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"From the Processing Corner: The Niche of Chiji Processing Cards" by Steve Simpson, Buzz Bocher and Dan Miller While it may be a slight oversimplification, there are basically two different ways for experiential education facilitators to improve their processing (or debriefing) skills. The first way is to become better at conduction question and answer sessions. To do this, facilitators may observe other experiential educators who lead question and answer sessions, but more importantly, they must repeatedly conduct themselves - knowing full well that mistakes will be made, but also knowing that only practice will hone this fundamental facilitation skill. The second way for facilitators to improve their processing skills is to develop a repertoire of alternative processing methods. Along with question and answer sessions, facilitators can learn to use journals, metaphoric models, and concept maps as processing techniques. This short article is about still another alternative processing method called Chiji Processing Cards. A Quick Explanation of Chiji Processing Cards: Chiji (pronounced chee' jee) is a Chinese word meaning "significant moment" or "turning point." Chiji is an experience that changes a person's life, but whether the change is for the better or for the worse depends on the individual's readiness and willingness to learn from the experience. The Chinese character "chi" (not the same "chi" as in tai chi) literally means "key," suggesting that of a person has the key, then the significant moment can be used to open the door to new and valuable opportunities. Therefore, Chiji Processing Cards, like all processing techniques, are a tool designed to help participants understand the important lessons from experience. Chiji Cards are a series of forty-eight pictures (e.g., father time, lighthouse, thunder, turtle) designed to evoke personalized metaphors in the minds of experiential education participants. The cars are playing card size and brightly colored. To begin a Chiji session, a facilitator spreads all forty-eight cards face up in front of the participants. Then he or she gives the following instructions: Pick one or two cards that, for some reason, describe your feeling about today's activities. Choose carefully because, in about sixty seconds, I am going to ask you to name your cards and explain why you chose the cards that you did. The feelings may be individual or personal. They may be about the group. They may even relate to something other than what happened today, if today's events reminded you of that important idea or memory. The only restriction is that you choose feelings that you are willing to share with the whole group. After all participants have picked and thought about their cards, the facilitator clears away all unchosen cards. Then participants take turns in naming and explaining their card(s). Usually the facilitator simply lets each person explain the metaphor derived from the cards, but, if deemed appropriate, the facilitator may ask a pertinent follow-up question to each participant. Two brief examples of the king of responses the cards elicit can be seen in their use at two recent conferences. At the 1997 AEE (Association for Experiential Education) conference in North Carolina, a group completed an initiative and then processed the activity with Chiji Cards. One woman chose the "wrapped gift" card, the explained that she picked the card because she had done the initiative before and had an excellent solution to the group challenge. She, however, made no suggestions to the group, so her solution was like a wonderful gift that had not been opened. Another example of Chiji Card use is from the 1998 Midwest Symposium on Therapeutic Recreation, recently held in Springfield, Illinois. At a workshop about alternative forms of processing, a woman chose "the twin railroad tracks converging at the horizon." She said the railroad track card represented the two professions of therapeutic recreation and experiential education. Based on discussion during the workshop, she had concluded that therapeutic recreation and experiential education had much in common, but too often traveled on parallel, but very separate, paths. The Strengths of Chiji Cards: The most obvious strength of Chiji Processing Cards is that they are easy to use. An inexperienced facilitator, especially one still struggling with the mechanics of a program, can use Chiji Cards without adding the burden of a question and answer session to his or her many new responsibilities. When the cards are used in a basic way, a facilitator-in-training can easily bring closure to an activity and allow participants the opportunity to express their feelings. A second and more substantial strength of Chiji Cards is that they are as non-threatening to participants as they are to facilitators. The cards provide a tangible image upon which participants can attach their thoughts. This helps to give the thoughts shape and substance, and the responses of the participants often have greater depth than the cliche responses about teamwork, self-esteem, etc...that too often come out of traditional sharing circles. Because the participants can talk about the card rather than about themselves, they sometimes express thoughts that otherwise would not be disclosed. The cards are especially useful at drawing out quiet or introverted members of the group. The Niche of Chiji Cards: Although Chiji Processing Cards often are used as a general processing tool, they were developed to fill a specific niche. Most processing is facilitator-directed, meaning that the facilitator controls the direction of the discussion. Chiji Cards, on the other hand, were designed to be participant-directed. In a question and answer session, for example, a facilitator controls the direction of the group discussion by the kinds of questions he or she asks. Chiji Cards tend to be less directive. With forty-eight different cards, each open to a range of interpretations, they lead to a wide variety of comments from the participants. Stated another way, Chiji Cards provide the participants a great deal of freedom, but rarely guide them to a specific pre-determined outcome or goal. If a group has fourteen participants, Chiji Cards will likely elicit fourteen different insights. This, of course, can be positive or negative, depending on the purpose of the program. It is good if the facilitator has a very broad-based agenda and wants the group to start processing on its own. It is not so useful if the facilitator has specific goals in mind and wants the discussion to focus on a narrow set of outcomes and themes. If that is the case, other processing methods might be better suited for the task. Chiji Processing Cards, therefore, can be looked at in one of two ways. First, in a general sense, they offer a change of pace. When traditional question and answer gets boring, the cards provide variety. Second, Chiji Cards can be seen as a specialized tool, designed specifically for participant-directed processing. When a facilitator wants a group to start taking responsibility for the direction of their own processing, Chiji Processing Cards are one technique toward that end. For more information: Buzz Bocher, Dan Miller, and Steve Simpson developed
Chiji Processing Cards about a year ago. They will be doing two sessions
on alternative processing techniques at the 1999 TEAM Conference. To order
cards or get more information about participant-directed processing, contact
them at:
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