Page 26 - Meeting with Children Manual

Section 3 P a ge | 24

INQUIRY SKILLS #1

FUNNEL TECHNIQUE

The funnel technique is of importance to all practitioners who meet
with children. It is a way of being with a young person.

Funnel questions begin with the following procedure:
 Begin with a broad, open-ended question after a child has
finished drawing a picture or presented a play scenario such as:

SCRIPT
What can you tell me about your picture/scene

 Listen carefully to the language used. Only use language used by the
child/youth to formulate your next question
 Stay in the Metaphor of the drawing: “So the angry dragon ate the princess…
does anyone know what happened to the princess?”
 Use the child’s language
 Remain curious
 Become more specific as the questions move down the “funnel”

DON’T
 Name a thing (no matter what you think it is) until the child has named it. Then
you can call it a “dog” or a “river” etc.
 Ask ‘why’ questions, such as “why did you put that there?”
 Step out of the metaphor. Stay until the child becomes more literal using here
and now terms of “I” / that’s me and that’s my mum etc. Then follow the child’s
lead

CONSIDER ASKING THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF QUESTIONS:
 Relational questions
 Does this one know this one over here?
 If this one could say something to the princess, what might he say?
 If the fox could be with anyone here, with whom might he want to be with?
 Is there anyone that the princess is afraid of?
 If the cat could get some help which one might help her?
 If you could move any of the characters/ animals where would you put them?
 Does the dragon know where everyone is?
 Can the tree see to the other side?
 Does the tree know the other trees over here?
 When the rooster is hurt who does he tell?

 Directional questions
 If this one could face any way, where might he/she face?

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