Teaching Sequence

15 minutes – Part A: Interview Design and Facilitation
20 minutes – Part B: Design and Write an Interview
15 minutes – Part C: Conducting a Research Interview
10 minutes – Reflection

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

Part A: Interview Design and Facilitation

Step 1.

Introduce the lesson by informing students that they will be examining the features of effective research interviews as a method of communicating and collecting information about a local community issue. Remind them of some of the local community issues that have already been raised, discussed and examined in the previous lessons of the Aspire Generation Unit, and encourage them to focus on one of the issues or topics upon which they have previously focused.

Facilitate a brief class brainstorm, asking students to share their understanding or experiences with research interviews or interview formats. Frame the brainstorm using a 5 Ws framework and discuss students’ responses with the class.

Who conducts interviews? Who can be interviewed? Who might want an interview conducted?
What types of interviews are there? What information might people want to know? What types of questions are included?
Where can interviews take place? Where shouldn’t interviews take place?
When do people get interviewed? When shouldn’t people try to interview someone?
Why do people use interviews? Why might people not want to be interviewed?

Remind students that a key part of designing and facilitating an interview is to have a clear idea of the type of information that they are seeking, the perspectives about this issue and creating questions that will help to uncover this information

Step 2.

Invite students to open the Interview Design and Facilitation Factsheet from the Student Worksheet (or distribute or project it for the class). Read through the information with students and inform them that they should use this material to help them design, write and facilitate their interviews in the next parts of the lesson.

If suitable, the following TED talk by Celeste Headlee, a radio host with extensive experience in interviewing a wide range of people, can give students a bit more insight into the skills and value of an effective interview and conversation.

Celeste Headlee: 10 ways to have a better conversation - TED (youtu.be/R1vskiVDwl4)

There is space on the Student Worksheet for any notes and key information students wish to document.

Part B: Design and Write an Interview

Step 1.

Remind students that a key part of designing and completing an interview is to think through the kind of information they are seeking and who could help them find it. Encourage students to revisit the information they might have generated about the issue from previous lessons in the La Trobe University’s Aspire Generation - English unit. Invite students to use the following prompts to begin thinking about the issue and interview format, questions and participants. These are included on the Student Worksheet.

What do I want to find out about the issue?
Who can help provide this information or will have relevant perspectives about it?
What will be the best way to conduct the interview (time and place)?
Will I need to interview more than one person to get different perspectives? Will this require different questions?
What questions can I ask to help me get this information?

Step 2.

Give students time to now design and develop their research interview questions. They should develop their own unique interview, though could collaborate or provide peer assistance where appropriate while designing the questions. Encourage students to think about the format and logistics of their interview (such as time, place, permissions, etc.).

Remind them to draft and edit their work carefully, paying very close attention to spelling and punctuation if they are providing a copy of their interview questions to any participants. When they have their interview questions finished, ask students to form pairs and proofread each other’s interview questions to check for:

Clarity of questions: can they understand them?
Grammatical expression and accuracy of punctuation and spelling
Any other tips or suggestions that might help improve the interview questions or the type of information collected

Students could offer feedback using the ‘2 likes 1 wish’ method, whereby they offer two points of success and one point about what they wish that the interview questions included.

Part C: Conducting a Research Interview

Step 1.

Inform students that they will now practise their interviews with each other in order to practise and develop their interpersonal skills for when they conduct their interviews with members of the local community. Invite students to form pairs. Depending on individual interview choices, students might need to print materials.

Remind students that they will need to engage in face-to-face communication for an extended period of time to establish rapport with their interviewee and carry out the interview. Point out to students that in these interactions, they need to consider:

Body Language and Non-Verbals: stance, posture, eye-contact, proximity, movement
Verbal Skills: tone, pace, modulation, articulation, pausing, emphasis

There may not be enough classtime to practice every question. Try to ensure that each person has the opportunity to ask and respond to at least one question.

If there is time, you could role-play a few different scenarios, similar to those in the survey and questionnaire lesson, inviting volunteers to act out situations where body language and verbal skills would be:

Too intimidating or demanding
Not clear or concise enough
Lacking credibility or confidence
Balanced, confident and supportive

Step 2.

Give students time to practise their interviews and these interactions with each other. While practising, students should note what seems to be working well, could be improved or is not successful in both their interview questions and their interpersonal interactions. They will make some reflective points about this in the Reflection stage of the lesson.

Step 3.

After students have practised their questions and interviewing skills, inform them that in order to obtain relevant data about the local community issue, they will need to conduct their interview with members of the local community. They will need to think carefully about:

Refining their interview questions based on the practice they have done in class
Location and relevant permission AND parental supervision/safety considerations
Having the required materials to complete the interview (paper, pens, clipboards etc.)
How they will record the responses
Setting a time limit on how long each interview will last, and how many interviews they will need to conduct
Their interpersonal skills, appearance and engagement with members of the community

Remind students that after conducting the interview, they will need to spend some time collating and analysing responses. Inform them that while they should familiarise themselves with this material immediately after the interview, there will be a later lesson dedicated to synthesising this data and information.

Reflection

Invite students to complete the SWOT analysis in their Student Worksheet, focusing on the nature of interviews as a communication and data collection tools. Explain that this will require them to consider the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats with respect to their interview and information it could produce.

Point out to students that a SWOT analysis allows them to evaluate an approach from a variety of angles in order to make a critical assessment of its value.

Facilitate a brief discussion with students, inviting them to share and discuss some of their reflections from their SWOT analysis.

Aspire Generation - Interviewing Local People to Identify Community Issues

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