The Critical Incident Questionaire as a Tool for Mindfulness

I just read an book chapter for my pedagogy class entitled “Understanding Classroom Dynamics: The Critical Incident Questionnaire.”* You can find out more about the CIQ here.

The Critical Incident Questionnaire (CIQ) is an incredible pedagogical tool with potential for a broader tool for personal reflection. The way that the CIQ is designed is that at end of the last class of the week the instructor has the students fill out a questionnaire with five questions:

1. At what moment in the class this week did you feel most engaged with what was happening?
2. At what moment in the class this week did you feel most distanced from what was happening?
3. What action that anyone (teacher or student) took in class this week did you find most affirming and helpful?
4. What action that anyone (teacher or student) took in class this week did you find most puzzling or confusing?
5. What about the class this week surprised you the most? ( This could be something about your own reactions to what went on, or something that someone did, or anything else that occurs to you.)

I understand that this is used in a few ways. First, the teacher has more information about what’s going on in the minds’ of the learners/students in the class. There’s a whole lot of potential information they could get here – whether the vocal minority in class represents the majority, whether the moments where the teacher felt disconnected reflect disconnection by the students, or whether they were actually going through deep transformation at that time.But what I’m more interested in is the students’ experience of filling out the CIQ week after week. The students are expected to fill out an analysis at the end of the term integrating all of their CIQs and looking for themes. The students report “pedagogic ‘out-of-body’” experiences, where they hover over themselves and study the way that they react to certain situations. In other words, knowing that they have to fill out the CIQ creates an expectation of accountability for consciousness about those moments. It furthers mindfulness towards every moment, looking for which moment is going to be the one they’ll write about.

How could this be a tool for personal growth? Can you see the potential?

One possibility: design a questionnaire about your most critical moments. What are you looking to develop mindfulness around? (and don’t say every moment, the point of this is to use focused mindfulness of any moment as a tool to the every moment) Pick a time period to monitor. My guess is that one day is a good start. These CIQs are usually used over several classes in a week period – highly focused time, but not lots of it. Then, and here’s a critical step: Fill it out. Take 5 minutes at the end of your period, and fill out the questions.

Here’s mine:

1. At what moment today did you feel most wise?
2. At what moment today did you feel most in touch with your own experience?
3. At what moment today did you feel most gentle?
4. What action that anyone took today did you find most puzzling?
5. What about today surprised you the most?

*Brookfield, Stephen D. “Understanding Classroom Dynamics: The Critical Incident Questionnaire.”Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995. 114-39.