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The Talking Method
In using the General to Specific approach, many
methods or activities may be effective. Two suggested
methods/techniques to use in your class after a critical
incident are: The Talking Method and The Drawing Method. The
following pages provide suggested questions or themes, and
specific techniques.
Suggested questions to ask/themes to represent:
c
Where were you when
it (the disaster/event) happened?
c
What were you
doing?
c
Where were your
friends?
c
Where was your
family?
c
What was your first
thought when it happened?
c
What did you see?
c
What did you hear?
c
What sound did it
make?
c
What did you smell?
c
Was anyone you know
killed or injured?
c
What can you do now
to help others to feel better?
c
How did you feel?
c
What did other
people around you do (during, after)?
c
What was the
silliest thing you did?
c
Were you or anyone
else you know injured?
c
What happened to
pets or other animals around you?
c
What dreams did you have after it?
c
What reminds you of
it?
c
When do you think
about it?
c
What do you do
differently since the event?
c
How do you feel
now?
c
What makes you feel
better?
c
How have you gotten
through rough times before?
c
What would you do
differently if it happened again?
c
How did you help
others?
c
How would you help
next time?
c
What can you do now
to help others?
Special Considerations:
c Allow for silence for those children with
low language skills, shyness,
discomfort, etc.
c Encourage peer
support for these children
c The teacher
should accommodate the child
c If a child has
low English skills, consider asking for a
translator or a
peer to help the child express in words
c Create a
chance for verbal expression in any language
NOTE: As the teacher, you might think of more
questions to ask the children. Be sure your questions are
"open-ended," which means they cannot be answered by simply a
"Yes" or "No". Open-ended questions serve to facilitate verbal
discussion.
Talking Method Activities
c
Child tells a story (allow metaphors)
c Puppets "tell"
or "live" a story
c Have an open
discussion - using previous questions, ask for
volunteers to begin with, talk general to
specific
c Use photos,
drawings, etc. to facilitate discussions
c Create a skit,
play or do role-playing, related to the critical
incident
(provide "dress-up" clothes if available,
including uniforms if
possible to represent emergency workers seen
during the disaster, etc.)
c Do "show and
tell" related to the event
c Inform/educate
the children about the event to make it less
threatening to
talk/act about When people understand their
feelings and experiences
are normal and can be predicted (even if they
are scary feelings) they
begin to regain control
Note: Remember to keep yourself in a
facilitative/guiding role, not in a role of "control" of the
discussions/stories etc. This will be most helpful to the
children. Reassure the children by verbally acknowledging and
"normalizing" their experiences.
For some children, the talking method is not
helpful:
c
In some cultures, talking openly is not
comfortable, appropriate (or even "polite")
c Some children
have been raised in families where "talking-out
one’s feelings"
was not possible or supported
c Some children
have been raised in situations where talking
openly was
not practiced or encouraged
c Some children
simply prefer not to discuss their feelings
openly due to
personality type, privacy concerns or lack of
trust in the process
c All these
reasons should be respected as valid
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