motivational interviewing [mi]: the foundations and application

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This Weeks Read

Motivational Interviewing In Schools (Rollnick et al., 2016)

This book serves as a valuable resource for education leaders. It offers guidance on how everyday interactions with students can encourage them to develop intrinsic motivation for personal growth. Specifically, the book introduces motivational interviewing (MI) techniques to educators, enabling them to engage in brief conversations that address behavioral, academic, and peer-related challenges, leading to positive outcomes.

Four Important Call-outs

1. MI Definitions - 5 examples provided, 2 we really like

   “A collaborative conversation style for strengthening a person’s own motivation and commitment to change.”

   “A person-centered counseling style for addressing the common problem of ambivalence about change…MI is based not on standing in front of a student and pulling him or her toward change, or on standing behind him or her and pushing, but on coming along.”

2. What MI is not

   MI is not a panacea, but merely a way of having a constructive conversation… ‘a powerful ingredient in the fuel that drives good practice’… MI is not a behavior change technique, trick, or strategy done on or to students, but rather something done with them, or on their behalf. It’s certainly not a way of getting someone to do something he or she would not otherwise want to do.

3. The righting reflex & ambivalence

   It’s a well-intentioned inclination to fix the problem for the person. It works sometimes… but for listing a student’s motivation to change, it’s not very successful….One part of the student’s mind might want to change, hearing all the reasons for it; another part hears the opposite, reasons against change. If motivation—the incentive and enthusiasm—is the drive to do something, the voices in favor fuel it, and those against hold it back. When the righting reflex meets with ambivalence in the student, the conversation takes an unfortunate turn.

4. The spirit of MI

   The spirit of MI is captured by four words: “compassion,” “partnership,” “acceptance,” and “evocation.” The spirit of MI lives and breathes with an attitude like this: “I’d like to help you [compassion] and talk this through with you [partnership]; you are a valuable person and I will refrain from judging you [acceptance]; instead, I’d like to listen and find out what you think will work well for you to change [evocation].”

Our Take

• Motivational interviewing (MI) holds critical applications for leaders of schools and organizations. By incorporating MI techniques, leaders can effectively engage with their staff members, team members, students, and various stakeholders to inspire intrinsic motivation and drive positive change. MI provides leaders with the skills to conduct productive conversations about behavioral, performance, or interpersonal challenges.

• It’s really hard and challenging to instill motivation into someone else, most often these conversations with students and adults take off sharply and come crashing down with weeks, days, or even minutes. Therefore leaders need to continue to build skills in coming alongside stakeholders to support conversations that elicit change come within and at most costs, avoid the desire for the quick-fix of the righting reflex.

• You get more bees with honey. The lens work reminder is needed to continue to focus on strengths and aspirations — this alone will send ripples through an organizations culture and sub-cultures within teams. How we perceive students greatly impacts the effectiveness of motivational interviewing (MI). Rather than solely seeing them through a lens of weaknesses and problems, it is crucial to recognize their dreams and strengths. When students engage in conversations charged with positivity, they become more receptive to recognizing areas for improvement and are more motivated to make positive choices. True change occurs when individuals feel empowered to choose and understand that it will lead to personal growth and positive outcomes, not merely as a means to avoid problems.

  Additionally, we view MI as a valuable tool for implementing restorative discipline practices, promoting accountability while maintaining a non-punitive approach. We are excited to discuss this more in a few weeks!

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