviewer, I am a proponent of dialogue as a way to make meaning and call our humanity into the room. In this way, an interview can be much like call and response (a Black musical and cultural tradition). Your interviewee takes center stage, but you, as the audience, support them and respond to their thoughts. In other words, after an interviewee answers a question, you might say, “So, what I’m hearing is…” and summarize your interpretation of their thoughts. This signals that you are actively listening to their response and that you care about representing their thoughts accurately. You can also ask follow-up questions or connect with them personally: “Oh, I’m also from North Carolina!” Or, affirm the interviewee’s transparency and vulnerability: “Thank you for sharing. I really appreciate it, and it’s really helpful for the museum.”

This dialogic approach moves the interview format away from imposed formality and a clinical way of engaging with visitors. An interview is a conversation. And we are humans connecting with each other, through this conversation. Your interviewee is sharing something with you; it’s important to recognize and respect that vulnerability.  

Don’t forget to ask “why.” 

In the writing course I taught, we often used a version of the “5 Whys” exercise to refine thesis statements. The “5 Whys” is a brainstorming technique where you explore the causes behind a topic by asking “Why?” 5 times in succession. Now, for an interview, I’m not saying annoy your interviewee by asking “why” 5 times. Instead, for your interview, invest in the “follow-up.” Use “how” or “why” to avoid “yes,” “no,” or single-sentence answers. After an interviewee answers, use follow-up questions to dig deeper like, “Why is that?”  “Can you tell me more about that?” “Can you give me an example?” Be sure to ask “why,” and before you know it, you’ll start to get a fuller picture of the interviewee's experience.

Remember that pauses can be useful. 

“Ask questions. But be okay with silence and pauses.” Years later, I still remember these words of wisdom that my teaching mentor gave me. It was one of the best tools as a teacher. In the pauses, reflection happened. Of course, during an interview (and a class period), you only have a limited amount of time. And, as an interviewer and teacher, you have a responsibility to guide the conversation, to offer direction and follow-up when needed. So, naturally, be judicious with your pauses.

However, a little bit of breathing room in a conversation is refreshing. During the interview, you might try letting the silence stretch a little after you ask a question. If you feel an interviewee’s hesitancy to answer, address their concerns by affirming that there are no right or wrong answers to the question. Then pause again. During that pause, your interviewee can have time to gather their thoughts. 

So, while preparing for your next interview, consider the following: how might you apply these facilitation skills to your conversation? How do you design your interview guides, and what do you do to make your interviewees feel comfortable? To create space where thoughts are heard, felt, and respected? What other tools might you use to achieve these goals?