Akiko,
It sounds like you try to get an understanding of the student's plans for after school by asking an open ended question. How does the student's response to "what is your next step after our school?" help you in serving your students?
Shannon Gormley
I work at a school with lots of international students. I ask "What is your next step after our school? Going to a college or look for a place to work etc...?"
Steve,
Great questions and observation. The important thing to remember when asking questions is to not allow your questioning to become an interrogation. Allowing your students the time to process your question and formulate a response is an important part of maintaining rapport. Keep up the good work.
Shannon Gormley
What career field(s) are you interested in?
What interest's you about that/those field(s)?
What do you know about our school?
How did you hear about us?
Who else is involved with your decision? Are they supportive?
What’s motivating you to go back to school?
How soon are you looking to get started?
Have you been to college before? What year(s)? What happened?
What concerns do you have?
Have I answered all your questions?
Before I cover the tuition, what do you know about financial aid and how it works?
All of these questions work well with gathering information as long as they're asked in a conversational way without seeming like an interrogation. They help build rapport and guide me in the information giving process.
MONIQUE ,
Thanks for sharing your questions. I see that you use open ended questions to allow for a deeper conversation with your student, that's great. It sounds like you work to get a good sense of what your students experience and what might be a challenge to getting started. How do you adapt your questions if you discover your school is not a fit for your student?
Shannon Gormley
What are the main activities that currently make up an entire week schedule for you? What would you say is the biggest inconvenience for you to begin to attend school at this time? What is the main reason why you want to further pursue your education at this stage in your life?
The responses to the above questions allows me to get a deep insight into the educational needs of the student and any difficulties that they may face. I also get a better understanding of each individual student and it will enpower me to know what difficulties each student faces in pursuing their educational goals so that I may be better able to give them assistance, referral and support.
Sylvia,
Thanks for sharing! It sounds like your questions not only give you insight into their interest in the chosen field but also into what might be some of the reasons that they're looking at a particular field in the first place.
Shannon Gormley
Good question, Carlos. This is a great open ended question to engage your student in conversation. What is it that you're trying to understand with a question such as this?
Shannon Gormley
I like to ask if they have any family or friends in the same field of work that they are interested in persuing. This allows the student to tell me a little more about why they want to persue a career in the chosen field.
What is it about the cosmetology industry that motivates you to be part of it?
It shows the student that you care about them and how to help them. It helps to break the ice and establish rapport. They tend to open up and talk about their support system and leads to discussion about goals and aspirations.We can then build up from there and show how the education can help them.
Sure Sangeetha. By asking that open-ended question, you are able to listen about the student and may be able to branch off to other disucussions based on the answer. What types of information do you tend to get with that question?
Shannon Gormley
It's key to discover the student's passion and interest in the field they wish to pursue. Asking them about how their interest developed is usually a great question which leads to active student engagement.
Jeffrey,
Thanks for sharing your approach. Putting yourself into a position of listening is an excellent place to start. How do you help prospective student who have a hard time articulating their intentions?
Shannon Gormley
I like to start off "How can I help you". I find it puts me into a position of listening and it allows the prospective student to reconfirm their intent here today.
are they ready to start their careers?
Maria, sure. That is a great way for you and the student to verbalize what they want in the future. I wonder, what questions do you ask to get them to talk about what's going on with them at the current moment?
Shannon Gormley
Guy, nice work. Follow up questiions are important to make sure both you and the student have explored the environment fully.
Shannon Gormley
I like to ask about their goals..
tell me abouth your goals
where do you see your self on ten years?
what motivates you to complete your education degree?
